Chassis Number: 810827DN
Although it had one of the best sports-car chassis available, and unquestionably one of the best engines, the XK 140 was already looking somewhat dated by the time it arrived in 1954. The XK 140 had inherited its body essentially unchanged in overall appearance from that the preceding XK 120, which had been designed by Jaguar’s boss, Sir William Lyons, in 1948.
Eclectic by nature, Lyons was well aware of the best European designs, and their influence is clear enough in the XK 120. But that was six years old by the time of the XK 140’s introduction and the world had moved on. Jaguar was happy to sell the XK 140 in rolling-chassis form for bodying by independent coachbuilders, and a number of its more wealthy clients went down that route in order to avail themselves of the very latest in modern automotive styling.
Jaguar supplied 11 XK 140s in rolling-chassis form for bodying by independents, among the most celebrated being the four bodied by Carrozzeria Ghia of Turin, which had already completed three XK 120s, these being the famous “Supersonic” cars designed by Giovanni Savonuzzi. All four of Ghia’s XK 140s were closed coupés of broadly similar design. They were completed on chassis numbers S810827DN, S814937DN, 814942 and S815404.
These four XK 140 bodies were constructed entirely of aluminum, as was common practice with hand-built “one-offs.” The first to be built was the car offered here, 810827DN, which had been purchased second-hand by Mr. Hans Altweg, a wealthy Lyonnaise industrialist, with the express purpose of having a bespoke body constructed for it.
Mr. Altweg had bought the car from Royal Elysées (Charles Delacroix) on December 12, 1955. The XK was immediately dispatched to Ghia in Turin, from whence it returned in time to be displayed at the Paris Salon in October 1956. Before then, in August 1956, Mr. and Mrs. Altweg had displayed the Ghia-bodied XK 140 at the concours d’elegance in Cannes. Photographs on file show differences in the shape of the front grille, which is believed to have been altered by Ghia between the two events.
In his definitive work on the marque, Jaguar XK140/150 in Detail, Anders Ditlev Clausager writes: “After it had been in an accident in 1959, the front end was ‘modernised,’ supposedly by Ghia, and air vents were added to the front wings, but it still kept the air intake on the bonnet.”
It is believed that the modifications were carried at the behest of Jean-Louis Berthelot-Mariat of Lyons, who is listed as owner on the accompanying French carte grise issued on July 17, 1969. Eventually the XK 140 passed into the private collection belonging to the noted French Jaguar historian, and founder and former President of the Jaguar Drivers Club of France, the late Roland Urban.
Mr. Urban bought the car in 1969 and installed a 3.8-liter Jaguar XK engine fitted with triple twin-choke Weber carburetors. For the next decade he participated in many historic rallies and races driving the Jaguar. He used the Jaguar almost daily for many years before storing it in his garage, where it has remained since 1979.
Offered in need of total restoration, with a 3.8-liter Mk IX engine block currently fitted, this unique Ghia-bodied XK 140 has a fascinating history and represents a wonderful opportunity for the dedicated Jaguar enthusiast to enhance their collection.
