JD Classics celebrates another Mille Miglia with Jaguar and other clients

JD Classics is celebrating another successful Mille Miglia finish with 15 cars campaigned and supported in the 1,000-mile Brescia-Rome-Brescia event. The dream line-up of classic machinery included nine Jaguar Heritage Racing cars driven by stars from motor racing, fashion and film, along with a further six cars owned by JD Classics itself or run on behalf of customers. Over the four-day, 1,000-mile endurance rally, JD Classics supported these 15 cars with over 30 expert technicians, who worked day and night to keep them in first-class condition.

Even with an extra day added to the event this year, JD Classics’ expert technicians took the whole event in their stride. And with brilliant organisation plus a stunning route, the event has been hailed one of the best yet.

As it did on the 2013 Mille Miglia, JD Classics provided technical support to Jaguar Heritage Racing which paired some real A-list stars with equally famous Jaguar cars. Crews included ex-F1 drivers Martin Brundle and Bruno Senna in a 1956 ‘Long Nose’ D-type, US TV chat show host Jay Leno and Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum in a 1951 Ecurie Ecosse XK 120 and Jaguar Regional Director Bernard Kuhnt and Belgian singer-songwriter Milow in JD Classics’ own Fangio C-type.

Each Jaguar Heritage Racing entry was prepared in-house at JD Classics’ purpose-built Maldon facility. Significant endurance upgrades were needed for the Mille Miglia and included the fitment of slightly raised ride heights to cope with a mixture of road surfaces, while engines were tuned to run on regular forecourt petrol rather than high-octane racing fuel. Most extensive of all was the work carried out on the ‘Long Nose’ D-type, which was subject to a full engine inspection and cylinder head overhaul as well as a gearbox and chassis rebuild in preparation for the event.  

Also benefitting from JD Classics’ expert preparation and event support was an array of customer machinery. This included a 1954 Cooper T33 - driven by JD Classics’ Managing Director Derek Hood - an Austin Healey 100S, Ferrari 250 MM, a Jaguar XK 120 roadster and a JD Classics ex-works Fantuzzi Alfa Romeo 1900 Berlina.  At the request of the organisers, JD Classics also provided a fully equipped service support vehicle for Jaguar competition cars taking part in the event.  

Derek Hood, Managing Director, commented: “Without doubt this year’s Mille Miglia has been an incredible experience. I’d really like to congratulate and say a huge thank you to all the JD Classics technicians and support crew who worked through the night for to keep nine Jaguar Heritage Racing cars and six customer cars in fine form.

Jaguar Heritage Racing entries (supported by JD Classics):

1.   Juan Manuel Fangio C-Type '70 XVK' (Bernard Kuhnt & Milow)
2.   C-Type 'NDU 289' (Brian Johnson & Mark Dixon)
3.   XK 120 'OOF' (David Blakeley & Jodie Kidd)
4.   XK 120 ‘LXO 126’ (Jay Leno & Ian Callum)
5.   XK 120 ‘LXF 731’ (Example & Erin Gleave)
6.   XK 120 ‘LWK 707’ (Mike Cross)
7.   D-type ‘393 RW’ (Martin Brundle & Bruno Senna)
8.   XK 120 ‘OVT 325’ (Jeremy Irons & Charlie Turner)
9.   C-type ‘MDU 212’ (Andy Wallace & Richard Frankel)