Rarest Jaguar car in existence to be unveiled after restoration

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Rarest Jaguar car in existence to be unveiled after restoration

Postby dutchman » Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:18 pm

The 1954 vehicle has been shown in public just once before

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Over 40 years after it was last seen, the rarest Jaguar car in existence is set to go on public display once more.

Painstaking restoration work has been done to the one of a kind motor.

A 13 strong team at restoration company Classic Motor Cars (CMC) has spent the last two years bringing the Coventry assembled 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE back to its former glory.

Believed to be the only Pininfarina bodied Jaguar XK120 SE in existence, it’s history has proved to be a mystery for classic car enthusaists and many will be eagerly anticipating the unveiling of the vehicle at the Pebble Beach Concours in California, on Sunday August 20th.

Peter Neumark, Chairman of the Employee Ownership Trust that runs CMC said: “We always said that we would unveil the car for the first time at Pebble Beach and that is exactly what we are going to do.

“I will have the privilege of taking the cover off the car at the world famous Concours d’Elegance in California and I think that car collectors and aficionados from around the world are going to be astounded by what they see.”

CMC have to date kept the car under wraps, only offering a brief glimpse of what it looks like ahead of the grand unveiling.

Car historians believe that the vehicle has been on show just once in its existence, at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show.

David Barzilay, Chairman of CMC’s operating board, said: “There is little trace of the car’s history, but we are certain that there was only one XK120 by Pininfarina produced, which makes this one of the rarest Jaguars in existence.”

First owned by a New York based Mr. Max Hoffman, a German gentleman purchased the vehicle in 1978, with the intention of restoring it. Unfortunately, he never got around to it and so the task fell to CMC, who obtained the motor, which spent at least 20 years in storage, two years ago.

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For anyone not familiar with classic car shows, the Pebble Beach Concourse is the biggest event of the year anywhere in the world and just to be invited to exhibit is considered a huge honour.
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