1940s JAGUAR XK120 - 132.6mph
Classic & Sports Car|April 2022
Of all the cars gathered here today, and taking into account the vagaries of inflation, the Jaguar XK120 was not only the least expensive when it was new, but also a relative bargain. Who would have thought that £1263 would buy what was, in 1948, not just the UK's but the world's fastest production car?
1940s JAGUAR XK120 - 132.6mph

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.

This story is from the April 2022 edition of Classic & Sports Car.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April 2022 edition of Classic & Sports Car.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM CLASSIC & SPORTS CARView All
DOWN MEMORY LANE
Classic & Sports Car

DOWN MEMORY LANE

As C&SC hits 500 not out, our most prolific and popular wordsmith turns Jackanory to tell the story of his lifelong link to the magazine

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2023
Locked & loaded
Classic & Sports Car

Locked & loaded

Land-Rover's SAS prototype and Minerva's Blindé vehicle were built to lend agility reconnaisance and versatility to Europe's special forces

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2023
SHOCK THERAPY
Classic & Sports Car

SHOCK THERAPY

Testing an electric Fiat 500, and the idea of EV-converted classics, with a drive across the capital

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2023
Fire in the hole
Classic & Sports Car

Fire in the hole

The Huayra Pronello Ford combined advanced aerodynamic ideas with brutal V8 power for a long-lost Argentinian sports-prototype series

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2023
Brighton belles
Classic & Sports Car

Brighton belles

This pair of pioneer machines found fame in the 1953 caper Genevieve, a film that helped give old-car ownership global appeal

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2023
FORTUNE 500
Classic & Sports Car

FORTUNE 500

It was less famous than the Indy and Daytona 500s, shorter-lived than the Brooklands 500, but memories of the BOAC 500 live long

time-read
9 mins  |
November 2023
To be continued...
Classic & Sports Car

To be continued...

After the fabulous C2, the best of the rest convene from seven decades of America's original sports car dynasty

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2023
AMERICAN BEAUTY
Classic & Sports Car

AMERICAN BEAUTY

For eight generations and 70 years, the Chevy Corvette has been the backbone of the US sports car industry. As it turns 60, the C2 remains the most desirable of all

time-read
10 mins  |
November 2023
THE LAST TEMPTATION
Classic & Sports Car

THE LAST TEMPTATION

This, the final Ferrari 500 Superfast marks the end of a line of GTs conceived for the mega-rich, not just the merely wealthy

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 2023
Martin BUCKLEY
Classic & Sports Car

Martin BUCKLEY

'I was enthralled by the lavish feel, tarnished only by an anti-corrosion warranty sticker added as an afterthought'

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2023