Photo: Brian Henniker for Gooding & Company
Classic cars are a risky type of investment according to those who trade on the stock market, but still, there’s a bit of genius to this madness. The Jaguar XKSS proved it and then some.
Born right after the Jaguar decided to retire the D-Type from racing, the XKSS is, in essence, a D-Type with just a little bit more creature comforts. Even in terms of styling, there’s little difference between the XKSS and its race-ready counterpart.
Of the original production run of 25 units, Jaguar managed to manufacture only 16 XKSSs. The remaining nine cars are part of a continuation series authentically produced to original specs by craftsmen from the blueprints of the 1957 model. It’s not a mystery Jaguar asks more than £1 million a pop, but still, the original beats its modern reinterpretation by an ample margin.
Want to have a guess how much Gooding & Company wants for the pictured XKSS? The lowest pre-auction estimate is a mind-boggling $16 million. The highest? $18 million appears to be just about right. By comparison, an Ecurie Ecosse D-Type holds the record for the most expensive British classic car ever sold at auction, fetching a whopping $21.78 million.
Back in the day, this magnificent leaping cat from days long gone past was raced in Canadian events between 1957 and 1961. The current owner bought chassis number 716 in 2000. Ten years ago, the consignor restored the car in a money-no-object sense of the word. The photos provided by Gooding & Company reveal that this XKSS present itself in tip-top shape.
“A decade has passed since an XKSS was last offered for sale at public auction,” underlines Gooding & Co., “with most examples now jealously guarded in private collections. When the next example might become available is anyone’s guess, but it will almost certainly pale in comparison to XKSS 716.”
Of the original production run of 25 units, Jaguar managed to manufacture only 16 XKSSs. The remaining nine cars are part of a continuation series authentically produced to original specs by craftsmen from the blueprints of the 1957 model. It’s not a mystery Jaguar asks more than £1 million a pop, but still, the original beats its modern reinterpretation by an ample margin.
Want to have a guess how much Gooding & Company wants for the pictured XKSS? The lowest pre-auction estimate is a mind-boggling $16 million. The highest? $18 million appears to be just about right. By comparison, an Ecurie Ecosse D-Type holds the record for the most expensive British classic car ever sold at auction, fetching a whopping $21.78 million.
Back in the day, this magnificent leaping cat from days long gone past was raced in Canadian events between 1957 and 1961. The current owner bought chassis number 716 in 2000. Ten years ago, the consignor restored the car in a money-no-object sense of the word. The photos provided by Gooding & Company reveal that this XKSS present itself in tip-top shape.
“A decade has passed since an XKSS was last offered for sale at public auction,” underlines Gooding & Co., “with most examples now jealously guarded in private collections. When the next example might become available is anyone’s guess, but it will almost certainly pale in comparison to XKSS 716.”
Google News