BETTER PARTSRetro, only in real
Los Angeles (United States), 10 November 2016
Peace was almost 60 years, can now resurrect the great XKSS Jaguar. Away from the mass crowds of the Los Angeles Auto show today in the Petersen Museum of Los Angelels the first of nine new old models, which include a "missing link" in the history of the brand the British showed.
Destroyed in the fire
History to do this is as follows: as Jaguar in 1956 from the factory support Motorsport withdrew, had to stand all of a sudden a few D-types, as well as a bunch of surplus parts. So it was decided to reconstruct this D-type to road cars by one installed washers, canopies and racks. The mechanism was left largely untouched. A run of 25 cars was the goal, nine specimens (all for the United States determines) fell a fire in Jaguar Browns lane plant victim however. Say: In total only 16 vehicles were delivered.
16 months of construction work
At the beginning of the year Jaguar announced plans to build the nine missing copies of the XKSS now. Once more Jaguar classic, the same force that 2014 already missing six lightweight E-type was responsible must bear the responsibility. Here, you see the number one, even if it is not really the first customer vehicle. The project research lasted for 16 months. You had to study the original drawings and scanning various original parts, to obtain a complete digital image. The car painted "Sherwood green" on the images now serves as template, after which the nine "missing" cars are built.
262-Horsepower six-cylinder
All nine will be completely new cars, if they get too old chassis numbers. As in the year 1957, the body made of magnesium alloy is hand shaped. Because the original wood forms no longer exist, you summarily reconstructed it using original cars from the 50s. The Dunlop disc brakes, as well as the Dunlop tyres, which sit on riveted, two-part magnesium-aluminum alloy wheels are completely authentic. Under the hood is a 3.4 liter - six-cylinder from the D-type, which brings it up to 262 HP. Jaguar provides him with new block, new cylinder heads made of cast iron, as well as three DCO3 Weber Carburetors. Even then, the XKSS have reached a top speed of 230 km/h.
All sold out
Much was made in the Interior of the XKSS "to generate a possible contemporary cockpit feeling". The wood for the steering wheel, the grain of the leather, the brass buttons on the dashboard or the Smiths round instruments everything looks exactly the same as in the year 1957. Great. There are deviations from the historical model according to hunt only in those places where one could improve the safety of the occupants. The tank, for example, is now much more robust than the original. Total flow 10,000 man hours in the construction of each XKSS. That makes the price of one million pounds (about 1.16 million euros) at least a bit more understandable. Of course, as it currently is fashionable, all nine XKSS have already been sold. The happy customers are delivered from the beginning 2017.(sw)