The Exceptional Success of the 1956 Jaguar XKSS

The D-Type was a true success story for Jaguar. It would be a dominant force in sports car racing, but its best years came without official manufacturer support following the marque’s decision, late in 1956, to concentrate its efforts wholly on road-car production.

This abrupt withdrawal from motor sport activities meant that several D-types remained, some still at the Browns Lane factory, others languishing unsold on showroom floors.

At the time, the American market was hot for European sports cars. Sir William Lyons, seeing the potential for sales success across the pond, ordered a small run of road-going versions of the remaining D-types, to be called the XKSS.

The changes to the racing cars were relatively minor, with the removal of both the fin behind the driver and the divider between the seats, plus the addition of a passenger-side door.

To make the car more suitable for everyday road use, a full-width chrome-bordered windscreen, side screens, and a fabric roof were added. The XKSS also gained indicators, a pair of chromed front bumpers, tail-light clusters from an XK140 and thin chrome strips around the headlight fairings.

Just 16 cars had left the factory before a fire at Browns Lane destroyed nine others that had been destined for the USA. In 2016, Jaguar announced a series of nine ‘continuation’ cars, built to the original specification.

I got to see this car in the picture at Concours of Elegance 2023 and found out it was originally built as D-type chassis XKD 550. It went into stock at Jaguar dealer Appleyards, in Leeds, where it remained unsold for several months.

XKD 550 became XKSS 769, the 16th and final D-type to be converted by the factory. It was dispatched on November 19, 1957 to Jaguar Cars in New York and was sold to Tossie Alex.

It’s likely that Alex clocked up more racing miles in this car than any other XKSS, including at tracks such as Road America, Wilmot, Meadowdale and Lime Rock.

It was purchased by a Dr Beiver of New York in 1964, before being sold in the early-70s to Frank Opalca. Then, in 1991, the XKSS went into the long-term ownership of Gerald Nell of Wisconsin, who, over the course of 18 years, added more than 20,000 miles to its odometer.

The current family bought the car from Gerald’s widow in 2009. It remains in full factory conversion specification. It won its class at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2013.