- Here’s a traditional Jaguar sporting experience with all the right bits.
- With a bored-out engine and Le Mans–spec tune, it’s set to pounce.
- The alloy body makes it more than 100 pounds lighter than a steel-body XK120 would be.
Jaguar’s current rebranding and repositioning in the market has certainly drawn the ire of ardent fans of the brand. Not to worry, chaps and chapettes, simply flip through the back catalog, choose your favorite blast from the past, and bag that Jag. Or, alternatively, you can build your own essential Jaguar driving experience by assembling some of the company’s greatest hits together.
Such is the case with this 1953 XK120 for sale on Bring a Trailer (which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos). It sports an alloy body and some very tasty modifications. The XK120 hails from a time when Jaguars still thundered around Le Mans, its name a flex about how fast the car could actually go. This one’s far quicker than stock, thanks to a breathed-on inline-six and a lightweight alloy body.
Bring a TrailerUpon its launch in 1948, the aluminum-bodied XK120 was the fastest production car in the world. It was also drop-dead gorgeous, and it soon became the preferred runabout for well-to-do folks with a craving for speed. The first production car went to none other than Clark Gable.This car does come with a numbers-matching engine but has been considerably reworked over the past five years. Originally delivered into Los Angeles, it now wears an replacement alloy body and fantastic light green metallic paintwork that contrasts well with the custom tan leather interior.Under the hood, the 3.4-liter inline-six has been bored out to 3.8 liters and fitted with a cylinder head from a C-type, built to later D-type specifications with triple SU carburetors. Part of the appeal of the XK120 is that you were getting a road car that wasn’t far off in power and speed from the the Le Mans cars, and while power output isn’t listed here, this thing should go like a scalded cat.Bring a TrailerMany people will hold up the E-type as the apogee of Jaguar design, but the more you look at the details on this XK120, the better it gets. The windshield is subtly cut down rather than fitted with Brooklands-style folding glass, there’s custom-fitted luggage, and the interior boasts Heuer stopwatches. Even the tool kit, lined in green plaid, is a miniature artwork.Bring a TrailerThe complete lack of roof means you won’t want to drive this XK120 when the weather turns English, but apart from that it is a deftly executed tribute to traditional Jaguar character. Pop on your tweed jacket and flat cap, slot that five-speed manual gearbox into first, and then prod that straight-six from purr to yowl. Not for nothing is the traditional Jaguar hood ornament called a Leaper.The auction ends on Saturday, April 26.Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.
Source: caranddriver.com
