This Week @ Coys: Jaguar D-Type XKSS
By Gunnar Heinrich
BEFORE the E-Type, there was the Jaguar D-Type. And during the D-Type years there was the XKSS.
“A lightly road-equipped D Type, complete with full windscreen, wipers, hood and rear luggage rack, produced to make use of the remaining D Type components at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory. After the disastrous fire that ripped through the factory in 1957, however, just 16 examples escaped unscathed, making the XKSS indisputably the rarest and most desirable of all Jaguar road cars,” stated Coys of Kensington.
Ah! A clue!
Generally, the British auto auctioneer is mum on the price of its cars (online) but buried deep within the explanatory text on this most splendid British racing or “Brewster” green Jag, Coys mentioned the average price of so rare a car to be around £2 million (currency watchers: that’s $3.92 million, €2.53 million, or 12.85 million Malaysian Ringgits).
FYI: This Jaguar bests the 300SL’s performance times by accelerating to sixty in 4.7 seconds and leaping on to a maximum speed beyond 170mph!
[Linked: Coys]
About the Author: Gunnar Heinrich is publisher of Automobiles De Luxe online and is executive producer of the Automobiles De Luxe Television series on PBS member station CPTV.
Leslie | Jun 20, 2008 | Reply
Wow! on both the acceleration and the price…
Gunnar | Jun 20, 2008 | Reply
Four point seven seconds is fast by any measure. Particularly impressive considering the technology and moneys available to Jaguar then.
Mark | Jun 21, 2011 | Reply
I understand the XKSS was developed by Jaguar after a guy called John Goddard in Australia made the corresponding modifications to a D-Type.