1954 Jaguar XK120 SE Roadster

Launched in Roadster form, at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed 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 "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. Development continued for the 120 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. Today, Jaguar XKs, and particularly 120s, remain sought after with the Roadsters in particular carrying a premium over the Drophead and Fixed Head Coupés.

Supplied new by distributor, Charles Hornburg of Los Angeles, in Spring 1954, this matching-numbers 1954 XK120 SE Roadster was then, as it is today, finished in Cream coachwork with a Blue leather interior and Fawn soft-top, and was delivered to a Nancy H. Biggs of Missouri, according to its Jaguar-Daimler Heritage Trust Certificate. Mrs. Biggs was the wife of David Biggs, a well-known Jaguar enthusiast of the time, and she was also a member of the Sports Car Club of America in her own right. Reputedly, their collection of cars included an Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, the famous Ferrari 250 TR known as "Big Red", an ex-Jim Kimberly Ferrari 225 S, a Horch, a 1930 Mercedes-Benz, and this Jaguar, which was a gift from husband to wife and remained with them until 1965.

For the next 40 or more years, the car remained in the USA (primarily in California) and in 2009, in Southern California, the car was restored to concours standard and was shown several times at JCNA Concours events. On one occasion in 2009, the car scored a remarkable 99 points out of a possible 100. By 2012, and after regular careful use in So Cal this now resplendent Jaguar found its way to its penultimate owner, who felt the need to treat it to a further full cosmetic restoration, including a repaint in the original colour and the chrome was refinished. Receipts for these works are included in the history file.

By virtue of their extra power, the SE variants have always been regarded as better to drive, and this fine example was snapped up by a UK enthusiast for the purpose of regularity rallying in Europe, and being left-hand drive was perfect. This is the ideal purpose for such a car, and indeed interest from enthusiasts for these cars is great thanks to their eligibility, usability and comfort on long distance classic rallies like the Mille Miglia. Since arriving in the UK, approximately a further £10,000 (besides registration) has been spent on improving this splendid motor car including a major service and further works to the ignition, brakes, steering rack, hood, electrics and the exhaust. Not intending to part with this car so soon, its sale today is only to permit the realisation of the vendor's life-long dream to own one of the alloy-bodied XK120 Roadsters that he has been offered by a friend.

We have all been tempted in the past to make an impulse purchase at auction and possibly lived to regret it, however, this stunning 120 is proven, reliable, restored and inexcusably pretty and could well turn out to be the car that you will keep forever.