If you’re old enough to remember Steve McQueen in his prime, you know that almost anything he did or touched was cool….. really cool ! Steve McQueen was the real deal, not a rich wannabee and he could deliver the goods in airplanes, cars and motorcycles. One of Steve’s favorite cars was his Jaguar XK-SS that he bought from an LA broadcaster, then sold into the Harrah’s Collection and then bought back again. It is the subject of a recent re-issue by AutoArt and, if you admired their D-Jag and XJ-13, you should consider adding this one to your “gotta-have” list.
The XK-SS was the street version of Jaguar’s Type D race car. In the 1950’s, the primary players in European sports car racing were Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Aston-Martin. Porsche was gaining a reputation in small-bore racing, but didn’t win LeMans overall until 1970. Jaguar was known for the racing successes of its XK-120, Type C and Type D racers and had won LeMans five times in the 1950’s, three times in a row with the D-Jag in 1955, 1956, and 1957.
The D-Jag was an amazing example of integrating aircraft technology from WWII into a racing car. As in a lot of aircraft of the day, the D-Jag’s structure was a tube frame forward of the firewall supporting the engine, front suspension and bonnet. Aft of the firewall, the structure was monocoque with the outside skin and interior bulkheads being the structural elements with a tube sub-frame mounting the differential and rear suspension. The car was powered by Jaguar’s 3.4 liter Dual Overhead Cam XK engine fed through a trio of sidedraft Weber carburetors and producing 250 horsepower.
By 1956, the D-Type racer was starting to get a little long in the tooth, even though it won LeMans in 1957. The factory had pulled out of racing and they had an inventory of 25 partially-completed D-types without any committed owners. Someone suggested converting them to limited edition street machines and selling them to the general public. And so 16 of the remaining 25 D’s were converted to XK-SS’s and the remaining nine were lost in a fire at the factory. The conversion kit included a glass windshield, bumperettes, an external muffler and shield, passenger-side door, luggage rack, side curtains and a top. McQueen had it repainted British Racing Green, had Tony Nancy reupholster it in black rectangular-tufted leather and had Von Dutch fabricate a door to enclose the cubby hole in the dash where McQueen kept his “shades”.
AutoArt’s replication is gorgeous in its perfect BRG paint (black with a hint of green). They also use their lapidary-tumble polishing approach with the main body components and this body is perfect….. no flaws or parting lines to be found ! Add to this their mastery at producing surface finishes that beautifully replicate the original. You can see this in items like the rubber, plated trim and fabrics: each one has a different texture or patina that is appropriate for the material and finish found on the real car and this brings an incredible amount of credibility to the looks of the model. The tonneau cover behind the seats is distinctly more textured than the leather seats. Even the quick-release gas cap behind the driver’s seat is clearly cast aluminum, not chrome. They’ve also added a nice little chrome badge to the bonnet just in-front of the “power bulge” that says: “Jaguar XK-SS”. It is so perfectly crafted and believable you could scale it up eighteen times and it would look perfect on the real car. The chromed luggage rack on the rear deck is delicately done but remarkably robust.
Even though the XK-SS is a modification to the D-Jag, it appears that almost all of the parts found on the XK-SS model have been tooled individually. Subtle differences between it and the D-Jag model exist on almost everything. This demonstrates the pride that AutoArt brings to their products. If there is any place that shows the age of this model, it’s the back of the wheels where the brakes are to be found (or not). And appropriately, they’ve saved manufacturing costs where most collectors wouldn’t notice.
In summary, this is a masterfully rendered model of a beautiful car owned by a truly iconic American. Although the design is not as smooth and flowing as the D-Jag, the XK-SS still keeps the cat-like lines that made Jaguar famous. And this car can go toe-to-toe with any of the top tourers of the day in both design and performance. AutoArt has done a magnificent job of creating it in one-eighteenth scale. If you missed it before, don’t miss it this time around. And if you’d like to know more about Steve McQueen’s vehicles, check out the hardcover “McQueen’s Machines” by Matt Stone. Both the model and the book will give you hours of pleasure exploring the “cool” that was Steve McQueen !
-Bill Bennett