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Road, News
FEB 16th 2018

7 continuations that predate the D‑Type

Jaguar’s news that it is going to make 25 new D-Types – the third such racing classic the firm is re-creating – is hardly a surprise. Continuation models are rapidly becoming a 21st century collectors’ car phenomenon as the real things gets ever more expensive and sought-after. 

Jaguar Lightweight E-Type

Jaguar Classic’s first continuation project was the Lightweight E-Type which had its UK debut at the Goodwood Revival in 2014. Just six 1963-spec cars were made, using up six chassis numbers that were reserved for the Lightweight in period but never used. The cars, each costing well over a million, were all sold as soon as the project was announced. 

Jaguar XKSS

After Jaguar quit from sports car racing in 1956 16 unfinished D-Types were made into roadgoing XKSS sports  cars – beautiful and fast and a hit with drivers at the time like Steve McQueen. Today XKSSs are rare – or rarer than they were meant to be, since nine of them were destroyed in a works fire in 1957. Jaguar Classic announced that it would be re-creating the missing nine in 2017/18. 

Aston Martin DB4 GT

Seventy five of these beauties were made by Aston between 1959 and ’63 and today survivors make cherished and highly effective historic race cars. They also cost around £3m apiece, encouraging Aston to make 25 continuation versions at half that price. Currently being hand-made at the old works in  Newport Pagnell the new DB4 GT, with 340bhp straight six, is track-only like the D-Type, and uses continuation VIN numbers from 1963 for what Aston calls “an unbroken bloodline”. See our first drive here.

Lister Knobbly

In addition to latterday Jag-based creations like its new Lister Thunder, Lister has been producing continuation versions of the Knobbly, the sumptuously curved late 1950s sports racing giant-killer powered by the Jaguar D-Type engine. The plan was to make 10 continuation Knobblys as “exact facsimiles” of the 1958 racecar (something it had also done in 1990), using original tools and drawings, to sell from £250,000 plus tax.

Lister Costin

Original Lister Costins, like Knobblys, are no strangers to the podium in historic racing, at Goodwood as elsewhere, and recently Lister announced a new run of the aerodynamic racer with its pioneering body design by Frank Costin. Like the Knobbly, the Costin would be built on the original chassis jigs and come with FIA papers for entry into certain historic events, and that for an additional £12,500 could be specced as a fully type-approved road car. Lister said ex-VAT prices would start at £295,000.

Shelby Daytona Coupe

Only six examples of the only American car to win the World Sportscar Championship were ever made – you may remember seeing them all together for the first time at Goodwood a few years ago. Chances of getting one of the six are slim, but you can get hold of a shiny and new Daytona Coupe from US firm Superperformance. It uses modern tech to re-create the wonderful looking beast, but it does also use a genuine Shelby CSX9000 chassis. It was also designed by Pete Brock (who did the original), and licensed by the late Carroll Shelby, so it’s far more continuation than copy.

Alvis Continuation Series

They have been restoring them for decades so why not make a new one? It’s what Jaguar and Aston are doing after all, the difference here being that Alvis hasn’t made a new car since 1967. On offer is a range of classics from the marque’s back catalogue – cars like the Park Ward drophead, Graber coupe and Vanden Plas Tourer – and re-created using the original works drawings and featuring continuation chassis numbers.  All are powered by newly-built versions of the firm’s 4.3-litre straight six – faithful to the 1936 design but emissions compliant. It is not known how many have been made; Alvis does say each run is limited to 25 cars.

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