The New Jaguar XKSS - Jay Leno's Garage

see what she sounds like oh my Pavarotti welcome to episode of Jay Leno's Garage something very special today and this just came up just like that because I heard they were in town Jaguars here and this is the xkss 1956 it is not a kit it is not a replica it is a brand new car built by Jaguar you know there's a whole story about the nine cars that were destroyed in a fire well these are built using the original techniques in the original materials it's pretty amazing that Jaguar with all the trouble to do this and I think it's just fantastic that they stopped by my garage here let's bring in Tim from the Jaguar Classic Center boy thanks for bringing us here this is what which thank you for having us really clearly excited yeah I think that we were likely equally excited because you know this is a I think a very very special place and we're happy that you allow us to bring the car here well no and you know you want to leave it here it's not a problem we might need it for a bit that's special you can leave it here and I certainly won't complain about it yeah I mean I think that is so great that you guys as well as some of the European manufacturers doing this classic all the parts of being available it's coming from Jaguar I mean I think that's really one of mercedes-benz does a wonderful job of it too and I think it's really great that I'll be always be able to get parts of my 120 and my XKE I mean it's amazing to me how the value of the Lowe's cars when I was in high school they were seven eight hundred bucks for an XK I mean it's it's crazy and these these they couldn't even sell in 55 right because it was just considered too specialized yeah absolutely those were actually those were actually only ever done because in 55 the d-types which were race cars they couldn't sell them so they decided let's just make a road-going card of it so that was the first supercar of a built you know in the mall winning race car converted into a road car and specifically for the US and that's why we're here because it's like definitely a us kind of spec car right so I'm crazy for the period of time well I was fortunate enough to drive Steve McQueen's and I must say I was because a lot of times you get in old cars you think okay it's nuts as fast as a new that or somebody's neither it blew me away it was the best handling one of the fastest most satisfying cars to drive I mean I was just stunned at what an exciting automobile it was I mean it handle it felt almost contemporary I was amazing it was amazing how good it was because I just expected some old you know sometimes you drive it's a long time ago this is 60 years ago it's 60 year old design but what they've done is I think you know this car was actually inspired by the by the Aero aeronautics to buy airplanes so it's like aluminium monocoque a front frame a rear frame is super strong engine and then everything is very light and the whole envelope of the car the whole frame is really like compact so the the aerodynamics are great and they're specifically built for allemaal high speeds wrench and then heartbreaks tough corners so it handles beautifully any other thing is different is because a lot of people will show up with XK replicas of one kind or another and they look pretty good but they don't have that engine they have the standard have an engine out of an XJ six or something that nature it's not cantilevered over to one side it doesn't have the same head it's a totally different it's a totally different motor and that's what makes this one so exciting okay let's let's start here this is the original color correct yeah this is the what we call Sherwood green so that was the original launch color I didn't think that there is any car out there in the moment that would be that would carry that color because the car that was the original launch couples issue resprayed and it carried a green interior but we wanted to make this special so we said this combination is pretty nice sugar green with a tan interior and you know you mentioned the engine we've actually been back over bed words and in order to get it right so we found an original and d-type block at a dealer in London that was all paper wrapped and we bought it and used it to actually make new casts so we've I think you know we can't really say how much effort we put into this but it is it's incredible and we really wanted it to make it there in any detail absolutely perfect and you're building what nine of these correct yeah yeah now as I remember there was the fire at Browns Lane right and how many chances were destroyed so they were in a matter of fact there were we always say nine cars we destroy that's correct oh we lost nine character to be a extraordinary precise in the fire five D times burned plus one that was a customer car the company gave one car back to the to the customer so he had a different detailing and four cars were actually over all this mental because they needed the parts right so overall we lost nine cars and we are replacing those nine cars that were actually earmarked to be converted into xkss so these are truly continuation cars yeah absolutely these are built exactly the same way you haven't fudged it because brakes are better now or any that it's exactly is that we've done super microscopic adjustments for example we use different brake pipe material because it's better material today and we actually use a different material for the tank bag and back thing because of ethanol because the old rubber material wouldn't actually last the minimal paper so very very very minor details in every single of that we probably debate a week and a half to make sure that we do it right can we open the hood to see sure yeah yeah absolutely can you help me on the other side sure the fact I believe was it a d-type that just sold at auction it's the highest price ever paid for British car well yeah yeah that was a detail that was a little more winning detail how much was it yeah eighteen hammer price so with all in a couple of bid more than twenty so million pounds or dollars actually dollars yeah okay well first thing the road car never had was the dry sump correct absolutely I think and that tank itself is it's actually a miracle that that actually works because it has so many rivets and screws and bolts in there so we were actually I think just making that properly and making sure that that is tight was it was quite a challenge for the team because um you know they put so many holes into this as well is quite quite tight but of course that leads to the fact that the engine comes lower quite a bit and which was good for the center of gravity of the engine if you if you look at the details you know that in time the designers had done this so tight there is hardly anywhere any space so if you look at how how close the engine sits it compared to the bonnet right hardly any space in that so and it's tilted slightly to this yeah it's tilted to the site in order to to to fit it in there properly to make the car overall you know so compared to the power and weight that this car has it's very very very small and tight now this is the D cylinder head exactly yeah absolutely bigger valves at the difference yes big uh valves at C and it comes with a three Weber carburetors so it's all the original setup as we as it was used into actually because no jag road cars ever used Weber's Curnow right so very cool so this so you've got a straight shot here that when it's cantilever a little bit like that why nicely and you can you can see actually that the the the cover of that of the of the air intake thing is actually bended out because otherwise it wouldn't fit under the bonnet so every single bit of space is there and if you look at the bonnet the the the form of the bonnet here had to follow in order to allow the the block right underneath sort of possible yeah yes it's not symmetric yeah which is on the on the later row because it's always symmetric whereas on that it had to be a symmetric to actually how's the engine well and I love the fact that all four tires are the same size it just sits nicely I mean I get a little tired he's got these mammoth huge tires in the back it just it takes some of the lightness out of them yeah you know and those will consider big tires back in the day one thing yeah absolutely you know they just look like anything you'd find on a sedan but pretty amazing it's a four speed moss box is a four speed box it's a race race box it's a race clutch as well so when we rolled it in I think you could see you know it's um it's a it's a very tough light a bear trap in America is on offer I think bad rep is a perfect word for uhm we will adopt that in England Nikola solar over here yeah sorry it's it's it's a I didn't have a thinker first gear and it has a thinker fourth gear yeah but but a fourth beat not a five-speed transmission right okay the interesting bit I think is interesting I'm detail about the cars for example the brakes and I think what Jaguar did in the period I think you know in the 50s they were so successful in the mall specifically because LeMond was all about breaking right so you know Jaguar invented the disc brake and that actually probably kept them competitive for three four five years until the restaurant recatch caught up now the independence is breaker they were the first to use it I think they invented it and developed it together bro don't know I remember Crosley in 1940 I had a disc brake and little American there a couple of her because airplanes had them but I think jag was the first to utilize it certainly a racing car yeah and an definitely and it was the first one having it on road causal a serious thing but in that time the you know these brakes are quite quite complicated they get many different cylinders and the the brake pump so the power support pump is actually on the gearbox so and that leads as well to the fact if you reverse you know there is no there's no there is no power on that so you need to be aware of that and up to up to ten miles you really need to slam it hard so that the brake really does what it wants but you know that was a development time and and of course later they they transported it yeah and this really was an innovative car you know at the time we always think of Ferrari as being state-of-the-art but they were actually quite primitive they kept drum brakes and body-on-frame and all that kind of stuff to really after everybody else did yeah fantastic engines and transmissions but braking and suspension and chassis pretty yeah I think what why he was so successful was because they've just built the best package overall right now it was a very good idea aerodynamics very small package very small outline super high performing gender performance engines and then you know the technology with this this bit is a monocoque structure and then there was a rear frame in the front frame which is quite innovative for the period of time you know Jaguar was an innovation company all the time right right and this is the last days when you could literally drive a car across Europe film all race win the race put the trophy in the passenger seat and drive back again yeah that's actually what they did it's quite funny we didn't even seem pop imagine today we're Formula one cars it treated like oh you know people get you can't a little pebble in the road oh my gosh you know you know this thing was a road car it's hilarious no it's funny because you knew some of you we get lots of the pictures and when you see a picture of like 4d types in front of a pub you know and you know the date is just staffed a little more yeah you know you know what they were doing and then they hop back on and and actually when to when went home so it's it's been a different time I would say now these on these windows do not roll down they're fixed they're fixed windows yep you get them off in the road car you could take them off yes it's either on or off and the same is you know we have a we have a roof so you could actually put the roof up but then you know you mentioned Steve McQueen's car so he had actually he had it bespoke his xkss so he for example he had a he had a glove box cover made and he had most of the time he drove it without the the wind screens and then just a tunnel roll over it and he took the took the luggage carriage away so you see different images of them and you know I remember it in the late 70s early 80s being a road car seeing his car he passed I went by him on Sunset Boulevard or being in front of a restaurant it was just a really cool road car now it's got an icon that you can't even imagine being on the street but yeah it was fun to just see it amongst because of all this has a tremendous visual impact now when you see it compared to modern cars Toyota's and things oh my god it's you know it's low and it's it's sleek I mean it really it really makes an impression the see of jelly bean cars this thing would really does stand out no it's funny because we wear around here for a couple of days luckily and you know the crew was filming and they met a former police officer and they you know he was talking yeah I used to chase people around here in the in Mulholland Drive and then we asked him oh did you ever chase Steve McQueen and saying I think of it in a green smallish car pretty loud and very fast yes differently oh that's funny yeah so we met him and he said he but he couldn't get him so now I notice it has you looking at eight grand on the tach there was it really eight grand it did rent it did Rev that's hot yeah yeah so it because it needs to because you know the four-speed engine gearbox and then with the engine it needs to actually to get to the speed and had to pretty high so yeah it does a I love the fact that it put a luggage rack on it like you like you're gonna take a trip in this car just strapped suitcases in the back here is it that always makes me laugh but you're honestly I could I could see I could see myself or you you probably you know having a suitcase or a weekend bag and there you know somebody with you for a nice trip down to somewhere in California and just enjoy the weekend let's look at the interior the woods steering wheel boy that seems a lot fancier than I remember but that's the way they did it huh yeah the you know it's it's interesting the level of detail we put into the steering room because we we have a we have a pretty extensive archive so we went in and actually cooked all the archived material out and try to reproduce exactly our history will was and we think this is this is the closest we can get to and they were manufactured properly but it wasn't anything very special to be honest and the amazing thing is which seems almost unbelievable today no seatbelts nobody had to be certain shirtsleeves yes cigarettes I mean it's you know it was a different time and as seatbelts were like you know if you talk to and I have the the pleasure to meet sterling most restoring most recently as well as their normal use and if you talk to them they're still of the opinion that it's better without seatbelts because if you have an accident it throws you out a calico you can you know get out of the car just get thrown out of the car and they probably all you know all of them who are still alive today is probably survived three or four of those so now Norman did you see how old he's got to be close to a hundred he's 97 though he's nineties that that that is very close to that is very cool so honored and I met him at Pebble Beach hi Jay how you doing that shook my hand I've out he's incredibly energetic and he was a guy that took that car to 120 miles an hour on what's the road how do you say it was it in Belgium wherever it was wherever they witty with the XKE with the xk120 earned 120 mile an hour Matt know what you mean yeah right he was a guy that did that one he tested this one in 1961 this