The XKSS was a road-going version of the successful Jaguar D-Type racing car.
Originally owned by noted Riverside Raceway designer James Edward Peterson, this example was later sold to TV personality Bill Leyden before being acquired by actor Steve McQueen. One of just 16 built, it was originally white with a red interior.
After purchasing the car, McQueen had it repainted a favorite shade of green, polished the Dunlop wheels, and had the interior re-trimmed in black by renowned upholsterer Tony Nancy. He enjoyed driving the car fast and is reported to have received so many tickets that his driver’s license was almost suspended twice during his first year of ownership. A capable mechanic, McQueen did much of the maintenance work himself.
He eventually came to consider the car too rare and valuable to race and sold it in the early 1970s to famed collector Bill Harrah. McQueen later reacquired the XKSS, keeping it until his untimely death from cancer in 1980. It was purchased at auction in 1984 by a local collector who refurbished the low-mileage car while carefully preserving several of its unique features such as the glove box door specially fitted by hot rod artist Von Dutch.
The Margie and Robert E. Petersen Collection