First supercar is back

image of the car, from the body to chassis, and including all parts required.

The body is made from magnesium alloy, as it was in 1957, and because the original styling bucks do not exist, Jaguar Classic produced a new, bespoke styling buck based on the original bodies from the 1950s.

The bodies of the nine new cars will be formed on this buck, using traditional processes and parts such as Dunlop disc brakes and magnesium alloy wheels.

The nine cars will be completely new, with period chassis numbers from the XKSS chassis log.

Each will be hand- built and it is estimated that 10,000 man hours will go into building each one.

Under the bonnet, the XKSS is powered by a 262hp, 3.4-litre, straight six, Jaguar D- type engine with completely new cast iron blocks, new cast cylinder heads and three Weber DC03 carburetors.

Inside, the ‘new original’ XKSS features perfect recreations of the original Smiths gauges.

Everything from the wood of the steering wheel, to the grain of the leather seats, through to the brass knobs on the XKSS dashboard, is precisely as it would have been in 1957.

Minor specification changes have been made only to improve driver and passenger safety, says the company.

Kev Riches, Jaguar Classic Engineering Manager, says: “The XKSS is one of the most important cars in Jaguar’s history, and we are committed to making the ‘new original’ version absolutely faithful to the period car in every way.

“From the number, type and position of all the rivets used – there are more than 2,000 in total – to the Smiths gauges on the dashboard, everything is the same as the original cars, because that is the way it should be.”

The XKSS is the second continuation car to be created by Jaguar, following on from the six Lightweight E-types built in 2014.