1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster

Launched in Roadster form, at the 1948 London Motor Show as a test bed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine, the level of acclaim was such that Jaguar founder and design head, William Lyons, put the XK120 into production. The first roadsters, hand built with aluminium bodies on Ash frames mounted on modified Jaguar Mark V chassis, were constructed between late 1948 and early 1950. In order to meet the unexpected demand beginning with the late 1950's cars all bodyshells were pressed steel, although they retained aluminium doors, bonnet and boot lid.

With an alloy cylinder head, hemi-spherical combustion chambers, inclined valves and twin SU carburetors, the dual overhead cam 3.4 ltr straight six engine was comparatively advanced for its time and developed 160bhp. Development of the model continued with the introduction of the Special Equipment, or SE, in 1951 which boasted an extra 20bhp, bringing it up to 180bhp, and the styling enjoyed a few subtle changes.

The "120" in its name referred to its 120mph top speed which made the XK120 the world's fastest standard production car at the time of its introduction. Success in motor racing secured the cars future and an icon was born. Today, Jaguar XKs, and especially 120s, remain sought after with the Roadsters in particular carrying a premium over the Drophead and Fixed Head Coupés. This lovely XK120 OTS was built on July the 3rd, 1951 and shipped to Max Hoffman, the legendary New York importer and distributor on July 13th, 1951. At some point the car was shipped to Denmark where it is currently registered.

This is an early part-aluminium, left hand drive car in gleaming white with a fabulous red interior, and is in beautiful condition following a six year restoration which was completed in 2004 and has obviously been lovingly maintained since. Amongst the paperwork with the car are a number of invoices, a letter indicating that the car had won a prize for the best XK 120 at a Jaguar show in Copenhagen and confirmation from Jaguar Cars Ltd. that this is a matching numbers vehicle. This early, split screen, open two seat, classic piece of Jaguar post war design personifies 50's elegance and would be welcome anywhere.