1949 JAGUAR XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is an English sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. Jaguar's first post-war sports car, it succeeded the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940. Introduced at the 1948 London Motor Show at Earls Court, the XK120 set the sports car world on fire after achieving the unheard of 120 mph. The XK120 took the London car show generating orders almost instantly for the powerful car. Jaguar became the world's most coveted automobile.
The XK120 Jaguar displayed at Auto Vino is an exact replica of the record-breaking vehicle that on May 30, 1949, on the Ostend-Jabbeke motorway in Belgium, was timed by the officials of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium producing an average speed of 132.6 mph with the windshield replaced by a small aero screen.
Jaguar took its new XK120 (the 120 represented the top speed in mph) to Jabbeke in Belgium to validate its top speed, and came away with a clear record of just over 132 mph.
The "120" referred to the aluminum road vehicle's 120 mph top speed and was made at a faster pace with the windshield removed that made it the world's fastest production car at the time of its introduction.
Starting in 1948, the first 242 XK120s were hand-built with aluminum bodies were mounted on a steel chassis mainly copied from the Jaguar Mark V chassis using some of the same parts that were constructed between late 1948 and early 1950.
It was initially designed to showcase Jaguar's new twin-cam motor, and the XK120 was an immediate sensation when the car debuted in October of 1948. After a strong public reaction, the company founder William Lyons to put the streamlined roadster into production, that would have a significant influence in the next few decades of sports car history.
As England entered a period of austerity following WWII, the higher octane level of fuels were challenging to acquire, but the Jaguar factory's access to 80 octane fuel provided it with the higher compression ratio needed, enabling the journalists to test the automobiles maximum achievements in Belgium on the long straight stretch of road between Jabbeke and Ostend.
The dashboards and door-caps in both the drophead coupé (DHC) and the closed coupé (FHC) were wood-veneered, whereas the open cars were leather-trimmed. All models had removable "fender skirts" in America covering the rear wheel arches, which enhanced the streamlined look.
The 1949-54 Jaguar XK-120 sports car turned out to be one of the most popular British sports automobiles of all time making it a bright sign to the British car industry that they were on the way back along with Aston Martin company acquired by David Brown in 1947. The XK-120 was built as a limited-production car to display Jaguar's new advanced dual-overhead-camshaft and in-line six-cylinder engine with the hemispherical—or "Hemi"—combustion chambers that proceeded Chrysler's V-8s.
The new XK-120 was ideal for Americans who were the only ones outside Europe that had plenty of dollars to spend spend on flashy new cars, dominating the world's economy after the war. The first American to get an XK-120 on the West Coast in California was the world-famous actor and car buff Clark Gable, who raved about his new Jaguar.
Other celebrities soon followed snapping up the XK-120. Most of the XK-120s were bought by average upper-middle-class people because the car's appealing cost that was approximately $3,600. The Americans were amazed that Jaguar could offer such quality found in the the XK-120 at such a low price. The rival Ferrari with a similar performance cost a whopping $12,000 and up, and that is if a car could even be found one for sale.
Auto Vino rare and exotic car storage is proud to preserve and protect the heritage of British Motorcars in a museum-like setting to display beautiful examples of Art-on-Wheels for those who have a passion for rare, exotic, and fast cars, and for those too who don't.
The car presented here is privately owned and not for sale.
