CONTINUATION JAGUARS DISPLAY STRONG VALUE AT RM SOTHEBY’S

RM SOTHEBY’S most recent Elkhart, Indiana auction saw 240 cars cross the block, but three in particular stood out.

All three appeared to be vintage Jaguar racers; an XKSS, a D-Type and an E-type Lightweight. Except, all are actually modern ‘continuation’ cars recently built by Jaguar since 2015. It was also the XKSS and D-Type’s first appearance at auction.

Six lightweight E-Types were announced in 2015, to complete the original intended run of 18 units (just 12 were completed in period).

Priced at a reported US$1.5 million new, all six sold out almost immediately. The RM Sotheby’s example sold for US$1.71 million.

The following year, Jaguar announced that it would complete its intended run of 25 XKSS, by completing the remaining nine that were not finished due to the Brown’s Lane fire. All cars sold out instantly at a reported US$1.5 million. RM Sotheby’s sold theirs for US$1.99 million.

The 25 new D-types were announced in 2018 – produced in order to complete the brand’s intended 100 unit run.

Estimated to cost around US$1.5 million each, all were sold in short order. Available in both longnose and shortnose configuration, the car offered at the auction was a shortnose example, and sold for US$1.35 million.

Many collectors have questioned how these nonperiod ‘continuation’ cars would fare on the secondary market. In Jaguar’s case, it seems their value and provenance are protected by their exacting period manufacturing techniques, as well as being produced in the same Brown’s Lane location. They best represent the ‘continuation’ ethos as Jaguar is simply completing their original planned production, decades later.

Many also questioned whether these modern recreations would dilute the values of those rare original cars. In the case of Aston Martin’s 25-new DB4 GT continuations (which increased the original production pool by 25 per cent), values of original cars actually increased significantly. So the originals are always best – but these costly continuations might almost be deemed good value by comparison.