Jaguar fit for a King

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We have been some sent pictures of the 1937 Jaguar SS100 which Vintage & Prestige Cars are displaying on their stand at Essen this weekend with the description, “This SS100 Custom built by Leonidas of Bucharest for the King of Romania will be on our stand at Essen. Brand new condition & stunning history.”

That reminded us of the day we shared with you a tribute to King Michael of Romania after he died last year. He was a Royal petrolhead with a mouth-watering collection of cars which started with the SS100 given to him on his 16th birthday by the Romanian Air Ministry who, appropriately, insisted it be painted the colour of the sky.

We have King Michael’s recollection of the car… “By tradition, in Romania, the Crown Prince becomes an officer at the age of 16. This was my case on that day. On this occasion, the ministry of Air and Navy of Romania gave me this car as a present. I kept it until 1939 when I passed it on to a friend of mine that was in school with me.”

He continues… “In 1940 when the family of this friend was getting in trouble with our dictator, he gave it back to me. The fenders had been modified. I then kept it until 1943 when I sold it to an engineer test pilot at our aircraft factory in Brasov.”

That might account for the reason the front wings today differ from the attractive original ones in the contemporary photograph. The registration number is also different. CKV250 is a well-known plate and SS Cars Ltd. made sure they took a picture in 1937 outside their works in Coventry and used it in advertisements. It is said that the famous leaping Jaguar mascot was first used on this car. There’s even a book written about this fabulous car.

Feast your eyes on this gallery of pictures and you’ll see the perfect proportions of a sports car with a name that has built a legendary reputation in competition over the years. With its 3.5 Litre straight six engine it would do more than 100mph with its windscreen folded down according to road tests from 1938. To buy the car today you will have to pay a King’s ransom.

Words by Robin Batchelor. Photographs courtesy Vintage & Prestige Cars and editor.

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