2008-04-23 00:09:32 | Kiwi John writes:

Car with significant New Zealand racing history.

2008-04-23 13:56:05 | Peter Ingram writes:

Build date 1951 July Engine W 2768-7 Owner is/was Geoff Gallagher

2008-04-24 01:39:19 | Kiwi John writes:

Please see the link below for the 4 page online article(December 2004 edition of the magazine) on this car.

www.classiccar.co.nz/articles/ardmore-reunion-1951-jaguar-xk120-168

2008-04-24 01:41:22 | Kiwi John writes:

Please see the link below for a web site detailing race results in New Zealand in the 50's and 60's. Select the New Zealand Drivers section and then A for Archibald to see results relating to this car when raced by Ray Archibald. The web site also contains results relating to other 120's as well as C and D-types.

www.sergent.com.au/nzmr.html

2008-11-16 19:13:27 | Kiwi John writes:

Offered for sale in New Zealand.

2008-11-17 19:46:05 | Kiwi John writes:

Have just inspected 660864 I can report the following. The car would now be in what I would call at best as a nice driver. It has been well used including a lot of use on unsealed roads. It has not been kept as any sort of trailer queen and shows is use. On the other hand it does not require any work to continue to use in the same manner.

I obtained the relevant original numbers from the data plate and they are as follows. 660864 obviously, Body number F3303, Engine W2768-7 and Gearbox JH6197.

It no longer has its original engine or gearbox. I was not able to see the engine number as it was hidden behind the oil filer. It now has a 3.8 which ends with -8. The head carries C-Type cam covers but is not a C-Type head. It bears the serial ZB4295-8. It has 2 inch carbs (not sand-cast) and has a custom XJ6 based air filter built/cut into the front guard. It also has an electric fan. The car runs what is reported to be a “C-Type exhaust” system.

The gearbox is report to be, although I did not confirm, an ex John Goss XJS racing four speed.

Given the cars condition and its non standard engine/gearbox configuration I think the asking price of $100,000 New Zealand a bit on the high side. Yes the car has 1950’s NZ racing history but has been highly modified since then. The car is obviously very quick.

2009-04-14 22:22:00 | Kiwi John writes:

Car was first registered in New Zealand on 11th February 1953.

2013-08-30 21:52:10 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 9/13
www.bonhams.com/auctions/20931/lot/209/

Auction description:
14 Sep 2013 14:30 BST Chichester,Goodwood
Goodwood Revival
lot number 209

The ex-Ray Archibald, 1954 New Zealand International Grand Prix
1951 Jaguar XK120 3.8-Litre Competition Roadster
Registration no. to be advised
Chassis no. 660864
Engine no. W2768-7
Estimate:
£140,000 - 180,000
US$ 220,000 - 280,000
€160,000 - 210,000

This historic Jaguar XK120 enjoyed a distinguished competition career in New Zealand while in the ownership of the late Ray Archibald, and was driven by him in the 1954 New Zealand International Grand Prix at Ardmore.

Ray's father owned a garage business and motor dealership in Christchurch, to which Ray returned after serving as a fighter pilot with the New Zealand Air Force in WW2. He had flown Kittyhawks and Corsairs escorting American bombers, battling with Japanese Mitsubishi Zero fighters on a daily basis. In peacetime, motor racing would provide Ray with some of the thrills of aerial combat. Archibald's Garage held Citroën and Jowett agencies and so he raced those at first before buying a two-year-old Jaguar XK120 – chassis number '660864', the car offered here. By this time Archibald's had been appointed Jaguar agents, so the move made good commercial sense, and even more so because at that time the XK120 was the world's fastest production sports car.

Chassis number '660864' had been completed in July 1951 and shipped to International Motor Sales in Wellington, NZ in September '51, though it was not first registered until February 1953. Its first owner, Miss Georgia Buchanan of Masterton, kept the car for only a few months and in May 1953 it was sold to Ray Archibald. On 9th January 1954 Ray and the by-now modified XK120 lined up on the fourth row of the grid at the Ardmore airfield circuit, coincidentally where Ray had undergone flight training in WW2, for the first ever New Zealand International Grand Prix. Genuine Grand Prix monopostos being in short supply in the Southern Hemisphere at that time, the race was also open to sports cars. Not that there were no entries of quality, for heading the time sheets in qualifying was Ken Wharton's supercharged BRM V16 Formula 1 car, which by lap five of the race had lapped all but eight runners. A shower of rain saw the ultra-powerful BRM briefly off the track, the win eventually going to Stan Jones' Maybach Special with Wharton finishing second. Ray was running midfield when a stone punctured the Jaguar's radiator after 91 laps, and he was classified 15th after a pit stop. Archibald's Jaguar, which earlier that day had finished second in the sports car race, is the only XK120 known to have taken part in an international Grand Prix race.

