Saturday 26th March
Jaguar XKSS continuation - New York 2016
A chance to make like McQueen as Jaguar commits to build 'lost' XKSS cars destroyed in Browns Lane fire
The loss of nine XKSS models destined for sale in America must have seemed like a cruel blow as William Lyons and his colleagues surveyed the smouldering remains of Browns Lane after the fire in 1957.
Small production run, big price
The surviving 16 of a production run of 25 cars instigated by Lyons from leftover D-Types did find homes in the US, one famously bought by Steve McQueen and regularly snapped with the man himself at the wheel. This American connection perhaps explains a New York show announcement for the project. But a direct bloodline to the three-time Le Mans winner D-Type and celebrity endorsement from the king of cool? No wonder the XKSS retains such mystique.The ethics of building vehicles to previously unassigned serial numbers or recreating, Phoenix like, cars previously destroyed in factory fires or other events is one no doubt to be debated among collectors, historians and auction houses. And watched closely by the likes of Ferrari's Classiche department and equivalent factory restoration operations at Porsche, Mercedes, Lamborghini and others. Who may now be rummaging through the archives for equivalent 'opportunities'. For his part JLR Classic boss Tim Hannig is evidently keen to embrace the chance to add to the world stock of factory-built and, officially, original cars. "The XKSS occupies a unique place in Jaguar's history and is a car coveted by collectors the world over for its exclusivity and unmistakable design," he says, seemingly untroubled by the apparent contradiction of increasing that pool of cars.
Well if you missed out on an E-Type...
First world problems and all that. As a demonstration of the talents of JLR's newly rebrandedand statement of intent by its Special Vehicle Operations the continuation XKSS is the perfect tool for the job. Experience gained from the Lightweight E-Type project will transfer directly and each of the cars will be built in Jaguar's new Warwick-based 'Experimental Shop' to the exact specification of the 1957 originals.Whether they will be equally valued as the originals remains to be seen but, whatever the price, you doubt they'll struggle to find nine people willing to put the money down. If you're one of them just do us a favour and don't try and pretend it automatically makes you as cool as McQueen...