An extremely rare, 68-year-old Jaguar XK120 SE with a body design by Pinin Farina himself is heading to the block in a fully restored condition and might bring home north of $1 million USD.
Back when it debuted in the late 1940s, the SE was officially the fastest production car in the world with a top speed exceeding 200 km/h (124 mph). This particular example was put together in May 1954 for Max Hoffman, a luxury vehicle dealer in the United States. It was exhibited for sale at the Geneva International Motor Show the next year, but failed to sell and somehow disappeared from the radar soon afterwards.
The car was announced for the 1956 Turin Auto Show in Italy, but missed the appointment without an official comment. Many believed back then that it found a buyer at last. A couple of years later, the coupe was imported from Europe into Connecticut, USA, and re-finished in red with a beige roof. In 1972, it was discovered sitting in a field abandoned and in terrible condition.
A German car collector purchased the wreck in 1978 and kept it until 2015, selling it to Classic Motor Cars (CMC) for a complete restoration. The company kept the original engine and did its best to recreate the exterior paint scheme based on the memories of people who witnessed the original XK120 SE (they were unable to find any color photos of the car). Some parts were 3D printed, and the whole restoration effort took 6,725 hours to complete.
Once finished, the car was put up on display at the Pebble Beach show five years ago.