This XK120 SE By Pininfarina Might Be The Rarest Jaguar Ever

Rare Jaguar vehicles come in may forms – the XJ220, the XJR-15, and the XKSS, just to name a few. But none of the aforementioned are as rare as the Jag pictured here. A one-off XK120 by Pininfarina, the restored classic made its debut at Pebble Beach after 6,275 hours of restoration by specialist at Classic Motor Cars (CMC).

With unique bodywork by famed coachbuilder Pininfarina, the Jaguar was delivered new to Max Hoffman in 1954, an Austrian-born, New York-based exotic vehicle importer. The car later made its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 1955, and again later in the year at the Autocar Show.

In 2015, the car was purchased by CMC, who set about restoring it to its former glory. The 6,275-hour nut-and-bolt restoration faced numerous hurdles, including the challenge of finding the original paint color, and having to remake the bumpers and rear windshield.

"Some of the original parts were impossible to find so we had to remake items such as the bumpers and chrome work by hand from photographs," said David brassily, Chariman of CMC's operating board. "We had to scan the front and rear end of the car and make mock ups of the lights, which were then scanned and 3D printed. Smaller missing parts were also 3D printed in-house. The rear window was missing so we also had to scan the window aperture and have a new rear screen made from the scan data."

Restoration details included a full body makeover, including a new front end, new rear quarter panels, inner arch panels, boot floor, sills, and doors skins. The chassis was fully repaired and repainted, and the front and rear bumpers were remade along with 80 percent of the original chrome work, and the rear windshield and windshield surround. The interior was completely re-trimmed.

Under the hood, the engine and gearbox was rebuilt. The 3.4-liter straight-six now produces 180 horsepower (134 kilowatts), and comes paired to the original manual gearbox. The car was completed to original Jaguar equipment specification, and took home second place at the Pebble Beach Concours class 0-2 Postwar Closed.