Jaguar XK140 Ghia

Based on the Jaguar XK140, a number of special bodies were built in period abroad during the four-year production period. The reason for this was easy to guess: although the XK140 offered great driving performance, its shape was already old-fashioned when it made its debut in 1954. In the end, the shapes that had already made up the XK120 in 1948 were adopted almost unchanged. So some customers turned to external coachbuilders for more modern designs. One example was produced in four examples by Ghia in Italy. For these, Jaguar supplied rolling chassis on request. Alternatively, however, conversions were made on the basis of existing vehicles. Ghia received the cars with chassis numbers S810827DN, S814937DN, S814942 and S815404. They all received a new coupé body with aluminium bodywork. In this way, Ghia reduced the vehicle weight by about 100 kilograms compared to the normal XK140.

First Ghia coupé debuted in Cannes

S810827DN was a Jaguar XK120 first delivered to France, acquired by Lyonnaise industrialist Hans Altweg in December 1955 as a young used car with the intention of having it converted at Ghia. This conversion took about eight months, completing the car in time for the 1956 Cannes Concours d’Elegance. A month later, Ghia unveiled the coupé at the Paris Motor Show. Apparently slight modifications had been made to the grille between the two events. Another change was made after a minor traffic accident in 1959. Since then the front end of this Jaguar features a wide. grille with two auxiliary headlights. At the same time, Ghia changed the bumper and removed the upward curved sections. At this point, the car probably already belonged to Jean-Louis Berthelot-Mariat.

Used for numerous racing events

The amateur racing driver from Lyon is at least listed as the owner in the 1969 Carte Gris that comes with the car. He liked to use the XK140 for hill climbs and smaller rallies. In the same year, the Jaguar moved into the collection of the then president of the Jaguar Club of France, Jaguar historian Roland Urban. Fascinated by the unusual body shape, he had a 3.8-liter XK engine with three Weber twin carburetors installed. In the years that followed, he took part in numerous races and rallies. He won a race in Monza against a Ferrari 250 TdF. From 1979, the Ghia coupé finally stood in storage in a garage. In the meantime, the car needs extensive restoration. Bonhams will offer the Jaguar at The Zoute Sale in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, on October 10. The auction house expects a hammer price to be between € 200,000 and € 300,000.

Images: Bonhams