1956 Jaguar XK140 Roadster

Jaguar Cars launched the XK140 at the London Motor Show in October 1954 and it remained in production until 1957. Rather than being an uncompromised sports car, the 140 was a much more comfortable and capable long-distance machine than its predecessor, the XK120, and featured a raft of improvements over the earlier car. The styling was enhanced with a revised grille with fewer and thicker slats 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 with the interior space enlarged to allow the addition of occasional rear seats for the Fixed Head Coupé.

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 were fitted with wire wheels and Lucas fog lamps as standard and could be ordered with an engine developing 210bhp courtesy of the 'C'-type cylinder head, these top of the range models being suffixed ‘MC’.

This lovely example is indeed a 210bhp SE ‘MC’ and dates from 1956. It’s finished in a delightful colour combination of Cotswold Blue over light grey leather and sits on silver-painted wire wheels. Purchased from Porters in Kensington in 1996, purchase receipt in the file, it has been with our vendors for the last 29 years and appears to have been fully enjoyed on rallies both nationally and internationally, on Drive-It days within the UK and excursions in France, Greece and even Australia!

It remains ‘matching numbers’ but, unusually it appears it was converted from left to right-hand drive in 1956, the year it was built. It was restored in 1993/4 by Alscot Garage in Warwickshire with invoices on file and a handwritten summary sheet of all the work undertaken at the time. The history file makes for pleasant reading with plenty of invoices for maintenance and servicing, handwritten correspondence, an original operating manual and old MOTs. Recent history includes a mechanical refresh by Bell Classics along with older significant bills from Cambridge Motorsport and Classic Autos of Hertfordshire.

The XK appears largely standard with its smooth revving and glorious sounding 3.4-litre Jaguar inline-six attached to its original 4-speed gearbox and Laycock de Normanville overdrive with the necessary addition of a Kenlowe fan. The condition of the car is lovely, with a gently patinated interior and paintwork that’s good, but not perfect, totally in keeping with an older restoration and 29 years of fun.

It’s so nice to come across a mechanically sound, much-loved 1950s classic Jaguar that you could just jump in and go anywhere.