About a year ago, Jaguar announced production of nine XKSS continuation models to complement the existing 16 cars that weren’t destroyed by a production-halting factory fire in 1957.
Those nine models are set for delivery this spring. Unless you already ponied up $1.5 million for a new XK Super Sport, you’ll just have to settle for one of the original 16, like the one that’s hitting the block on March 10th in Florida.
Finished in British Racing Green with a tan leather upholstery interior, this car — chassis number 716 — took the checkered flag at 11 of 12 of the first races it competed thanks in no small part to the ability to hit 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds, 0 to 100 in 13.6 seconds and having a 149 mph top speed.
Those speed figures branded the XKSS as the “world’s first supercar.”
“That was pretty hot in 1957,” Jaguar spokesman Nathan Hoyt told The Drive. “It’s a car that’s completely analog, no power steering, no power brakes, just a lap belt inside.”
The 262-HP car was not a show model and was driven frequently throughout the years, but recently underwent a massive restoration that largely returned its chassis, body, cylinder head and engine — a 3.4-liter inline six-cylinder — back to their original states of near perfection.
Thanks to its top condition and rarified status, number 716 is expected to fetch up to $18 million and has an outside chance at topping $21.8 million and setting an auction record for any British car.
You got about a month to stockpile shillings.
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
