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Jaguar XK120.

A car that I consider the prettiest that Jaguar has made the XK120 has beautiful but uncluttered lines and genuine performance to match the looks. The pure elegance of this car can only be truly appreciated when seeing it ‘in the metal’. Launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1948 the cars model name was due to the fact that it reached 120mph in early testing. The 3.4 litre 6 cylinder twin overhead cam aluminium head equipped engine was the key to its success.  Derivatives and developments of this engine were installed in the racing C- Type and D-Type jaguars as well as powering the E type. The same type of engine continued into the 1990’s in Jaguars XJ6.

 The XK120 (just like the E type after it) evolved over the years from its early form adding refinements, improvements and increasing performance but losing some of the original cars pure and smooth looks by the time the XK150 was introduced.   The cream of the 120’s is the limited production alloy bodied model. Six of these cars were specially prepared by Jaguar and entrusted to select drivers who rallied and raced them to good effect in the early 1950’s. The XK120 started life with a split windscreen, pressed steel wheels, rear wheel spats, drum brakes all round and a very simple specification. The 120’s uncluttered lines were emphasised by a lack of exterior door handles. The XK140 was launched in 1954 and had a few detailed changes to the XK120’s looks. The split screen was still there along with the rear spats but larger more cumbersome looking bumpers were added and chrome strips added to the boot and bonnet as well as larger rear lights.

The XK150 was the car that looked like an XK120 that had gained weight. The radiator grill gained width along with the overall look of the front of the car. The bodyline running down the sides of the car was brought up higher meaning that the line from front wing to rear wing lost the elegant curve that adorned the XK120. The front of the car now had extra driving lights, wing mirrors, indicators, over riders on the large bumpers and had lost the simplicity of the first car. A wraparound one-piece windscreen was added and interior wise even the wooden dashboard was lost in response to the then current trend of vinyl covered dashboards. This car however was the fastest of the XK’s with the 3.8 litre 150S topping out at 136mph and reaching the all-important 60mph in just 7.5 seconds. The bhp figure rose from 160 (in 1948 in the XK120) to 250 (in the 3.4 litre 150S of 1950).

I always used to love the look of the 150 until I saw the 120 in the early nineties ‘in the metal’ and realised what I had missed.