With its very Italian styling, this beautiful and rare car may not be instantly recognised as an example of that icon of late 1950s British sports car design, the Jaguar XK150S. A small proportion of XK120 and XK140 chassis were sent out in the pre-war tradition to be bodied by famous specialist coachbuilders; this is believed to be one of only eight XK150s to have received this treatment.
This example was manufactured in August 1957 and shipped the following month to Bertone in Turin. Only two other XK150s went to Bertone, one of them a right hand drive car ordered by John Coombes who, on delivery, drove it to the Jaguar factory where it was assessed over the next few weeks reportedly as a possible replacement for the XK150 itself – the E-Type was still a couple of years away at this time. This is the second car of the trio and is believed to be the only one still in existence. It was purchased new by a Mr Tommaso Ingenoli, known to be a friend and customer of Enzo Ferrari. The 3.8 litre car was later a part of the Blackhawk Collection in California and appeared at the Pebble Beach concours d’elegance in 1992.
Photo and text by Peter McFadyen. See his website: http://petermcfadyen.co.uk
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