Jaguar XK120 - JOHN STARKEY CARS · Jaguar XK120 is finished. One very interesting small point about this particular XK120 is that, as this is a very early car, it has a shorter top

JAGUAR XK120

Jaguar XK120

© John Starkey 2011 www.johnstarkeycars.com (727) 384 1179 USA

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Jaguar XK120

I have always had a soft spot for Jaguar XK120s. That’s basically because when I was still a teenager you could buy one in England for anything (depending on condition) ranging from £125 to £250, (about $200 to $400). I kid you not! I'm talking about the early 1960s, when car insurance was also cheap (it cost me £15 to insure my first 120, fully comp.) and the Jaguar E Type had just come out. 120s were just “old cars” and this at a time when “Classic Cars” had yet to exist as a collector hobby. How times have changed; the XK120 is rightly seen today for the groundbreaking sportscar that it was. Just imagine, a car that would do 120 mph, when most cars struggled to reach 70 mph, it was a rocket ship of the time, a true Supercar.

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Jaguar XK120


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Today, of course, the performance would be looked upon with derision by people who have come to expect 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds and top speeds in the order of 200 mph but back then… I still think 120s are quintessentially beautiful, those long flowing fender lines truly reminding you of the leaping cat that Jaguar was named after. As an aside, I also happen to think the fixed head coupe (FHC) is one of the true car beauties of all time, resembling as it does the Figoni and Falaschi bodied “Teardrop” Delahayes and Delages of the 1930s. Remind yourself that when one of these comes up for sale, they are snapped up for millions of dollars and yet you can still buy an XK120 FHC for circa $100k. Get your wallets out, folks!


Jaguar XK120


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Anyway, the above is a preamble to the photos featured with this article, which I took recently when visiting that Valhalla of XKs/E Types and Lola T70s, Predator Performance in Largo, Florida. They are in the process of restoring an early XK120 roadster (1950) complete with spats that came to them with extremely low mileage (13000!) and only three owners. It is also one of the very rare XK120s to be painted in metallic bronze, which so suits the lines. When the restoration is finished, this glorious XK120 will be auctioned by Gooding's at Monterey in August.


Jaguar XK120


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As you can see from the accompanying photos, Predator Performance’s Bronze 1950 Jaguar XK120 is finished. One very interesting small point about this particular XK120 is that, as this is a very early car, it has a shorter top than the later cars, which had to be specially fabricated for her. English Mike and “the boys” have done their usual fabulous job and she is off to Monterey to be auctioned in the Goodings’ sale. There can be few low mileage, early XK120s as nice as this one (if any at all) so it will be interesting to see what she sells for.


Jaguar XK120


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Jaguar XK120 - JOHN STARKEY CARS · Jaguar XK120 is finished. One very interesting small point about this particular XK120 is that, as this is a very early car, it has a shorter top