What might be rarest-ever Jaguar undergoes restoration

(August 8, 2017) For the last two years thirteen staff at Classic Motor Cars (CMC) have been working on a top secret project, the restoration of a one-off Pininfarina bodied XK120 SE which is to be unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours on Sunday, Aug. 20. On Aug. 4, the team, which had been supported by everybody on company’s 60 plus workforce, were pictured with the car — “under wraps”.

“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,” said Peter Neumark, chairman of the Employee Ownership Trust that runs CMC, who found the car in the first place.

He added: “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.”

The car was first delivered to a Max Hoffman and unveiled at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show. Hoffman was an Austrian-born, New York-based importer of luxury European automobiles into the United States during the 1950s. He was a real petrol-head and inspired the production and refinement of several vehicles from the main manufacturers, which earned him entry into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2003.

David Barzilay, chairman of CMC’s operating board, said: “Perhaps Hoffman inspired Pininfarina to style and produce such a rare XK? We just don’t know, but he was the supplying dealer and then first owner of the car. 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.”

CMC purchased the car from a German gentleman who bought it in the USA in 1978 with the intention of restoring it. Unfortunately, he never got round to it and eventually decided to sell, CMC took on the challenge and have spent thousands of hours carrying out a full nut and bolt restoration.