THAT MISSING YEARS OF XK120

Kieran Lillis explains the previously unrecorded and lost years of the 1951 Darwin to Alice Springs world record breaking XK120. How it survived unscathed is astounding.

- Kieran Lillis

UNDOUBTEDLY, ONE OF THE most daring feats in Australia’s Jaguar history was Les Taylor and Dick Rendle’s record-breaking run from Darwin to Alice Springs driving an XK120 in 1951.

As many readers may already know, they averaged 91.3 mph, despite having to stop for repairs after crashing into a bank while trying to avoid cattle on the road.

They hit kangaroos, and encountered mobs of wild brumbies (horses to our overseas readers). To top things off, most of the road was not sealed and badly corrugated – what an amazing feat!

Quite a lot is documented about the car in those early years, and its later restoration and participation in Darwin to Alice Springs anniversary events since.

However, the years between when it ended its racing career and when the restoration by its current owner commenced, are unknown. To my knowledge, no photos have emerged of the car during that intervening era - until now!

The new photos come from Neville Morris. He owned chassis #660569 when it was de-registered on July 6, 1968. Having known him for many years, in 2015 I had done some local detective work regarding the XK120 for its owner, Kees Heybroek.

At the time, Nev couldn’t find any photos, but he knew he had a couple somewhere. Then in August 2020, on one of my visits, the topic came up again in the company of another car enthusiast.