1952 Jaguar XK120 OTS Roadster                         Chas...

Hammer

£62,000

1952 Jaguar XK120 OTS Roadster                        

Chassis Number: 660995
Registration Number: YAS 943
Recorded Mileage: 27,800 miles

- In current ownership since 2003
- c. £40,000 invested in restoration and maintenance works

It was at the 1948 London Motor Show that Jaguar threw the sports car world into turmoil with its stunning XK120. Here was a car with incredible style and looks, a powerful six cylinder engine installed in an outstanding chassis, and a remarkably low price, a quarter that of a V12 Ferrari, but with similar performance. At the heart of the William Lyons styled roadster was that all-new 3,442cc twin overhead camshaft XK engine, producing 160bhp via twin SU carburettors, sufficient for 126mph and 0-60mph in 10 seconds. The fastest non-supercharged production sports model at the time, its claimed top speed of 120mph was so astonishing that to prove it Jaguar took one over to Belgium, and clocked over 130mph.

The response from the public at the Motor Show launch on 20th October 1948 caught Jaguar by surprise, and as orders poured in it was immediately obvious that the level of home and export demand could only be satisfied by moving from a lightweight alloy-bodied ash frame construction to tooling up for volume production in steel. This took time to achieve and the first 57 right hand drive cars, and 183 left-hand drive cars, were hand-produced in lightweight aluminium alloy.

The XK120 became a massive success both on the road and the track, where it scored numerous victories. The many drivers included Stirling Moss, Peter Walker, Peter Whitehead, Leslie Johnson and Ian Appleyard. In XK120C/C-Type form it won Le Mans in both 1951 and 1953, while its engine was to power three more Le Sarthe winners and a whole host of successful Jaguar models for the next fifty years.

This quite stunning XK120 Roadster rolled off the Brown’s Lane production line in the last week of June 1952, finished in Black with a Red leather interior. Soon after the Jaguar embarked on its long journey to Mozambique in Africa and to its first owner, a Mr. Raul S Cruz e Silva. The XK120 stayed with him for some 20 or more years before passing to its second owner in Johannesburg, who kept the Jaguar in a small collection of classics for a similar length of time before selling to our vendor in 2003. At some point the colour scheme was changed to Carmen red with cream leather trim (which was a little more forgiving for drivers in this part of the world), a scheme it wore when returning to the UK.

Since 2003 a huge amount of care and attention has been lavished on the XK, in the main with Jaguar specialists such as Powerbell Services, Marcus Barclay, Brian Stevens and Julian Ferraro, also the Rolls-Royce specialist Silver Lady Services who in 2008 stripped the car and refinished the paintwork. A thick file of bills, for in the region of £40,000, details the various works completed, resulting in the genuinely superb example presented here. A criticism of the early XK model is that they can be a little awkward to drive for the taller owner. Thankfully in this case the pedal box has been adjusted to address this issue.

Now truly resplendent in its original exterior colour of Black, with rare and original half spats and steel rims, this is a fine example of one of the most beautiful post-war classic cars ever to grace the roads. The Jaguar is supplied with a history file detailing works completed, Jaguar handbook, current V5C and previous Mozambique title document, the original and complete tool roll, and current UK MoT certificate valid to April 2022.