1958 Baker Black Jack Special

As found in a woodshed in Minnesota after 15 years of hibernation. Originally built by Jack Baker from the wreckage of a Jaguar XK-150S featuring the optional hi-horsepower tri-carburetor engine, disc brakes, and rack-and-pinion steering. This is the successor to Baker's 'El Toro Specials' as noted in publications and books on the early days of road racing specials.

The center tub was fabricated from aluminum while the nose was made from a mold taken from XKD 536, a Jaguar D Type - probably the first fiberglass 'reproduction' from a D Type. The tail section was molded (and heavily modified) from a Maserati Birdcage Tipo 61 (#2467). From 1958 to 1964, the BJS was campaigned heavily in the Mid-West by Jack with much success in Modified 'C' until the Cobras and small block V8s rendered it non-competitive.

Frenchy Dampier, as a 13-year-old teenager and neighbor of Jack, worked in Jack's pits and garage just to be near cars and racing. After a stint in Vietnam, Frenchy tracked the Black Jack Special down in 1975 and purchased it after finding it partially stripped in a field. That teenager's dreams turned into a restoration and lifetime passion with the BJS and its second life on the race track.

By 1976, the BJS was back in battle with Frenchy now behind the wheel with numerous titles and wins in the LOL regional SCCA and the Bahama Grand Prix over the next 25 years. Shortly after a trip west for the inaugural Coronado Races, Frenchy retired from racing and the BJS was parked 'in the barn' back in Minnesota, where it was located in 2012, by its third and current owner. A rare survivor of a lost era in American road racing.

Source - Current owner