one a night and he's still out there doing Jags it's yeah and he's amazing he's a pretty good driver still oh yeah yeah 97 years old but yeah yeah you want to get thrown clear yeah try that sometime I mean it was just a different area no I always loved that expression when the drivers are fat and the tires are skinny you know house now it's way around need to see these guys and big to get in the car manhandle around you know just fantastic fantastic now notice it they didn't use wire wheels because it probably wasn't a wire wheel that could take the kind of power right yeah it was of course as well lighter this is a magnesium alloy so it was a lighter lighter wheels and tires and of course they put lots of effort into getting those cars to as low as possible weight someone does it way it is below a thousand kilograms so it's a thousand kilograms two thousand pounds in America be about two thousand as Wow wow that's point and it's 260 horsepower that whatever something all day long probably a bit bit over that yeah pretty punchy oh it was very fun I mean it was one of the greatest cars in the mill to 60 in 4.2 seconds yeah is even today standards is pretty well pretty let's put that in perspective this one 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds when the f40 Ferrari came out in 1987 that was the fastest production car that one 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds same as an f40 twin-turbocharged 478 horsepower yeah was the exact 0 to 60 time is this so it was 40 usually 30 or whatever it is early and my math is terrible but yeah yeah so it's to put that in perspective that's that's pretty amazing because 4.2 in the mid-80s was considered just crazy you know yeah I mean when this car came out 0 to 60 and anything under 12 seconds was considered that's pretty quick but I think that is as well why was considered and you know and many people say it's the first ever supercar and I think to rightfully so you know if you look at what was done what the whole concept behind that is you know there is from a technical point of view there is no difference in terms of the performance compared to the d-type for the racecar it is just you know doing the ultimate bare minimum in order to make it rolled legal so there's a bit of a chrome e bumper right realize you know luggage carrier in order to do the roof a bit of a slightly bigger screen the passenger door in all honesty that's not really a door it's more like an open yeah it's something like actions help or entering tell Brazil an entrance help yeah yes some front lights and that's everything else isn't pure race car I like going to English do that like when Norton came out the electric starter it was electric assist you get one pretty good huh all right okay now you have to click it might have caught but it then that's all you got is like like good yeah opening what you call it door help would you pay entrance help introductions help just to assist you hilarious hello is it British understatement I love the fact like this would never get past today gas tank right behind your head pretty amazing fill it up right here and you know what high speed after you fill the tank you're just getting gas although you're in your hair who cares I mean I it was one of the great drives of my life driving that Steve McQueen car and that was not some super tuned that was a car they've been sitting at the Petersen museum probably sad for a couple years since anyone last daughter we brought it here we just cleaned it up a little bit put gas in it regular gas not race gas and my god it was just hundred on every level audio sound wise the theory road feel I mean you know everybody talks about oh no ABS no traction control this of course had none of that but it was just one of the great great drives in my life you have an air box here if they're at their filters in there or is it just a box to keep sort of birds and stones and things from getting into loded there is mainly mainly in air box so you see that the the air it pulls the air through the bonnet you see that Anthony right right oh yeah the air gets in from the front oh I let it but it gets fresh air from the right front well it's just and how long did it take to these are hand-built aren't they yeah yeah yeah I mean there's no sort of assembly line process here this is you know people talk about Rolls Royce and these kind of cars they're not hand-built this is truly a hand-built car you know this is we we had the we had a long debate about how much how far do we go with like tools and things because we wanted to do it properly so we actually went the the traditional route so we actually laid down a couple of couple of tools but only like hand form so they they are actually hand-formed impressed and then their hand will because we thought that in order to make it really sympathetic it needs to show some of those wheel marks but it's a different um you know you can see it it's if it's too perfect it looks artificial alright right and and you know these cars they were hand-built so we decided to do the same each one of these rivets have been recreated haven't they yeah we have actually we have a you know our team sometimes we call the rivet counters because they make sure that first of all every rivet is where it belongs and then the right rivet is in the right place because there are like different rivets all sorts of different different ones and did you build them at Browns Lane where did you build them where they built them we we have a we have a specific site that we use for those purposes and of course what we have is we have a couple of people that work with us for the specific parts so you know in the end you know there is lots of people involve did you dig up any of the old boys again nobody I think those guys come of course didn't must have been very excited we had we had Norman Jews out when we were Norman apart I've no me do is yeah we hadn't read him along when we had the car for a shakedown before it was actually painted in all that just to yawn so Norman came along I had a look at it and he was very happy which is kind of you know the the the big tick in the box for us and Norman was probably the age you are now when this thing was built probably yes I mean yes that's pretty crazy absolutely I mean he's 97 years old he's still driving Jags I mean it's that's really something and he's got all his original parts done the you know man I saw me all original no no fake leg no no I didn't I didn't investigate properly but I don't worry but I think he's all original absolutely authentic yeah and that's that gear lever that knob looks almost modern contemporary but that's what they did that's that's what they were the way they were and they suck it's funny because it looks strange that it bends so much forward but that's how they were and that's like it's but it's very short ways to to shift you've driven it you know you got it before we go through the - let's let's close the hood here so people see the line of this - the car I love leather straps on a hood it just seems a bit of a bit of extra security you know let's start here what do we have here so we got a wiper there well as you can see you know other than the d-type they have they have actually a wiper motor there which drives the two the two wipers so that is an additional thing that the race car didn't have you have a pen alight in the headlights you get side lights which is you know literally all that you they would need and then you get you know an engine here at the starter button the rev counter very important and then you have the speedo meter so just see barometer goes to what is it 180 what wasn't happy day this car probably close to that they probably could go close to that um you know depends on the road conditions etc you know but they did 172 on the mall and it's the same car so um you probably get close to that which is you know again it's quite quite fast for that and of course you have a couple of other meters over there and it's just like that ease the lights yes and then you have the stairwell and you've got the pebble so basically it's very basically that's all you need but nothing nothing above that now we can't great take this one out in the street because it's going to the Auto Show and it's not legal but I'm going to show you here's a clip of me driving the Steve McQueen car which is the exact same car who's really exciting take a look like a modern father cards that I needed to feel this good it's hard to believe this thing is almost 60 years that howlite the steering is and I like the front end days and 120 has it been a clutch lifting an ear that well let's start it up so people can hear what it sounds like here can you get in the entrance helper oh I'll try my best fit in this car you're bad I think I can yeah I think I can oh I'll try my very best to do it as the entrance help as you can see let me hold the entrance helper fantastic thank you I'll shut the entrance helper thank you here the fuel pump yep few ticks commemorative ticks and then enough you can see why Enzo Ferrari called the Jag one of the most beautiful car in the world it wasn't this one it was the XKE but he certainly could have said about this well I can't thank you guys enough they give you a hand there you need a transplant you're a queen I think I'll be able to get out yes it's a bit of a bit of a thing you need to do to get out go to very good when you practice it looks very good before we go if you have a classic jag or any jag really you know I do this with Mercedes with Porsche I really try to encourage manufacturers and people you have these costs get your parts from the original manufacturer because they are the ones that know it they know what fits you know aftermarket stuff doesn't always work when you buy in from the guys who built it it's it's going to fit and it keeps these old cars on the road so I can't thank you guys enough for a fruit a spring I gotta say recreating it's not it's it's making another brand new 1956 Jaguar just unbelievable see you next week

Channel: Jay Leno's Garage

Views: 826,270

Keywords: jaguar, xkss, tim, hannig, jay, leno, sterling, moss, classic, land, rover, Jay Leno, Jay Leno's Garage, car reviews, compares cars, classic cars, vintage cars, sports cars, super cars, cars, car gear, McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, Camaro Z28, jay leno garage, jay lenos garage, car collection, cnbc, episode, motorcycle, ford, corvette, tour, dodge, lexus

Id: gkykhtBxBMM

Length: 27min 1sec (1621 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 21 2016