The Jaguar Classic engineering team's continuation Jaguar XKSS debuted Nov. 16 at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. The team plans to create nine such cars for customers around the world in 2017.
Many consider the XKSS to be the world’s first supercar. Only were built, and nine (intended for export to North America) were destroyed in 1957 in a fire. Earlier in 2016, Jaguar’s Classic division announced that they will build the nine ‘lost’ cars.
The XKSS which debuted in Los Angeles is the result of 18 months' research. It is a blueprint of sorts for the nine continuation cars. All the cars will sport period chassis numbers from the XKSS chassis log; they have also already been sold, for more than £1 million each. The Jaguar Classic team will hand-build the cars beginning this year; 10,000 man hours will go into the construction of each car.
The Los Angeles XKSS is period correct, based on original drawings from Jaguar’s archive. The Jaguar Classic team scanned the ’57 XKSS and then used the scans to build a complete digital image of the car, including all its parts.
True to the original, the new XKSS’ body is magnesium alloy. Jaguar Classic produced a new styling buck based on the original 1950s bodies, since there no original buck was available. The new buck will be used to form the bodies of the new cars, using a process known as hand-wheeling. Frame maker Reynolds was employed to create new frames, which will be bronze-welded just like those from the 1950s. The nine new cars will roll on period specification four-wheel Dunlop disc brakes with a Plessey pump and Dunlop tires with riveted two-piece magnesium alloy wheels.
The engine is a 262hp 3.4-litre straight six-cylinder Jaguar D-type, while the car’s interior features recreations of the original Smiths gauges. From the original wooden steering wheel to the brass dashboard knobs, everything will match the 1957 specifications.The only changes are to improve safety; for instance, the fuel cell uses more modern, robust materials to accommodate modern fuels.
“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,” said Kev Riches, Jaguar Classic Engineering Manager. “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.”