It is probably the most thinly disguised competition machine for the road. And as such, in our estimation, it is the coolest motor car. Ever.

In the 1950s, Jaguar was the dominant British marque around the world. Its racing cars were
tearing up the opposition at circuits everywhere – particularly in the tough and dangerous Le Mans 24 Hours at La Sarthe. The motoring world was agog at the firm’s incredible string of five victories at this fast and furious French track, where speed, courage, endurance and guts were required to vanquish the opposition from Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz. Names like Moss, Hawthorn, Hamilton, Rolt, Sanderson, Flockhart and Bueb are embedded in our collective consciousness.

Incredibly, if you were a well-heeled young blade in 1957, you could have picked up your heavy black Bakelite telephone receiver and dialled Coventry 88681 to order one of the devastatingly successful Le Mans race-winning D-types. Even more amazingly, you could have one suitably fettled for use on the public road.

At that time, Jaguar was absolutely the car to beat at La Sarthe. The earlier C-types had taken the crown twice in ’51 and ’53, the first time the race had been won at an average speed of over 100mph. The replacement D-type might have been victorious on its maiden outing in ’54 but for sand in the fuel tanks. It won in ’55 and ’56, and would go on to take five of the top six places in ’57, with the Ecurie Ecosse privateers securing first and second. This was the 160mph motor car for the keen, press-on driver – especially in road-going trim.

This street-legal D-type was badged the XKSS. It was a full-on production machine lightly worked over by a few fellows with their planishing hammers in the factory to make it a little more user-friendly for the gentleman driver and his genteel passenger. Work involved removing the tail fin and the division between driver and passenger, plus adding a full-width windscreen, nearside door, folding hood and side screens, touring instrument panel, well-upholstered interior, luggage rack, dainty bumpers and rear lights from the XK140. And that was it: from race winner to road car with a little deft use of the old tin-snips!

At the end of the 1956 season, Jaguar had announced its withdrawal from direct involvement in motor sport, saying that it would rather leave the racing to privateer teams. The 100 planned D-types were proving difficult to shift, so the company came up with the idea of the XKSS. But three weeks after the launch of the new model, fire gutted the Browns Lane works and destroyed the body jigs and other tooling used to manufacture the D-types. Nine cars were lost in the blaze, although the 16 that had already been converted to XKSS-spec survived. The factory later reworked two more customer-owned D-types to road-going mode, so the 18 limited-edition XKSS cars (as opposed to 54 C-types and 77 D-types) remain the rarest production-line Jags in existence.

Some might argue that the XKSS is neither the most beautiful nor the most graceful of classic Jaguars. The original XK120 Fixed-Head Coupé, the C-type and the E-type are often held up as being some of the best designs to have come out of Browns Lane, and they certainly are stunningly styled. However, the XKSS has an extra quality that makes it supremely special: it remains a savagely successful racing car, half-civilised for road use.

Except it wasn’t! It was, in fact, a worked-over long-distance competition machine equipped with rudimentary road-going equipment to make it conform to the Sports Car Club of America’s ‘Class C Production’ regulations for wealthy gentlemen drivers to enjoy in the prestigious club racing in the ’States. That never came to fruition as insufficient numbers were produced. The equivalent today would be putting a call into Audi’s competition department on your iPhone and asking if it has any R10 TDI Le Mans cars to go. With air-conditioning and parking sensors, naturally; well, it is a diesel, after all!

The clues to the Jaguar XKSS’s race car intent are evident in the heat-shielded exterior exhaust pipe that runs under the passenger door. Then there are the leather bonnet straps, lock-down catches, exposed rivets, stick-on front number plate and magnesium wheels, all of which indicate this purposeful motor car’s aspirations. The dry-sump engine and an instrument panel that would look at home in a Supermarine Spitfire rather give the game away as well…

Steve McQueen is undoubtedly becoming overexposed in the classic car world as ‘Mr Cool’. But he was the most popular and highest-earning actor of his time, and he knew a thing or two about exciting motors, ranging from countless flat-out laps in a Porsche 917 whilst filming Le Mans to throwing a green Ford Mustang around the streets of San Francisco in Bullitt. McQueen owned a whole host of fast cars – including a Jaguar XKSS.

He purchased his own example in 1956 and enjoyed blasting it up Mulholland Drive. On one occasion he was pulled over for speeding. His wife Neile in the passenger seat was six months’ pregnant, so he came up with the excuse that she was in labour. A police escort rushed them to hospital where, of course, the ‘false alarm’ was exposed. McQueen sold his XKSS in 1969, but bought it back in 1977 and kept it until his death in 1980. The man could have had any motor car he chose, and he chose the XKSS.

