1937 Jaguar SS 100 3½-Litre Roadster
- Engine
- 3.5L overhead-valve inline-six, bronze competition cylinder head, 125 bhp
- Colour
- British Racing Green
The 3½-Litre SS 100 Jaguar, chassis 39010, is among only 118 such roadsters produced and is believed to be the tenth in the 3½-litre chassis sequence. Completed at the factory in late November 1937 and delivered to Edinburgh, it was purchased new by a local competition driver. Its history includes American ownership, tenure in prominent U.S. collections including the Blackhawk Collection and Vintage Racing Motors, and later ownership by collector Malcolm Pray, during whose tenure it won multiple concours awards. A subsequent patination and mechanical preparation by D.L. Coachworks gave it a period racing character.
Ownership
- —Auction saleSold US$583,000
- 1937 →Factory deliveryJ.M. Archerpartial documentation
Local sports car competitor who had previously raced a Riley Sprite; purchased the car new via the Rossleigh dealership in Edinburgh. The current engine may have been fitted as a replacement following his racing activities.
- 1998 →Private saleMalcolm Prayfull documentation
Noted enthusiast who commissioned a full restoration including a repaint in British Racing Green and a new beige leather interior; documentation of service and restoration costs is preserved in the car's records.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownUS serviceman importernone documentation
Believed to have been brought to the United States post-war by a returning military serviceman, consistent with the pattern of many pre-war European cars entering the US market at that time.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownRichard Hansenpartial documentation
Respected collector based in Batavia, Illinois, who held the car by the early 1990s before selling to the Blackhawk Collection.
- Date unknownPrivate saleBlackhawk Collectionpartial documentation
Well-known California-based collection in Danville that acquired the car from Richard Hansen.
- Date unknownAcquisition unknownVintage Racing Motorspartial documentation
Washington-based collection described as prominent in the field; held the car between the Blackhawk Collection and Malcolm Pray.
Competition
- 19991999 Greenwich Concours d'ElegancePoster car feature vehicle
The car served as the featured poster vehicle for this concours event.
- 1999-08-011999 Meadow Brook ConcoursBest Sports Car
- 2004-06-012004 Bridgehampton ConcoursClass winner
- 20052005 Greenwich Concours d'EleganceAward recipient
One of three concours events the car attended during a particularly active 2005 season.
- 20052005 Cranbrook ConcoursAward recipient
- 20052005 Hilton Head ConcoursAward recipient
Maintenance & restoration
- 1998Restoration
Comprehensive restoration carried out during Malcolm Pray's ownership, encompassing a full repaint in British Racing Green and a new beige leather interior.
A collection of invoices and service records from this restoration period is included in the car's documentation file.
- —BodyworkD.L. Coachworks
Deliberate patination of the exterior to replicate a well-used, competition-seasoned appearance: paint was rubbed down to reduce gloss and reveal fender rivets, wire wheels were refinished in black, and fresh Blockley tyres of correct profile were fitted. Interior replaced with distressed dark brown leather.
Work supervised by David George; intended to shift the car's character from a concours-polished presentation to one more evocative of period racing use.
- —MechanicalD.L. Coachworks
Mechanical preparation for vintage endurance touring, including corrections to the carburettor intake and bonnet aperture, along with adjustments to headlamp fittings, brackets, and the hood ornament for period accuracy. Overall expenditure exceeded $70,000.
Work was undertaken with reliability and driving performance as primary objectives, with documentation by photographs and invoices.
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