Jaguar XK120 Pictures
Jaguar XK120 Pictures: If you have not yet sent a photo of your Jaguar, we encourage you to do so. Simply email
us with a photograph(s) attached and the year plus as much of your name as you care to reveal, and your Jaguar Saloon pic will be included in our Photo Gallery. The beauty in these classic car pictures give us all a chance to celebrate the marvelous style and grace of these wonderful classic motorcars.
Your Jaguar picture should be sized to at least 400 x 300 pixels, larger if possible. We will resize your pics to fit the gallery.
Jaguar XK120 Photo Gallery
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Jaguar XK 120 1948-1954
Late in 1948, the Jaguar XK120 was announced. The first XK120s were open two-seater roadsters, but fixed-head coupe and drophead coupe (convertibles) were soon introduced. Generally priced between $3,000 and $4,000, the XK120 brought luxury to sports car motoring and was the first quantity-produced car to be fitted with a twin overhead camshaft engine. The first 240 cars has all-aluminum bodies. The in-line 6-cylinder engine was designed and built by Jaguar in collaboration with Harry Weslake. In 1949, one of the first production cars was officially timed in a series of runs covering a "flying mile" at 132.6 mph.
The XK120 was a revolutionary sports car, not because if contained any spectaculerly original advances in technology or coachwork, but because the XK120 achieved, for the first time ever, touring car standards of ride and comfort in a sports car which had performance exceeding that of virtually any other production car. It was priced so relatively low that it was not taken seriously by its rivals.
The XK120 could accelerate to 60 mph in 12 seconds and would top over 115 mph. These were staggering figures for 1948. It was in effect a racecar you could buy and use on the open road. It was therefore not surprising that derivatives of the XK 120 went on to win races all over the World, including the 24 Hours Le Mans endurance race.
The fixed-head coupe was introduced in 1951 and the drophead coupe (convertible) in 1953.
1949 Specifications:
Price: $3,536
Engine: 6-cylinder, 160-hp, 210-cid
Total Production (1948-1954): 17,612
