Despite not being original period builds, these modern recreations didn’t struggle to sell
RM Sotheby’s most recent Elkhart, Indiana auction saw 240 cars cross the block, all coming from a single collection formerly owned by a disgraced and bankrupt Indiana businessman. With over 2,500 in-person and phone bidders, the two-day auction raked in US$44 million in sales, but three cars in particular stood out to us.
All three appeared to be vintage Jaguar racers; an XKSS, a D-Type (below) and an E-type Lightweight. Except, all are actually modern ‘continuation’ cars recently built by Jaguar since 2015. It was also the XKSS and D-Type’s first appearance at auction.
This makes for a curious case study as to how well these new-old cars perform on the secondary market.
Jaguar first announced that they would build six new Lightweight E-Types in 2015 to exacting period specifications. Six vehicles were built to complete the brand’s original intention to produce 18 cars (just 12 were completed in period). Priced at a reported US$1.5 million new, all six sold out almost immediately. The RM Sotheby’s example sold for US$1. 71 million.
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In 2016, Jaguar followed up by announcing its plans to complete the intended production run of 25 XKSS’ by building the remaining nine that were never finished due to the Brown’s Lane fire. Again, all nine cars sold out almost instantly at a reported US$1.5 million pricetag. RM Sotheby’s example sold for US$1.99 million.
The Jaguar D-type was the most recent continuation project, announced in 2018. The company originally planned to build 100 units in period, however the aforementioned Brown’s Lane fire saw just 75 escape the factory completed. Again, the 25 new D-types were estimated to cost around US$1.5 million each, all of which were sold in short order. Available in both longnose and shortnose configuration, the car offered at the auction was a shortnose example, and sold for US$1.35 million.
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As a relatively recent phenomenon, many collectors have questioned how these non-period ‘continuation’ cars would fair on the secondary market. In Jaguar’s case, it seems their value and provenance is protected by their exacting period manufacturing techniques, as well as being produced in the same Brown’s Lane location. They best represent the ‘continuation’ ethos as Jaguar are simply completing their original planned production, decades later.
It seems not all continuation cars are created equal, as used Shelby Continuations frequently drop in value on the secondary market.
Many also questioned whether these modern recreations would dilute the values of those rare original cars. In the case of Aston Martin’s 25-new DB4 GT continuations (which increased the original production pool by 25%), values of original cars actually increased significantly.
Long story short, originals are always best in the eyes of collectors, but – despite their sizeable pricetag – these exacting ‘continuation’ cars could almost be called good value by comparison.
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