Where can I find an XKSS (replica)?
Discussion
Greetings everyone. It looks like XKSS's don't get discussed very often, so hopefully this will be a catalyst for a few thoughts from Pistonhead experts.
I would like to buy a LR/RAM/Realm XKSS but they don't seem to come on the market very often. The last one I saw was auctioned by Bonhams in June.
My hobby budget won't stretch to an aluminium Lynx or Proteus etc., and although there's always a few RAM D-Types for sale (which can be very appealing), an XKSS is what I really want.
Does anyone have any leads, suggestions or comments on the wisdom of this? Ideally a finished car (with 16" wheels, triple Webers, a lower ride height and a slightly more inclined windscreen!), but also an incomplete project, or a car which needs some attention.
I spoke to Realm a couple of days ago and apparently 98 out of 693 produced were XK-SS's.
Regards to all.
I would like to buy a LR/RAM/Realm XKSS but they don't seem to come on the market very often. The last one I saw was auctioned by Bonhams in June.
My hobby budget won't stretch to an aluminium Lynx or Proteus etc., and although there's always a few RAM D-Types for sale (which can be very appealing), an XKSS is what I really want.
Does anyone have any leads, suggestions or comments on the wisdom of this? Ideally a finished car (with 16" wheels, triple Webers, a lower ride height and a slightly more inclined windscreen!), but also an incomplete project, or a car which needs some attention.
I spoke to Realm a couple of days ago and apparently 98 out of 693 produced were XK-SS's.
Regards to all.
There's a Realm D-Type for sale in this months JEC rag which you can find online at
http://www.jaguarclassifieds.org.uk
http://www.jaguarclassifieds.org.uk
http://www.oldracingcar.co.uk/products/lynx-xkss
May be a tiny bit less than one that left Lynx like it.
May be a tiny bit less than one that left Lynx like it.
Edited by NomduJour on Friday 14th November 11:15
Realm are the best bet. What is your budget? I guess you would be looking around £50K to build a good one. I would have thought it worth your while to get one built to your spec. MMmm... space coming up in the w/shop at the end of the year.... Kougar nearly done (cheaper alternative to a XKSS?)
I'm here! 
Realm no longer make the kits for either D-type or XKSS sadly
However, the last and final one is being built up by Trevor Williams and is for sale at about £80,000 I believe:-
http://www.twrreplicas.com/
The one that is referred to in Southampton may be this one:-
It was built by a dear friend now departed and was for sale, but the family are keeping it.
Two Lynx replicas have recently been sold but they are now out of most people's price range. This one was purchased by Chris Evans :-
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21907/lot/244/
http://www.thornleykelham.com/gallery/lynx-jaguar-...
This one was sold last week not far from the price of the other:-
http://www.oldracingcar.co.uk/products/xkss-by-lyn...
Frankly, the price of these isn't that far short of a full-on FIA-papered replica such as this:-
It now belongs to Jaguar since they bought the James Hull collection and will probably sell it off, but it'll be over £400,000 though.
There seem to be very few XKSS replicas about, but I would ask you your height and shoe size before suggesting you buy one. I am 5' 8" on a good day and even then after a reasonable journey my legs are screwed up. Any taller and it is only going to be a pub car - you just won't get comfortable at all. If you are the right size, good luck, because I am not selling mine even though I received a very tempting offer last week for my Lynx.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Lynx are now making them again in Czechoslovakia but the first one wasn't really right. The bonnet bulge, the wheel arches, are all horribly wrong but I am assured they have now got them right.
They were around £250,000 but he may well have upped the prices following the sale of the old Lynx cars. In an ordinary person's budget, if that is the right expression, only the fibre-bodied cars will be in their price range, and even then it will at the very least be £40,000 upwards. Sorry I can't really help further.
ETA:- I was googling and came across this. Seems extraordinarily cheap:-
http://www.jaguarreplicas.com/xkss.html
And by the way, I wrote the replica column for the JDC for several years. I included all types of replica, from the SS to the XKSS, and excluded none. Roger Kemp writes now and has a Realm D-type himself. John Burton is involved and his is the C-type on the right of the XKSS.
