Original 1957 Jaguar XKSS expected to fetch up to $20 million at auction

A rare Jaguar XKSS – the road-going counterpart to the famed mid-century D-Type race car ­– is set to cross the auction block at Monterey Car Week, with auction estimates expected to top $US14 million ($AU20.7 million).

The original-condition Jaguar will be offered by auction firm RM Sotheby's at its annual Monterey Car Week event – which invariably attracts multi-million-dollar classic cars each year – in late August, with curators describing the vehicle as “one of the absolute most original and best-preserved of the fabled XKSS examples.”

In particular, the car advertised by RM Sotheby's is noteworthy due to being a 1957-dated chassis which carries its original serial-numbered engine block, head, gearbox, rear axle, and bodywork.

There are several reasons why the Jaguar XKSS is so noteworthy, and why it could achieve such a high price at auction.

British car maker Jaguar raced its D-Type race car at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans competition in the 1950s, but withdrew the car from competition at the end of the 1956.

With a number of partially finished D-Types sitting at Jaguar’s Coventry, England factory following the end of its motorsports campaign, the brand was keen to recoup some of its investment by selling the unused chassis.

A decision was made to transform the D-Type into a road-going sports car – the XKSS – to attract US attention. According to RM Sotheby’s, young American drivers were flush with cash from a booming post-war economy and had turned towards European-built sports cars such as the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, the Ferrari 250 GT California Spider, and the Porsche 356 Speedster.

Just minor changes were made to the D-Type to turn it into a road-car – the removal of the large aerodynamic fin behind the driver, the addition of passenger-side door, and the removal of the divider between passenger and driver.

It retained the same 3.4-litre inline-six-cylinder engine as the Jaguar D-Type race car and its lithe 921kg body weight ensured its sporting intentions.

A total of 16 of the planned 25-strong production run was completed by early 1957. However, a fire erupted inside Jaguar’s factory one night, destroying the remaining nine examples.

Some 60 years later in 2016, Jaguar announced it would be completing the remainder of Jaguar D-Types from the planned 25-unit production run – built to the exact same specifications as their earlier counterparts.

These later examples are known as the “continuation” cars, but it’s the original 16 which remain the most collectible, and why RM Auctions expects the sale of this well-kept example to fetch between $US12 million and $US14 million ($AU17.7 million and $20.7 million).

Monterey Car Week will begin on August 14, 2023, with a number of other high-value classic cars set for auction including a 1956 Ferrari 250 GT Coupe Speciale, a 2020 McLaren Speedtail, a 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL, a 1965 Aston Martin DB5, and a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT.