Jaguar will build nine new 1957 XKSS sports cars to replace the examples lost when the Browns Lane factory in which they were built caught fire and burned down almost 60 years ago.
“The XKSS occupies a unique place in Jaguar’s history and is a car coveted by collectors the world over for its exclusivity and unmistakable design,” Tim Hannig, director of Jaguar Classic, said in a release.
“Jaguar Classic’s highly skilled team of engineers and technicians will draw on decades of knowledge to ensure each of the nine cars is completely authentic and crafted to the highest quality.”
The automaker’s heritage division, Jaguar Land Rover Classic, will hand-build these “continuation cars” in its Warwick facility, to their original 1957 specifications.
Related: How classic cars are restored to their original state
The Jaguar XKSS was born of the iconic D-Type race car of 1955. After those cars won Le Mans in ’55, ’56 and ’57, Jaguar’s Sir William Lyons decided to modify the remaining 25 D-Types into street-legal vehicles instead of building them as race cars.
Jaguar had built 16 of these new XKSS sports cars when a fire consumed the Browns Lane factory where the remaining nine, destined for U.S. export, were being assembled, destroying the cars.
The nine new cars Jaguar is building 59 years later will cost roughly $1.875 million-plus Canadian each; it’s been reported six have already been spoken for. The cars will begin delivery to their new owners in early 2017.
Related: The 15 most expensive new cars available today
Jaguar Land Rover Classic, which provides cars, services, and parts to classic Jag owners, cut its teeth on building continuation cars when it began assembly of six aluminum-bodied Lightweight E-type race cars in December 2014.
Those cars were similarly meant to finish a run of 1963 cars that ended up never being built; the continuation cars wore the remaining unused chassis numbers of that original lightweight racer series.