As regards the ORC XKSS for sale, that was originally the #1 Lynx and personally I find it a shame that the car was transformed into an XKSS. It was very different to subsequent cars and more a "prototype" than a "production" car. I had #2 which was very different. Moreover, it was a long nose, not a short nose, so new panels were made in the Antipodes to transform the car.
Realm no longer make the kits for either D-type or XKSS sadly
However, the last and final one is being built up by Trevor Williams and is for sale at about £80,000 I believe:-http://www.twrreplicas.com/
The one that is referred to in Southampton may be this one:-
It was built by a dear friend now departed and was for sale, but the family are keeping it.
Two Lynx replicas have recently been sold but they are now out of most people's price range. This one was purchased by Chris Evans :-
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21907/lot/244/
http://www.thornleykelham.com/gallery/lynx-jaguar-...
This one was sold last week not far from the price of the other:-
http://www.oldracingcar.co.uk/products/xkss-by-lyn...
Frankly, the price of these isn't that far short of a full-on FIA-papered replica such as this:-
It now belongs to Jaguar since they bought the James Hull collection and will probably sell it off, but it'll be over £400,000 though.
There seem to be very few XKSS replicas about, but I would ask you your height and shoe size before suggesting you buy one. I am 5' 8" on a good day and even then after a reasonable journey my legs are screwed up. Any taller and it is only going to be a pub car - you just won't get comfortable at all. If you are the right size, good luck, because I am not selling mine even though I received a very tempting offer last week for my Lynx.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Lynx are now making them again in Czechoslovakia but the first one wasn't really right. The bonnet bulge, the wheel arches, are all horribly wrong but I am assured they have now got them right.
They were around £250,000 but he may well have upped the prices following the sale of the old Lynx cars. In an ordinary person's budget, if that is the right expression, only the fibre-bodied cars will be in their price range, and even then it will at the very least be £40,000 upwards. Sorry I can't really help further.
ETA:- I was googling and came across this. Seems extraordinarily cheap:-
http://www.jaguarreplicas.com/xkss.html
And by the way, I wrote the replica column for the JDC for several years. I included all types of replica, from the SS to the XKSS, and excluded none. Roger Kemp writes now and has a Realm D-type himself. John Burton is involved and his is the C-type on the right of the XKSS.
As regards the ORC XKSS for sale, that was originally the #1 Lynx and personally I find it a shame that the car was transformed into an XKSS. It was very different to subsequent cars and more a "prototype" than a "production" car. I had #2 which was very different. Moreover, it was a long nose, not a short nose, so new panels were made in the Antipodes to transform the car.
Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 15th November 21:40
Thank you for the comprehensive expert response which covers all the options. I saw the pics of your Lynx on this site and it does look fabulous!
I spoke to Realm a few days ago and was told that production has been 'mothballed' rather than stopped. He said similar things about restricted space inside an XKSS and that a C-Type is a more practical proposition. From your description I'm too tall, but I don't want a C-Type :-(
I was at Prescott E-Type Day in June and spoke to TWR. Their price for their only XKSS at that time was to be about £65-70K with August delivery, which was described as previously built but completely dismantled and refurbished.
The Classic Jaguar Replicas blue XKSS in their website pictures was on Ebay recently for £65K. Unsold (with twin SU's, wrong steering wheel and (in my opinion) awful interior).
I know it's supply and demand but advertised prices for fibre glass cars, which are essentially home built kits, do seem to be ridiculously high with extremely variable build quality. You can't blame people for trying to get a good price but I have noticed that RAM D-Type adverts remain in place for months and months, and auctions don't reach the reserve price and are unsold.
Everyone seems to be offering aluminium bodies at the moment: TWR, CJR, Tester Engineering, and Lynx. I guess these all originate from the Czech "Oldtimer Klassic" company. £250K seems a bit steep, there must be a very healthy profit margin in there.
