Back in 2014, Jaguar Land Rover’s Classic division built six recreations of the Lightweight E-Type homologation special. Fast-forward to 2016, and here we are today, in the presence of yet another faithful recreation inspired by a classic model. Cue the pre-production prototype of the 2017 Jaguar XKSS Continuation Series.
By Continuation Series, what Jaguar is trying to say is that each and every 2017 XKSS will be “authentically produced to exact 1957 specification” by a team of craftsmen. Nine units are to be made, the first of the lot slated to be delivered in Q1 2017. The question is, why did Jaguar decide to continue production of the XKSS 60 years after it was confined to the history books?
The XKSS was born in the 1950s as a road-going version of the awe-inspiring D-Type. You know, that D-Type with an off-center bump in the hood and a ginormous headrest tail fin, the D-Type that won Le Mans three times from 1955 to 1957. In 1957, however, nine units of the XKSS were earmarked for import into the United States of America, but Jaguar couldn’t fulfill the order.
Lying around the Browns Lane factory in various states of build, those nine XKSS cars were lost in a fire. Thus, 16 cars out of a planned production of 25 were completed by the time Jaguar pulled the plug on the XKSS. Almost six decades after the fire that put an abrupt end to the original XKSS, Jaguar is set to complete the 25-strong production with the Continuation Series cars.
According to Jaguar, every unit has been spoken for more than £1 million. At the current exchange rates, that translates to $1.25 million. This kind of money buys you more than just a drop-dead gorgeous bodyshell and wood-rimmed steering wheel. It also buys you the performance that convinced the King of Cool to get an XKSS back in the day. 3.4-liter straight-six, three Weber DC03 carburetors, 262 hp, and a curb weight of less than a metric ton, that is.
Kev Riches, the engineering manager at Jaguar Classic, said: “The XKSS is one of the most important cars in Jaguar’s history, and we are committed to making the ‘new original’ version absolutely faithful to the period car in every way. From the number, type and position of all the rivets used – there are more than 2,000 in total – to the Smiths gauges on the dashboard, everything is the same as the original cars, because that is the way it should be.”
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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