A 1977 Jaguar XJS once owned by Kerry Packer is now presenting the opportunity for an enthusiast’s or investors to own a piece of classy history going under the hammer this Saturday.
“This car is truly one of a kind with many stories to tell and we are honoured and excited to see it go under the hammer and be passed on to the new custodians to enjoy,” said Lee Hames, Chief Operating Officer at Lloyds Auctions.
It is no secret that in the late 1970’s horsepower wars had erupted long after supercar scares and the closure of factory race programs.
This car was the result of a competition between radio announcer and car collector John Laws and Channel 9 owner Kerry Packer.
In 1979 Kerry brought his British Racing Green XJS V12 automatic Jag to Oran Park to do a few laps at Lindsay Fox behest with race car driver Kev Bartlett to give instruction.
After a few laps and terse conversation KP took the wheel with KB offering to remove himself if he didn’t start listening to his directions. From there the friendship bond between them grew from adversity.
From there Kerry Packer asked, “so now how do we make it go”.
This statement sparked the car to experience major mechanical work and was commissioned by Rymec to build the Twin IHI turbo setup, producing 1200bhp with 30 PSI.
During one of its many trips to the workshop, a fire unexpectedly broke through the Rymec premises, which completely gutted the car, when it was then purchased by Gary Walker, son of Roly Walker Jaguar Spares.
They then rebuilt the vehicle from the ground up with no expense spared and to a 740bhp.
The car was built with a 320km/h top speed, 11.0 second standing 400m time and an incredible 5th gear 30km/h to 250km/h acceleration capability.
It is sure to be a weekend of record breakers and memorable moments with something for everyone to enjoy. Queenslanders can register to get your free tickets for the Classic Car auction here. For those who cannot attend, the entire auction will be live-streamed for free on the Lloyds website and their social media platforms on YouTube & Facebook.
“Viewers can also expect to see cars such as Glenn Seton’s championship winning Ford Credit Falcon, a 1971 Holden Torana LC GTR, an extremely rare HSV VN SS Group A build #002 of only 302 ever built, Russel Ingall’s 2000 Castrol V8 Supercar, along with many other important and iconic cars,” Mr. Hames continued.
Bids can be made in person on the day, or you can view the car and bid online here.
To watch a video on the Kerry Packer XJS Jaguar then please click here.
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