Fantastic FIXED HEAD

THE XK 120 WAS CREATED TO SHOWCASE ITS DOHC INLINE SIX-CYLINDER ENGINE THAT REMAINED IN SERVICE OVER FOUR DECADES

The Most Beautiful Car In The World, Jaguar's E-Type, has an older cousin which didn't come with a Le Mans heritage or frantic drive through the darkness, to make its media launch on time.

Jaguar's XK120 arrived almost as an afterthought; a car to showcase the parent company's marvellous new double overhead camshaft engine but not intended for volume production. The engine, alternatively, would power every six-cylinder Jaguar until the mid-1980s.

It was a powerplant full of promise and shrouded in mystery, which prior to its appearance on Jaguar's 1948 London Motor Show stand, was unseen and largely unknown. Later, it would be revealed that the 3.4-litre XK engine had seen most of its development undertaken in a wartime factory by a Dream Team of British automotive engineers, on Fire Watch duty.

Jaguar had entered World War II with an uncertain future and a company name that would not survive the conflict. Officially it was known as SS Cars, with Jaguar serving as the model name for its sportier versions.

Avoiding any link between 'SS' and the Nazi regime, the name had by 1945 been changed to Jaguar Cars and new products were in the planning. However, an exotic sports model was nowhere near the top of that list.

Company founder William Lyons intended the new six-cylinder engine to power a big, prestige sedan that could be sold in markets around the world. By late 1948, the engine was ready for use but the car it was intended to power, was still under development.

As detailed in Paul Skilleter's definitive Jaguar Sports Cars, the XK120 was conceived and constructed just weeks before the 1948 London Motor Show where Jaguar's new engine would also be seen for the first time.

As a basis for the build, a Mark V chassis was shortened and made lighter, with its wishbone and torsion-bar suspension retained.