I suppose I'll have to wait for a fibre glass car to become available. I imagine they are passed on by word of mouth and don't necessarily make it into the ads or auctions. Or compromise on a RAM D-Type - there always seem to be a few for sale.
Thanks again for all the input. Please let me know if you hear of anything for sale.
I spoke to Realm a few days ago and was told that production has been 'mothballed' rather than stopped. He said similar things about restricted space inside an XKSS and that a C-Type is a more practical proposition. From your description I'm too tall, but I don't want a C-Type :-(
I was at Prescott E-Type Day in June and spoke to TWR. Their price for their only XKSS at that time was to be about £65-70K with August delivery, which was described as previously built but completely dismantled and refurbished.
The Classic Jaguar Replicas blue XKSS in their website pictures was on Ebay recently for £65K. Unsold (with twin SU's, wrong steering wheel and (in my opinion) awful interior).
I know it's supply and demand but advertised prices for fibre glass cars, which are essentially home built kits, do seem to be ridiculously high with extremely variable build quality. You can't blame people for trying to get a good price but I have noticed that RAM D-Type adverts remain in place for months and months, and auctions don't reach the reserve price and are unsold.
Everyone seems to be offering aluminium bodies at the moment: TWR, CJR, Tester Engineering, and Lynx. I guess these all originate from the Czech "Oldtimer Klassic" company. £250K seems a bit steep, there must be a very healthy profit margin in there.
I suppose I'll have to wait for a fibre glass car to become available. I imagine they are passed on by word of mouth and don't necessarily make it into the ads or auctions. Or compromise on a RAM D-Type - there always seem to be a few for sale.
Thanks again for all the input. Please let me know if you hear of anything for sale.
If you were at Prescott you probably saw us then. We were there with my gunmetal E-type that won the concours. As regards the possibility of an XKSS, I'll keep my ears and eyes open for you, but I strongly suggest you try before you buy. Remember that all Jaguars of that era were developed by Norman Dewis (who was there too) and he is 5' 5" or thereabouts, and my D-types were just as small, but the tunnel configuration of an XKSS makes it even more cramped.
Mothballed isn't the term I'd use for the Realm XKSS, as far as I have been informed, frankly. I heard that the person who made the bodies was dragged out of retirement to make this one last car, and having done so said firmly that he had definitively had enough. Adrian is reported as saying he was now happy just supplying spares and parts.
As regards adverts, Lynx had already been closed back at the start of the century for over 18 months and still Mayston-Taylor was still advertising and if you rang it was his home you reached and his wife answered. The factory was already sold and had become a sandwich factory; daft! This of course is before Nigel Forsyth and Tony Gott became involved.
Whatever, if you want an XKSS don't compromise with a D-type; it isn't what you want and you'll never be truly happy with it. I've toured with both and the difference between a real screen and wipers compared to a plexiglass is astounding, let alone the hail (and snow once) in the face. Also, if there are two of you, where are you going to put the luggage?
I do hear about cars from time to time and will email you if I hear of one.
Mothballed isn't the term I'd use for the Realm XKSS, as far as I have been informed, frankly. I heard that the person who made the bodies was dragged out of retirement to make this one last car, and having done so said firmly that he had definitively had enough. Adrian is reported as saying he was now happy just supplying spares and parts.
As regards adverts, Lynx had already been closed back at the start of the century for over 18 months and still Mayston-Taylor was still advertising and if you rang it was his home you reached and his wife answered. The factory was already sold and had become a sandwich factory; daft! This of course is before Nigel Forsyth and Tony Gott became involved.
Whatever, if you want an XKSS don't compromise with a D-type; it isn't what you want and you'll never be truly happy with it. I've toured with both and the difference between a real screen and wipers compared to a plexiglass is astounding, let alone the hail (and snow once) in the face. Also, if there are two of you, where are you going to put the luggage?
I do hear about cars from time to time and will email you if I hear of one.