Ray raced the XK120 extensively, qualifying on the second row for the Lady Wigram Trophy at the eponymous airfield track a few weeks later. In the race the XK collected a puncture and after a visit to the pits finished sixth. The race was won by Peter Whitehead's Ferrari. Ray also raced the car at Dunedin and Mairehau, winning the 30-lap, 75-mile Hamilton Trophy handicap race at the latter circuit in 1955. A few weeks later at Dunedin, he qualified fastest and won the handicap race having started from 'scratch'. Other highlights included a second place in the sports car race and 11th in the main event at Wigram in 1956. Years later Ray recalled the '56 Wigram race as his finest achievement with XK, which had finished ahead of the Aston Martin DB3Ss of David McKay and Tom Sulman. His last competitive outing with the XK120 came at the Southbridge country roads course in 1956 when he set fastest lap and finished third on handicap. A detailed list of all races entered and results achieved is available.

Ray Archibald's performances had got him noticed by the factory back at Coventry, which supplied him with a C-Type cylinder head for the XK120. He went on to race a factory prepared Jaguar Mk2 3.8-litre saloon and C-Type sports racer in New Zealand with considerable success, having turned down the offer of a works drive in Europe.

In July 1957, '660864' was sold to W D Read Motors and raced subsequently by Alf D Bell of Palmerston. The Jaguar would go on to have numerous owners in New Zealand, all of whom are listed under its entry in 'The Jaguar XK120 in the Southern Hemisphere' by John Elmgreen and Terry McGrath (page 244) together with details of various modifications made over the years. This exhaustively researched work states that in March 1998 the car was sold to Brian Wyness of Pukekohe and registered in his wife's name. Mr Wyness undertook extensive refurbishment including a bare metal re-spray and rebuilding the engine to 3.8 litres capacity complete with a Jaguar MkX straight-port cylinder head and 2" SU carburettors. By 2004 the car also had a Jaguar all-synchromesh gearbox, aero screens, and a smaller steering wheel. At time of cataloguing, '660864' was at Don Law Racing for pre-sale tidying and preparation.

Back in 1982 the ex-Archibald Jaguar had been driven by Tony Gaze (one of the competitors in the 1954 Grand Prix) at the Ardmore Reunion Celebration. Following Ray Archibald's death in August 2010, Eoin Young writing in the New Zealand magazine Classic Driver published a full history of both the XK120 and its driver under the title 'Gentleman Jaguar Racer' (October/November 2010 edition, copy article available). Unique by virtue of its international Grand Prix history, this historic Jaguar XK120 would be an ideal car for Goodwood, the Mille Miglia and many other prestigious motoring events and venues.

2013-11-11 18:49:14 | pauls writes:

The XK Gazette reports the car sold for £142,500.

2014-09-29 17:10:46 | Chris Lackner writes:

I can supply the current owner with some more history from when I owned it in 1974/5.

2015-02-06 00:10:15 | pauls writes:

Car now offered at:
www.jagxk.com/cars-for-sale/category/jaguar-xk120-ots-rhd-1951-period-racing-his ...

Sellers description:
Jaguar XK120 OTS RHD 1951 - Period Racing History
Chassis no. 660864

This Jaguar XK120 OTS or "roadster" was raced by Ray Archibald at many events including the 1954 New Zealand International Grand Prix. This motorcar has a fascinating history and could be an ideal XK for anyone wanting to compete in classic events.
£260,000

2016-02-08 14:14:51 | Chris Lackner writes:

The B&W photo taken head on shows a much younger bearded me when I owned the car in 1974/5 in Auckland, NZ. I was told it had D Type cams when I acquired it, but that head was destroyed when the top chain adjuster slipped (fortunately at idle) so it was replaced with a Mk 2 B-Type head. It also sported the proper C Type cast manifolds and the H8 2" SU carbs.

2018-01-04 22:21:02 | pauls writes:

The January 2018 issue of the XK Gazette has an extensive article, with old photos of this car.

2019-02-20 09:20:22 | Chris Lackner writes:

Current owner reports that restoration to 1954 race spec will soon be starting.