When you stop to think about it, fiberglass changed the automotive world.  From Corvettes to the plethora of kit cars sold from the fifties through today, this invention made a lot of dreams possible.  In the kit car world, it also brought about the revival of many long out-of-production European sports cars.  The simpler kit cars could be built on the plentiful VW Beetle chassis of the era, but some of the better ones had their own frame and an engine out front.  If you are the handy type with enough patience to finish someone else’s project, then this 1952 Jaguar XK120 replica for sale on Facebook Marketplace in Salt Lake City, Utah, is calling your name.  This nearly completed V8-powered fiberglass beauty is being offered at a reasonable $10,000.  Do you have the skills to get this fake Jag across the finish line?  Thanks to T.J. for the tip!

Before we begin, we need to set our expectations a little low.  The seller has not bestowed us with a lot of information about this kit car, and the internet is little help either.  What we are told is that it is a Jaguar XK120G kit car powered by a Chevrolet 350 cubic inch V-8 and backed with a four-speed manual transmission.  The wiring consists of a Painless Performance kit commonly used in street rods.  There is currently more wiring work to be done, along with hooking up the cooling system, hanging the pedals, and attaching the hood and the door.  It will also come with a full hardtop.

An advertisement for this car from Eagle Coach Works says that a donor car would be necessary.  The kit is designed to use the running gear of a Ford Pinto, Mustang II, or a Mercury Bobcat.  You would need the engine, transmission, driveshaft, and rear end from the donor car to power the vehicle.  You would also need the radiator, front suspension, rear axle, wiring harness, steering gear, springs, brakes, and seat belts.  The car came in a large wooden box that shows the cowl forward section on top.  Given the unorthodox shape of the frame, along with the size of the box, it would be fair to assume that you welded the frame together from pieces.  The body was also in sections, and the builder would then have to patch it together.

A superficial look at the exterior of the car shows that it is a pretty good copy of a Jaguar XK120 finished in a pleasing color.  Most folks just look at a car like this and think that it is a stylish vehicle from back in the day.  More advanced old car buffs might notice something off about the bumpers, turn signals, and the thin windshield frame and determine that it was a kit right away.  A big clue that there is skulduggery afoot are the hubcaps and cheap whitewalls.  These catch your eyes and assault them with a cheapness that ruins the look of the car.  These would have to be the first to go.

Inside the cockpit is the usual kit car look.  The leather seats are ones pulled from another car, the door panels are screwed on, and the instrumentation bears no resemblance to the original.  Some credit must be given to those instruments, as they appear to be VDO Heritage Chrome series gauges.  The black insert wooden steering wheel also looks out of place on a supposed Jaguar XK120.  It wouldn’t take too much work to fix the hodgepodge of parts here if you focused on making everything look like it was from the fifties.  A set of racing seat belts would also be a nice touch if you went with more period-correct seats.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this build is the small block Chevrolet under the hood despite the design calling for a Pinto-based donor car.  As seen here in an old photograph from the initial construction of the car, the builder spared no expense when it came to accessorizing the engine with chrome and polished stainless steel aftermarket parts.  One must wonder if the builder used a Pinto-based donor car for the mechanical parts other than the engine and transmission.  One of the most important things a new buyer can do is try to make a list of every part’s origin.  Imagine being stuck somewhere in this thing and trying to talk a modern auto parts store clerk through finding a needed part on the computer.

In all, this car has a lot of potential.  It looks to have been a well-thought-out kit car with quality components.  Putting it all together and working through every part that looks out of place would result in a very handsome and reliable car for much less than an original Jaguar.  Kit cars can be fun if you put the work in and manage your expectations.

Have you ever built a kit car?  What would you do with this Jaguar XK120 replica?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.