Edited by lowdrag on Sunday 16th November 20:56
Longnose said:
He said similar things about restricted space inside an XKSS and that a C-Type is a more practical proposition. From your description I'm too tall, but I don't want a C-Type :-(
Once I was 6' I'm not now, and I have size 9&1/2 shoes.But I sat in a C-Type replica which was described as having been built specially for a taller owner and so had a extended pedal box. The salesman used to have a good C-Type replica, built by the guys in Australia and sold in the UK by RGC. Anyway I'd have been damn uncomfortable even driving it as far as the pub.
I'd like to come back at you a bit on pricing if I may. If you look at the LR price list the partially-built kit is £18,000. The list of extra parts, such as bumper set, trim, wiring loom et all - all completely essential - comes to another £14,000. You haven't got an engine or gearbox yet. So by the time you have finished assembling all the necessary you aren't going to be far short of £40,000 and all you have is a pile of bits and pieces. Up until the recent past, these cars were for the gifted amateur who could build it himself - Timmy Barnes built two and was on his second Suffolk SS100 when he died - and it was a pastime not a business. Trouble is, as prices of real cars are out of the reach of all but the extremely rich, that has filtered down to well-built replicas too, and also to the fibreglass cars. No rudeness intended here since even the Lynx cars were sneered at in the day as not being "worthy". I suffered it, with people surreptitiously feeling the wings to see if it was metal or not and listening to the snide comments. That apart, as I used to finish my articles "Live the dream". I certainly don't have £4 million to spend on a car, but in a way mine is better with the IRS, and I can still dream I am Steve McQueen. At least my replica has the bumpers from his car!
Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 6th January 17:41
Yes, interesting pricing information. I have been rummaging through recent auction results and, for example, there's plenty of choice of Cobra 'evocations' at anything between £11K and £24K. I don't want one, but the structure under the skin, parts and build time can't be very different from a D-Type or XK-SS kit. Also interesting is that less than £40K would buy a nice Aston Martin DB9 with only 29,000 miles.
I still want an XK-SS though!
I still want an XK-SS though!
Longnose said:
Yes, interesting pricing information. I have been rummaging through recent auction results and, for example, there's plenty of choice of Cobra 'evocations' at anything between £11K and £24K. I don't want one, but the structure under the skin, parts and build time can't be very different from a D-Type or XK-SS kit. Also interesting is that less than £40K would buy a nice Aston Martin DB9 with only 29,000 miles.
I still want an XK-SS though!
I could be getting mixed up with makes here but isn't the Relm kit based on a Reynard chassis that was originally developed for a Cobra kit?I still want an XK-SS though!
Re the DB9, I guess they are still on part of the value curve which slopes downward. The price you pay doesn't represent anything like the cost of making one. I looked at a Virage Volante before buying a classic Jag, new that cost more than my house did the same year. A classic and a modern are going to be very different toys. I've an XKR which by every sensible definition is a much better car than my XK150, but the classic is more interesting to drive.
I spent some time in Oldie with dear Timmy (RIP) he was not tall, bit well built and I am 5'10" and not extremely well built - to say it was close and personal is a truth, plus as said the wind hit over about 60mph is high and plus rain even worse, it seemed to come from all directions. Eye protection was vital for me.
The build quality he invested was great, detail work good and it went well with a cooking engine he seemed to have around at the time he built it - he was thorough, an excellent mechanical individual.
Very pleased (as far as I know) car and registration number stayed with his family.
Me and the E Type both miss Tim.
The size, ride and entry issues of XKSS need to be understood when you are relatively tall, well built and beyond 35.
That why the E Type is a much more friendly alternative, just my view of course.
The build quality he invested was great, detail work good and it went well with a cooking engine he seemed to have around at the time he built it - he was thorough, an excellent mechanical individual.
Very pleased (as far as I know) car and registration number stayed with his family.
Me and the E Type both miss Tim.
The size, ride and entry issues of XKSS need to be understood when you are relatively tall, well built and beyond 35.
That why the E Type is a much more friendly alternative, just my view of course.
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