In 2017 – ostensibly with the brand’s future in mind – Jaguar opened Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Classic; a no-holds barred deep bow to all things classic JLR. Don’t be fooled by JLR Classic’s industrial- ish environs just outside their HQ in Coventry, England – the famous gates to the Ferrari factory in Maranello, this is not -- because inside this complex of low, single-story white buildings is the epicentre of Jaguar’s history. As soon as you step through the similarly nondescript double doors into the facility, you’re hit with it: there’s the requisite Jag and Landie memorabilia (books, bags, hats, LEGO sets) but this is more a showroom than a lobby, with a kaleidoscope of Defenders standing in formation on your left. To the right sits not an original XKSS (the roadgoing version of the Le Mans-winning D-Type racer) but a continuation model – which is an important designation. In 1957, a fire at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory consumed nine of the 25 D-Types that were slated to get the road car conversion. Of course, you may be able to consume the materials, but no fire can consume a number and the VINs were preserved, allowing Jaguar to make these “Continuation” versions while keeping their original VINs. The one on display is owned by Jaguar and labelled Continuation Car Zero e.g. the first one they completed. Indeed, keeping everything Jaguar Land Rover Classic does as close to original as possible is an integral part of the game. “It’s not like we take all the old bits and throw them away,” said Rich Cotton, Product Marketing Lead at Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works. “We try to use as much of the original car as possible. At the price point these vehicles are, it's necessary we do that.” The “price point” Cotton’s referring to? Well, it’s definitely a case of “if you have to ask…” but nevertheless: think high six figures, sometimes landing over the seven-figure mark. The same meticulous attention to detail happens with the Land Rover department as well – those kaleidoscopic Defenders that greeted us upon arrival? They’ve all been built using donor vehicles and parts –
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