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Jaguar has announced the second in its line of 'continuation' classic cars, following on from the €1.5 million recreation of the sixties E-Type lightweight racing cars last year. This time around, it's the iconic XKSS sports cars that are getting remade, using the nine chassis numbers of cars destroyed in the fire at Jaguar's Browns Lane factory in Coventry, England in 1957.
Jaguar says that the cars will all cost in excess of €1.5 million (and that's before taxes, folks) and it could be well in excess of that figure - original XKSSs have sold for ten times that in the past.
The original cars were based on the chassis of the D-Type sports racer, a car that won Le Mans three times on the trot in the fifties, but which had proved surplus to requirements after Jaguar withdrew from front-line racing in 1957 and the rules were changed in sports car racing to favour bigger engines. Even so, the 3.4-litre XK6 engine developed 250hp in original trim, and an XKSS can be expected to beat 5.0 seconds in the run to 100km/h from rest.
They were basic cars, with a stripped-out D-Type interior and a rudimentary roof, but they were fast and fabulous to drive and were good enough to gain the custom of celebrity owners, including a certain Steve McQueen...
The 'new' cars will be built by the newly-renamed Jaguar Classic division at a special facility in the English cathedral city of Warwick. Tim Hannig, Director Jaguar Land Rover Classic, said: "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. Jaguar Classic's highly skilled team of engineers and technicians will draw on decades of knowledge to ensure each of the nine cars is completely authentic and crafted to the highest quality. Our continuation XKSS reaffirms our commitment to nurture the passion and enthusiasm for Jaguar's illustrious past by offering exceptional cars, services, parts and experiences."
The first customers will get their cars next year, and the production run of nine will bring the total number of XKSSs built to 25.