One to Buy: ex-Paris Motor Show 1 of 4 built 1955 Jaguar XK140 Ghia Coupe Speciale
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With a little over 12,000 units built, Jaguar’s XK120 was the most commercially successful top flight sports car of the late 1940s / early 1950s.
Six years after the XK120 prototype had made its debut, the revamped XK140 came on stream which most notably featured improved suspension and steering, wider wheels, a more powerful engine and a subtly updated body and interior. As before, customers could specify one of three off-the-shelf body styles: an Open Two Seater (OTS / Roadster) or the more luxuriously equipped Fixed Head Coupe (FHC) and Drop Head Coupe (DHC).
However, should a customer want special bodywork, Jaguar were also open to the occasional supply of naked chassis which were dispatched to the buyer’s coachbuilder of choice.
On May 25th, one of these rarely seen special bodied XK140s will be going under the hammer at Broad Arrow Auctions’ Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este sale: chassis 810827DN:
The first of four XK140s that received aluminium bodywork by Ghia of Turin, this group followed a trio of earlier XK120s that had also been clothed in Ghia’s trademark avant garde fashion.
Upon completion, chassis 810827DN was displayed at the Paris Motor Show in October 1955. Soon afterwards it was involved in a minor front end collision that necessitated some slight re-shaping of the grille prior to its subsequent appearance at the Cannes Concours d'Elegance in August 1956.
In 1959 the car is believed to have undergone further modification by Ghia following another light prang. At this point the grille was enlarged and dual Lucas fog lights added along with front fender vents.
Chassis 81087DN remains in unrestored condition having been stored since 1979.
