Aug 23, 2017 | By Tess
British auto shop Classic Motor Cars (CMC) has painstakingly restored and refurbished what is believed to be one of the rarest Jaguar models in existence: the one-of-a-kind Pininfarina-bodied 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE.
The restoration process, which took the CMC team thousands of hours of meticulous work to complete, required close attention to detail and relied on technologies such as 3D scanning and 3D printing to recreate some of the car’s rarest parts.
The Jaguar XK120 SE first came onto the world stage in Geneva in 1955. Despite its popularity and its supposed plans to be displayed in additional car shows, the car’s owner, Max Hoffman, claimed it in 1956, effectively removing it from the public eye for decades.
Beyond its first few years in the limelight, the rare Pininfarina-bodied Jaguar has a relatively shrouded trajectory, according to David Barzilay, the chairman of CMC’s operating board.
“There is little trace of the car’s history, but we are certain that Hoffman was the supplying dealer, then first owner of the car and that there was only one XK120 by Pininfarina produced, which makes this one of the rarest Jaguars in existence,” he says.
CMC has been working on the car for the last two years, after purchasing it from a German man who acquired the car in 1978 with his own plans to refurbish it. Though we don’t have any photos of the pre-refurbished car, it seems accurate to say that the auto shop has successfully restored it to its former glory.
Of course, restoring a one-of-a-kind car that has been unmaintained for years is no easy task, and the CMC team faced many challenges while restoring the luxury vehicle. For starters, even the process of stripping the car down required detailed documentation and care, as there were no blueprints for the CMC team to follow.
The disassembly of the car was therefore accompanied with stringent note-taking and photo documentation. Additionally, the mechanics noticed that the car had been repainted and reupholstered at some point in its life, so they had to find some evidence of the paint’s original color and seat coverings.
(Fortunately, tiny samples of the car’s original paint finish, as well as its original carpeting and leather interior were found and matched.)
Another key challenge was to recreate parts that were missing or simply beyond repair. For this, the CMC team turned to 3D printing and 3D scanning technologies. For example, 3D printing was used to produce “mock-ups” of the car’s lights, and 3D scanning was used to capture the rear window aperture of the vehicle for the recreation of the missing rear window.
According to CMC, a number of other small parts were manufactured using 3D printing as well. Elements such as the bumpers and chrome work were remade by hand, with specialists using old photographs as a reference.
The stunning car is equipped with an XK 120 3.4 SE (C-Type Head) straight-6 engine, with a Double SU H6 carburetor, and 180 bhp (134 kW; 182 PS) at 5300 rpm. The car’s engine components were rebuilt to meet the original Jaguar specifications.
To celebrate the completed restoration of the Pininfarina-bodied 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE, CMC sent the car to the U.S. to be unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance held in California. There, the classic car received a second in class award.
(Images: Classic Motor Cars)
“It was a privilege to take the cover off this long-lost Jaguar at one of the most important Concours in the world,” said Peter Neumark, chairman of CMC’s employee ownership trust. “The car was admired all day and we are delighted to be bringing a trophy home as further testimony to the skills, dedication, and attention to detail that we have in our business.”
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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