Jaguar celebrated their past and future in equal measure at this year’s L.A. Auto Show. They did this by revealing a perfect re-creation of their iconic 1957 XKSS roadster alongside their cutting-edge plug-in SUV concept, the I-Pace. They also committed to the electrification of half of their current lineup by 2020.
With all of the hype around driverless cars and the latest innovations in automotive design, it’s ironic that one of the stars of this year’s L.A. Auto Show is an open-top Jaguar sports car from the 1950s.
But the XKSS isn’t any old sports car. And the model on display—a perfect re-creation of the 1957 original, down to the position and composition of each of its 2000-plus rivets—is something nine U.S. car collectors have been waiting 60 years to see.
In 1957, nine XKSS models destined for the U.S. were destroyed when a fire broke out at the Jaguar factory. The blaze also wiped out the machinery needed to build replacements.
Jaguar is now completing the order. But doing so has meant sourcing original brakes, working in imperial rather than metric dimensions, making new cast iron elements, and even employing bronze braising techniques to build the chassis.
“We are committed to making the ‘new original’ version absolutely faithful to the period car in every way,” said Kev Riches of Jaguar Classic Engineering. “Everything is the same as the original cars, because that is the way it should be.”
Still, all of this raises the question: “Why go to so much trouble?”
The answer is that the original XKSS vies with the Mercedes 300SL for the title of the world’s first supercar. It was derived as a road-going version of the 1955 Le Mans-winning D-Type. (That’s a car that recently sold for $21 million at auction.) Just 25 examples were planned and only 16 were completed.
This new car is the first of nine planned replacement models that will be painstakingly built over the next 18 months. (Each will require 10,000 man hours to complete.) Each model is already spoken for, despite its $1.24 million price tag.
The XKSS reveal—hosted at the Petersen Automotive Museum—is quite different from the virtual-reality show the company staged to launch their first electric SUV, the I-Pace. But both convey the same message, according to Jaguar Land Rover.
“We are shaping the future, developing our own approach to autonomy, connectivity, and electrification,” said Dr. Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover’s CEO.
During his presentation, Speth pledged to offer half of all new Land Rover and Jaguar models with an electrified drivetrain (i.e. hybrid or electric) by 2020. “Design leadership, technical innovation, and engineering excellence lie at the heart of this responsible business,” he said. —Relaxnews
Check out a couple of additional shots of the XKSS below.
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