Description
XK120 debuted at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show, where this stunning-looking roadster caused a sensation. The elegance of the XK120 was quickly reinforced by its performance, proven by the fact it was then the world’s fastest production car. The Jag is powered by very advanced 3. 4-liter straight six with twin overhead camshafts running in an aluminum-alloy cylinder head, seven main bearings and a maximum output of 160bhp. It was set in a shortened chassis of the simultaneously announced Mark V saloon and equipped with William Heynes’ torsion bar independent front suspension. The result was a car with a phenomenal power-to-weight ratio and blistering performance. The XK120 set new standards of comfort, roadholding and performance for any sportscars.
Is a remarkably interesting matching numbers XK120 with an early life of National Sports Car Championship entries, a car that was raced in Florida, California, taken to places such as the Bahamas or Venezuela, then retired and off the road from the 1970’s through to 2019. The car was raced and owned by Henry Casper and Peter Coltrin, the latter a legendary figure in motoring journalism.
Having been uncovered in 2019, the XK120 was put in the hands of a leading XK specialist in the UK, who has very carefully preserved the originality of this car. Since being tucked away during the 1970’s, the car was coated in primer and left in dry storage.
This Jaguar XK120 was manufactured on the 6th July 1954 in open two-seater left hand drive format, finished in Cream with Red upholstery and distributed from Hoffman, New York. The XK then spent the 1950’s and 1960’s being raced by Henry Casper and Peter Coltrin with pit passes, letters and documentation all preserved and kept with the car. The car led an incredible early life and letters between Henry Casper and Peter Coltrin at very stages throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s make for very interesting reading, written from places such as Miami Springs when the car arrived ahead of a race in 1955, Caracas in Venezuela in 1957 and The Emerald Beech Hotel in The Bahamas.
