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Jaguar XK120 OTS 3. 4
Brand Jaguar
Model XK120 OTS 3. 4
Color Green
Transmission Manuel 4 gears + overdrive
Pk 160 ch
Mileage 0 km
Year 1954
Price 90. 000€
The XK120 was launched as an open two-seater or roadster (US) at the 1948 London Motor Show, as a test bed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. The show car was the first prototype, chassis number 670001. It was almost identical to the production cars, with the exception of the straight outer windscreen pillars, which were curved on the production version. The roadster caused a sensation, persuading Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production. From 1948 onwards, the first 242 cars featured an open 2-seat wood-frame body with aluminum panels. In early 1950, production switched to an all-steel body, 51 kg heavier. The “120” in the name refers to the aluminum car’s top speed of 193 km/ h (120 mph) (faster with the windshield removed), making it the fastest production car in the world at the time of its launch. In 1949, the first production roadster, chassis number 670003, was delivered to Clark Gable. The XK120 was eventually available in two open versions, first as an open two-seater described on the American market as the roadster (and designated OTS, for open two-seater, in America), then also as a convertible coupe (DHC) from 1953; and also as a closed, or fixed-head, coupe (FHC) from 1951. On May 30, 1949, on the empty Ostend-Jabbeke freeway in Belgium, an XK120 prototype timed by officials of the Royal Automobile Club de Belgique achieved an average oncoming speed of 132. 6 mph with the windscreen replaced by a single small aerosol and a catalogued alternative top gear, and 135 mph with a passenger-side tonneau cover in place. In 1950 and 1951, on a sloping oval circuit in France, XK120 roadsters averaged over 100 mph for 24 hours and over 130 mph for one hour. In 1952, a fixed-head coupe broke numerous world speed and distance records, averaging 100 mph for a week. Roadsters also enjoyed success in races and rallies. The first roadsters, hand-built with aluminum bodies on ash frames mounted on modified Jaguar Mark V chassis, were built between late 1948 and early 1950. To meet demand, and from the 1950 model year onwards, all subsequent XK120s were mass-produced with pressed steel bodies. The doors, hood and boot lid were made of aluminum. The DHC and FHC versions, more luxurious than the roadsters, featured wind-up windows and wood veneers on the dashboard and interior door trim. With its alloy cylinder head, hemispherical combustion chambers, angled valves and twin SU side-draft carburetors, the XK’s 3. 4-liter in-line six-cylinder DOHC engine was relatively advanced for a mass-produced unit at the time. With a standard 8:1 compression ratio, it developed 160 hp (119 kW) on 80-octane fuel.
Most of the early cars were exported; a low-compression 7:1 version, with reduced performance, was reserved for the British market, where the post-war austerity measures then in force limited buyers to 70-octane “Pool petrol”. The Jaguar factory, which had access to 80-octane fuel, supplied the press with roadsters featuring the highest compression ratio. Journalists could then test the model’s optimum performance in Belgium, on a long straight between Jabbeke and Ostend. The XK’s basic engine design, later modified into 3. 8- and 4. 2-liter versions, survived until the late 1980s. All XK120s were equipped with independent torsion-bar front suspension, semi-elliptical leaf springs at the rear, recirculating ball steering, telescopically adjustable steering column and 12-inch drum brakes all round, which tended to fade. The roadster’s lightweight canvas soft top and removable side windows stowed out of sight behind the seats, and its barchetta-style doors had no exterior handles; instead, there was an interior pull tab accessible via a flap in the side windows when the weather equipment was in place. The windshield could be removed to allow the fitting of aerodynamic windshields.
This model has been fully restored and has not been driven since!
