1956 Jaguar XK140 3.4 SE Roadster (Manual)

• The XK140 stayed true to the elegantly flowing lines of the 120
• Built on 23/02/1956 and exported to the USA
• Bought by our vendor from a UK classic car specialist as a complete example
• Comprehensive ground-up restoration to a superb standard, only finished last year
• Confirmed by inspection to be matching numbers. Fitted with a C-Type head
• All relevant documents, including V5c, invoices, photos and a Heritage Certificate

Jaguar Cars launched the XK140 at the London Motor Show in October 1954 with a raft of improvements over its predecessor, the landmark XK120. The styling was enhanced by a revised grille and larger bumpers along with new rear lights, which now incorporated the indicators. The handling was improved by rack and pinion steering and telescopic dampers and the interior space was enlarged to allow the addition of occasional rear seats.

The power unit remained Jaguar's well-tried, 3.4-litre, twin-cam six, which now produced 190bhp in standard trim thanks to higher-lift camshafts and revised porting. To ensure reliability, steel bearing caps replaced the previous cast-iron type. A close-ratio gearbox enabled better use to be made of the increased performance whilst a Laycock de Normanville overdrive became an option for the first time. Special Equipment (SE) XK140s came with wire wheels and Lucas fog lamps and could be ordered with an engine developing 210bhp courtesy of the 'C'-type cylinder head.

Dispatched from Browns Lane on the 6th March 1956, this left-hand-drive XK140 Roadster, equipped to 'SE' specification, with the desirable 'C'-type cylinder head and a manual gearbox, was delivered new to Jaguar Cars New York.

Seeing its potential, some 35 years later, the XK made the return journey and was acquired by a classic car specialist. Our vendor, a car enthusiast and trained engineer, purchased the car (as a wholly complete and matching numbers example) from the specialist, Yorkshire Vintage & Classic Car Company, in November 1991, with the decision to set about a complete, ground-up, restoration. Due to restoring an XK150 in the meantime, this XK140 had to wait its turn, but this painstaking project was completed only recently. It included input from many marque specialists, including Leaping Cats Ltd. and Lanes Cars. Pleasingly, its original engine and gearbox (the latter being stripped and rebuilt by Charles Roberts, with new components bought from Alan George, and the cylinder head reconditioned by Vintage Sports Engines of Llanbister) remained in place, with the former sent to specialists S.Brunt Ltd. Precision Engineers to be stripped, inspected, rebored and fully rebuilt. The clutch mechanism has been upgraded from mechanical to hydraulic. The bodywork was taken back to bare metal and completely refinished in a beautiful shade of Cream (as per its HC). All mechanical components were either restored or replaced and the full rolling chassis (repaired, sand-blasted, zinc sprayed, painted and Waxoyled) prepared to be reunited with the rebuilt engine. The interior was beautifully re-trimmed in Oxblood leather and new carpets fitted.

This sparkling XK now presents in superb condition and is described as running and driving very well as you might expect. It is accompanied by the owner's file which contains multiple invoices, photographs of the restoration, and a Heritage Certificate

Offered at a very sensible guide, this is an opportunity to own a very stylish, sought after and collectable Jaguar from a point in time when the world was very different. All that is left to do is to brim the tank, fill the picnic basket and set off on a beautiful sunny afternoon.