Car of the Week: This Rare 1957 Jaguar Could Fetch More Than $14 Million at Auction
For discerning car collectors who might have missed out on the spectacular, metallic blue 1957 Jaguar XKSS that sold last year at auction in Monterey for $13.2 million through RM Sotheby’s, there’s a new opportunity to acquire one of these fabled race cars for the road. On November 2, chassis No. XKD 540 will cross the block at the inaugural RM Sotheby’s London Peninsula Auction.
This is one of the 16 XKSS two-seaters converted from Le Mans–winning D-Type race cars by Jaguar between 1957 and 1958. Adding to its considerable collectability is the fact that it’s one of only two cars to retain its coveted XKD chassis number. The second one, chassis No. XKD 533, is part of the world-class car collection of fashion icon Ralph Lauren.
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Concerning the exquisite example on offer, Michael Squire, director of research at RM Sotheby’s, tells Robb Report: “This is unquestionably one of the finest XKSSs in existence, a car that is comprehensively documented, impeccably preserved, and has always been fastidiously maintained.”
Finished in stealthy black with a black-leather interior, the highly coveted automobile is distinguished by its bare, riveted-aluminum side panels and two-piece magnesium-alloy wheels—the latter featuring distinctive, red-painted centers. While in recent years the car has been sympathetically restored, it still retains an alluring patina, especially on its slightly scuffed and scratched dashboard.
“That’s the true beauty of this car,” says Squire. “Over its 69-year life, it has been raced and driven hard, as it was intended, giving it this lovely, mellowed look and feel.”
Squire explains that XKD 540 was completed at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory on November 1, 1955, as a “short-nose” D-Type race car finished in the marque’s classic British Racing Green complemented by a green-leather interior. Its first registered owner was British textile magnate and hill-climb competitor Phil Scragg, who bought the car in April 1957 after it had been sitting unsold for 18 months.
After a few hill-climb contests, Scragg sent the car back to Jaguar in November 1958 for a conversion to road-legal XKSS specification. This involved removing the D-Type’s large headrest fairing, iconic tail fin, and center cockpit divider. The work also entailed installing a passenger door, a wraparound windshield, side screens, and a basic folding top made of canvas.
“After Jaguar withdrew from racing in 1956, it was a clever way for the company to convert the remaining, soon-to-be-obsolete D-Type race cars into astonishingly capable road cars. In doing so, Jaguar created what was essentially the world’s first supercar,” says Squire.
Arguably the most famous XKSS is chassis No. 713, once owned by actor Steve McQueen, who paid just $5,000 for the car in 1958. Christened “The Green Rat” by McQueen, it’s now owned by the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and valued at well over $30 million.
Records show that Scragg sold XKD 540 in late 1959 to accomplished British hill-climber Jack Browning who, the following year, had Jaguar uprate the car’s throaty straight-six engine—making close to 250 hp—from a displacement of 3.4 liters to 3.8 liters for even stronger performance. After a number of successful outings, the car was passed on to another hill climber, Betty Haig. Then, in 1962, the car was shipped to Australia, ending up in the stable of a Melbourne-based hill-climb and drag-race enthusiast, Colin Hyams.
“Among all the photos of the car we’ve found, we have one of the great Jim Clark at the wheel, accompanied in the passenger seat by his friend and rival, Jackie Stewart. The two Scots apparently sampled the car while they were contesting the 1967 Tasman race series,” says Squire.
In 1972, XKD 540 found its way back to the UK and into the care of noted Jaguar collector and concours d’elegance enthusiast Bryan Corser, who pampered it for more than a decade before it was passed on to German collector Hermann Graf von Hatzfeldt in 1985. Hatzfeldt piloted the car in the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia Storica rally and a number of Oldtimer Grand Prix events at Nürburgring during his 24 years of stewardship.
Fast forward to 2008 and XKD 540 was sold to prominent Polish entrepreneur Jarolsav Pawluk, who had the car overhauled—both mechanically and with regards to bodywork—by UK-based Jaguar specialist Pearsons Engineering. After more than a decade in his hands, Pawluk sold the Jaguar to its current owner in 2017.
According to Squire, “This is a hugely significant car, and will be the very first XKSS to be offered at auction in Europe.” He goes on to mention it “would form the centerpiece of any world-class collection.” And that it should, considering its high-end estimate of almost $14.4 million.
Click below for more photos of this rare 1957 Jaguar XKSS.
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