Classic Comeback Of Jaguar

As the first of only nine Jaguar XKSS cars rolls out, we look at how the legendary model was re-made to exact 1957 specifications.

- Sunanda Vaid

THE ORIGINAL XKSS WAS A LEGENDARY car. A lot of people still refer to it as the “world’s first supercar” but vintage car buffs know it as the street-legal version of the multiple Le Mans-winning D-type, another Jaguar classic that was built from 1954 to 1956. This reissue—or “new original,” as Jaguar calls it—holds special prominence because it is like a tribute to the nine XKSS cars that were lost in a fire at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in 1957. That meant only 16 examples of XKSS were ever built, and this is the first time a genuine XKSS has been built in 60 years.

It’s a beauty, for sure, and one that we are unlikely to forget in fan boy moments. The car has sexy curves, a deep throaty soundtrack and enough power to set a track or two ablaze. Jaguar Classic, the carmaker’s specialist division that has built this beauty, has used many of the same processes and tools—including the construction of the braze-welded chassis—to create these nine cars and to make them as “historically accurate” as possible. Through its new Experimental division in Coventry, the car maker deployed a team of designers and engineers who have ensured that every part of the XKSS, from the MotoLita steering wheel and Smiths dials to the underbody, are collector-worthy.