Looking at the example in these wonderful photographs, it really is the most evocative creation. Malcolm Sayer’s aerodynamic aluminium bodywork appears to have been sparely poured over the mechanical components underneath, yet it proved to be functional, distinctive, beautiful and assertive. The aerodynamics were extremely advanced for the time, aiding the car’s prodigious top speed. All in the name of engineering efficiency, granted, but just look at the feline curves, open snout, upwardly thrusting bonnet line, taut flanks, powerful hips and tightly tapered rump. The Jaguar is pure animal! It exudes an instinct for speed and action. It is handsome yet feminine. All astonishing stuff from those hard-bitten engineers from the Midlands.

In absolute detail the windscreen, reputedly a rear window from a Buick or Chrysler, is a little too upright, while the soft-top is a very simple device and the bumpers are vestigial at best. But so what? This simply gives the SS racing car an attractive and dangerous demeanour. These additions were an attempt to make this Mulsanne warrior just decorous enough for road use.

Driving the supposedly ferocious XKSS is much like driving any other of the marque’s classics. While it is a pure-bred racing car capable of 160mph flat-out with a 4.7-second lunge to 60mph from rest, it remains, instinctively, a Jaguar. So it has an underlying gentleness – an initial softness and relaxed feel. But tweak its tail and the fangs emerge.

The 3.4-litre dry-sump straight-six runs on three Weber DCO3/45mm carburettors and pumps out a fulsome 250bhp. But it also produces a swell of torque – 242lb ft at 4000rpm – so it is no high-revving prima donna. Characteristically, that evocative engine is the heart of this sports car; a masterpiece of design, performance and reliability. The work of William Heynes, Harry Weslake and Walter Hassan, it is undoubtedly one of the best power units the world has ever seen. Like any great piece of engineering design the Jaguar works all-of-a-piece. To complement the lusty motor, the seductive body not only looks delicious but also gives the car a wind-cheating form to achieve its absolute best. It is incredible to realise that the XKSS weighs just 921kg (2030lb).

It has front and rear spaceframe sub-structures bolted to a central monocoque of sheet aluminium. The front suspension uses unequal-length forged-steel wishbones sprung by longitudinal torsion bars. The rear suspension consists of a live axle located by four trailing arms. A single transverse torsion bar is attached to the forward ends of the lower arms and an A-shaped member provides lateral location. With anti-roll bars front and rear plus rack-and-pinion steering, the simple suspension proves remarkably effective – especially at getting muscle down on a smooth race circuit.

So, with power, aerodynamic efficiency and a capable chassis taken care of, what else does the all-conquering Jaguar have to offer? Dunlop disc brakes: emphatically the chaps from Coventry were ahead of the international competition in this important area.

At the top of its game then – but what is the XKSS like to drive? In a word: fabulous. The whole fighter plane analogy comes to mind. Its leather interior has an aroma of a rich history. Those soft aluminium body curves suggest high-speed miles tearing down dark roads as fast as you dare.

Once you’ve settled in behind that large wood-rimmed steering wheel, the Jaguar is a tight fit. Switch on, allow the fuel pumps to prime, depress the starter button and fire up. The Webers emit a more hungry sucking sound than the usual SUs found on most Jaguar engines, and they spit and fluff initially. Allow the motor to come up to temperature and it produces an oily scent as it becomes ready.

The obstreperous old Moss gearbox wants more time, so be patient; the clutch needs a good shove and the shift requires a firm but slow hand. The XKSS moves off in high first gear. Press the throttle pedal and the car leaps forward. On the move, the steering is super sharp and the Jag immediately feels light and frisky. On broken roads the firm and rudimentary suspension is challenged, but the lightweight chassis compensates for that. You place the car with the seat of your pants – plant your foot and hold on, because it lunges forward with a willingness that is irrepressible. And the soundtrack is orchestral, the fit and strong bark of a race-tuned Jaguar engine.

Lithe and lusty, the XKSS is resolutely a pure-bred racing thoroughbred only ever available to the few. It offers unfettered driving in its purest form. On skinny tyres it will slide and counter-slide, lock its brakes, and react to your slightest wrist action and prod of the throttle with an unremitting zeal. It is probably the most thinly disguised competition machine for the road. And as such, in our estimation, it is the coolest motor car. Ever.

Back to main story
Back to number two

Leave your feedback: