While it’s not a vehicle I spend any particular amount of time pining for, there is no denying this 1953 Jaguar XK120 is one of the most gorgeous designs to come out of the 1950s. Really, everything Jaguar was making in the 50s and 60s could be described that way, and this XK120 is perhaps the ultimate expression of a survivor. Find it here on eBay where the seller describes his father’s car as unrestored and with good history.
The XK120 features very old-school Maryland license plates, and was originally painted Lavender Gray – a color the seller says is quite rare today. Small spots of the original paint do still poke out, but the numbers matching engine is long gone. The repaint took place in the 50s or 60s, the seller speculates, and he notes that while not rusty overall, some rust in the rear will make a new gas tank support brace a required fix before it can be driven.
The interior is perfectly weathered, with lovely bucket seats that do need some repair but are still charming in their well-worn appearance. The cabin appears dry and largely undisturbed, and there’s likely a ton of memories baked in here: the seller says the car has been in his family for over five decades! It belonged to his father who loved XK120s and owned several of them. The car was used for various road trips and while it hasn’t been on the road since 1967, the seller says his mother recalls there was no mechanical fault for it being parked – just lack of space.
The engine is a replacement motor from an XK140, and it still runs despite being laid up for decades. The seller notes that he and a friend got it to fire again after installing new spark plugs, changing the fluids and hoses, and rebuilding the carbs and SU fuel pump. This XK120 is a survivor in every sense of the word, and the story behind its ownership would make it very hard for me to sell if I were the heirs responsible. The asking price is a reasonable $35,000 with the option to submit a best offer.
A while back, people were raggin’ on me for not liking the style of the 911 Porsche( or any Porsche, except the 924, for that matter) One person wrote, “what DO you like? I said British cars, and this is an excellent example of what I consider, the most beautifully styled cars in the world. This particular cat, a bit rough around the edges, but I mean, look at it. Flowing lines, 4 spoke steering wheel, beautiful dash( with those tachometers that go backwards) motor up front that’s a mini-version of some fighter plane motor( and just as stout),,yes sir, this, to me, one of the coolest car ever made, the Hagwar XK120. If my grandpa invented the paper clip( or whatever) and left me a wad, this would be the 1st car I’d buy.Thank you.
Fully agree with Howard A. A near perfect design in terms of aesthetic balance and proportion from any angle of view, including the driver’s seat. So many cars come across as simply awkwardly shaped boxes that trick many of us into the delusion that they are “beautiful” because the are shiny or have big engines, or fancy wheels, or a lot of chrome but there is more to car design than that, as this handsome Jaguar so eloquently demonstrates.
You stated that this is one of the most gorgeous designs to come out of the 1950s. Wrong, this design is clearly inspired by the 1930’s Bugatti Atlantic Coupe, so correctly it is one of the most gorgeous designs to come out of the 1930s! Even the fabled XK engine design appears to have been inspired by the Type 57 but minus two cylinders.
This is a candidate for a body-off restoration by a passionate enthusiast (save your money, Howard!).
Unseen rust may be a major issue, so it would be looking a lot closer at this ‘fixed-head-coupe’ before buying.
I don’t know if Howard or Dirk have ever driven one of these XK-Series cars, but steering is rather truck-like, or should I say, lorry-like?
Still the car’s lines are visual perfection, reminiscent of a Pre-War BMW 328. You two might appreciate that I still have my Revell ‘Highway Pioneers’ XK-120 roadster model that I built in the 1960s.
Steering may be “truck like” but, aw, the sound of that twin-cam six revving through the gears! My first Jag was a ’51 XK120 roadster, bought in Bend, Oregon (I was living in Salem at the time). Drove it home via Hwy 20 over the Santiam Pass. Ran it up to 100 a few times when the road straightened out, double clutching each downshift of the (nearly) non-synchro Moss ‘box and braking for the corners it was a drive I shall always remember!
The very next morning I went out to the garage to back it out, and as I did I touched the brake pedal – SNAP!! – and the cold, dead pedal fell to the floor as the car continued to roll. Turned out an important part of the linkage between the pedal and master cylinder was a piece of threaded brass and it apparently fatigued and chose that moment to break apart. Fortunately not the day before as I was doing 100 mph!
But that sort of fore-shadowed all my future experiences, not just with this one, but the XK150, the RHD XK-E and the Mark VII that followed. I won’t touch a Jag anymore – most unreliable, demon possessed pieces of machinery I’ve ever experienced. The ONLY one I could ever depend on getting me both to and from my destination was the one I should have never sold – a good driving but unrestored 1938 SS100 I found one year in New Zealand.
I share your opinion of Jags, Chinga-Trailer. Thankfully, my experiences are from working on them, as I’ve never ‘officially’ owned one.
Yup, you should have brought that SS100 home. It is amazing the variety of interesting and rare machines ended up in a small country, located in the middle of nowhere, that I have called ‘home’ for almost 38 years.
Having already restored a couple of these there are few locations for hidden rust to start. Generally if there is rust on one of these you can see it right away. That being said the turn signal lights over the tops of the front fenders and the headlight buckets can rust where you can not see it and are very difficult to put right. These items are leaded in. YES LEAD. and often there was not enough paint within the opening that leads to exposed metal that rusted over the years. The same thing is true with Mercedes 300SL eyebrows over the wheel wells but that is worse as there was never any paint protection there.
These cars are very straight forward to assemble but if you need new sheet metal be assured you will spend a great deal of time hand fitting them as no two cars were exactly alike. This car was assembled in a era when hand fitting at the factory was normal in England.
The steering is heavy as compared to modern cars, the brakes are good but the tires are narrow so expect longer stoping distances. The first gear has no synchro but there is enough torque in the motor you will seldom find that a problem. The heater is weak, I think you get more heat from the engine and transmission than from the heater. The air conditioner is the windows rolled down.
But this is fall, and there are fewer things more beautiful then the reflections of autumn trees reflecting off that long hood as you take a drive in the country side. The sound, smell of oil, leather, exhaust mixed with cool autumn air is a magic elixir for the soul. It will take highway speeds with ease but back roads is where it really shines. This looks like a very very good one to restore. The ones I was involved with were extremely reliable cars and one of the owners drove his daily for many years.
Well maybe my manner of writing was ambiguous, but I most certainly did buy it, it was the first of many dozens of cars I subsequently purchased overseas and shipped home. I drove it frequently and in all sorts of weather. I just couldn’t forsee that they would ultimately become as valuable as they are and was happy to double my money after just a few years.
Surely a cracking deal?
Dig that enameled exhaust manifold !
Sold for:US $35,000.00
So cheap ..
Just received this from a client last night:
BTW: I had a fabulous 130 mile fall drive through the hills today in an xk120. A very under rated car. They are a bargain and a total blast to drivel
Someone got a good deal with this Jag.
Greetings All,
I love the lines but prefer the DHC over the Roadster, as I like wood.
The coupes, while gorgeous have a limited run time in New England.
Winter. NO! Inadequate heating.
Spring, NO! Moisture of the season coupled with inadequate heat and demisting
Summer, NO! Too hot. car lacks AC.
AUtumn, YES, Just right. Enough heat made to keep comfortable and not enough moisture to be problematic.
Perfect Fall car………3-4 months of the year.
Had an XK 150S fixed head, $300, in l969. Was almost erotic to drive on country roads. Ran well until I parked it one day and it would not start again. Plenty of spark, was not the fuel filter, fuel pump, unlikely that both SU carbs would have given up at once, local “foreign car mechanic”, I think the foreign part was he was born in Czechoslovakia, not that he really knew much, could not solve it, sat in his garage all winter next to a Brewster Ford which he could not fix either, and eventually I towed it with my trusty Chevy to a friend’s barn where, eventually, it was evicted and “found” and I sold it for $300. But a wonderful car to drive, but not to depend on – and who would buy something like this as their daily driver anyway in 2018?
Whale….Howard said it and I agree…….