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MAN & MACHINE Going, going, and still going!

Octane

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February 2023

Auctioneer Duncan Kensington Moir has enjoyed his Jaguar XK120 for 21 years

MAN & MACHINE Going, going, and still going!

ONE OF MY early memories was seeing the iconic photo of NUB 120, scrabbling for grip on an unsurfaced mountain hairpin, in the 1950 Rallye des Alpes. Having already been fed by my father many tales about Uncle Bertie Kensington Moir, one of the 'Bentley Boys', and his exploits in the '20s and '30s with Straker-Squire, Aston Martin and Bentley, it was a foregone conclusion that at some stage I'd acquire a 'proper' English sports car.

Brisk, reliable, sturdy and elegant seemed to be the prerequisites, with possibly a bit of history, too, so when I came across XK120 OTS chassis 660139 in 2001, recently returned from Down Under, a deal was done with the help of XK guru Aubrey Finburgh. Acquiring the 'OK 120' registration took a little longer.

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