Ironically, Jaguar boss Bill (Sir William from 1956) Lyons didn't initially put his weight behind the model. His focus was the MKVII, set to be Jaguar's first 100mph saloon and powered by an all-new, highly sophisticated straight-six engine developed during the war years by the in-house team of William Heynes, Claude Baily and Walter Hassan. But with completion of the first car delayed for its 1948 Earls Court debut, Lyons chose instead to showcase the XK120.
Audiences were stunned. What had been seen by Jaguar as a novel – but not particularly a commercial - offering changed people's views of what a modern sports car should look like. Using the MKVII's chassis and engine, albeit in highly modified forms, everything about the XK120 show car shouted speed, from its low-slung body's exquisite, flowing lines to its spatted rear wheels and raked radiator grille. The XK120's advanced, double-overhead-cam 'six' with hemispherical combustion chambers and inclined valves was tuned to develop 160bhp, with 195lb ft of torque at just 2500rpm. A steel chassis with independent front suspension and an all-aluminum body (changed to steel in 1950, adding 112lb) meant the new Jaguar genuinely was a look into the automotive future.
As was its top speed. While the ‘120' moniker was derived from near enough the car's official Vmax, factory test driver Ron 'Soapy' Sutton achieved 126.4mph on Belgium's OstendJabbeke motorway, validated by the local Royal Automobile Club. The car ran a catalogued taller top-gear ratio but was otherwise standard.
He then replaced the full-sized split windscreen with a single aero screen and recorded a two-way average of 132.6mph, hence our headline figure here. Even in The Motor's impartial hands, the first prototype XK120 accelerated from 0-60mph in 10 secs and hit 124.6mph with its hood and side screens in place.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring