The Most Beautiful Cars Ever Built

The XK120 was launched in open two-seater or (US) roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. The display car was the first prototype, chassis number 670001. It looked almost identical to the production cars except that the straight outer pillars of its windscreen would be curved on the production version. The roadster caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production.

Beginning in 1948, the first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seater bodies with aluminium panels.[4] Production switched to the 1cwt or 112 lb (51 kg) heavier[5] all-steel in early 1950. The "120" in the name referred to the aluminium car's 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed (faster with the windscreen removed), which made it the world's fastest production car at the time of its launch.[6] In 1949 the first production roadster, chassis number 670003, was delivered to Clark Gable.

The XK120 was ultimately available in two open versions, first as an open 2-seater described in the US market as the roadster (and designated OTS, for open two-seater, in America), then also as a drophead coupé (DHC) from 1953; and also as a closed, or fixed head coupé (FHC) from 1951.

All XK120s had independent torsion bar front suspension, semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear, recirculating ball steering, telescopically adjustable steering column, and all-round 12 inch drum brakes[3] that were prone to fade. Some cars were fitted with Alfin (ALuminium FINned) brake drums to help overcome the fade.

XK 120 3.4 SE ("M" in USA) 1951–1954
3442 cc
DOHC Straight-6
83 mm/106 mm
Double SU H6 180 bhp (134 kW; 182 PS) @ 5300 rpm