Given the full works
Rare chance to buy a Jaguar SS100 that took part in the 1938 RAC Rally
Years and fortunes are spent restoring cars to way better than any factory ever thought necessary. What you then have is a beautiful object to be admired and hopefully driven, too. The one thing you cannot buff into the finish, nor take away, is a car’s history. That’s often a classic’s greatest asset and this SS100 3½-litre has it in spades. Bonhams is offering it as part of its Goodwood Festival of Speed auction on 24 June. This was one of three works SS100S entered into the 1938 RAC Rally by SS Cars Ltd, which became Jaguar in 1945 after the ‘SS’ name became tainted during WW2. All three of these works machines had successive number plates – the other two being DHP 734 and 736 – and were all finished in Gunmetal Grey with a grey interior. Even better, the first of those, driven by Jack Harrop, went on to win the rally. We can find no record of where this car finished, but a photo that comes with the car shows it taking part in the brake-test stage on Blackpool promenade with driver EH Jacobs at the wheel. Its Works rally car status and the matching numbers of its mechanical parts are confirmed by a Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust certificate. This is also one of just 116 Jaguar SS100 3½-litre roadsters made.
Quite remarkably the car has had just two owners since its rally exploits, the first of whom probably acquired it in 1945. He was a Mr Linnell and registered the SS in the name of his company, major garment manufacturer Wallis & Linnell of Kettering, which had produced uniforms during the hostilities.
He kept the car until 1980 though had treated it to a stripdown, major service, re-trim (which is possibly when the interior colour was changed to an oxblood red) and a new hood ten years earlier. The work was carried out by Hilary Brock Ltd and produced a bill for £280 that seems laughable now but was a chunk of change back then when a new Hillman Imp cost £570.
The vendor’s late husband bought the car from Linnell in 1980. It was taken to a few shows during his ownership but not used for the last few years. He had the car repainted in the Rolls-royce Regal Red that it wears to this day in 1990, finishing it off with a new light tan hood and side screens.
The body and paint still stand up well today and the rest of the car – particularly the cockpit and under the bonnet – has developed the gentle patina of careful use that tells more of the car’s story. There are lovely touches like the weather-worn VSCC and AA badges on the front and a period leather keyring from the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
Our current top guide value of £450,000 sits comfortably within Bonhams’ £400-600k estimate. I’d suggest that it’s probably also about the right price for this car. But being a genuine works car and one that’s not been on the market for over 40 years, you just never know.