2014-07-31 04:54:02 | Jeremy B writes:

Is this car extant?

2014-07-31 10:56:14 | Michael DeBacker writes:

This set of photos were taken when this car was nearly new and are a great reference for originality details for early xk120s when lacquer paint was being used. If you study the photos closely a wealth of information is there. Note that the door latches and piping are "blown over" with body colour paint and how the head is painted black above the exhaust manifolds (in the area between the manifolds & the seating surface for the cam cover). When the factory started using enamel paint in mid 1952 some of the paint details started to change, the above pictures are a very accurate record showing details or cars painted with lacquer paint.

2014-07-31 11:29:15 | Michael DeBacker writes:

A few other details to view...
The black paint used under the bonnet was fuel soluble and washed away from "spitting back" through the starting carburetor. The paint was like carbon black or stove black and was brushed on the inner surfaces. (The spitting back problem was solved when the "anti backfire" valve was installed).
The lack of carburetor insulator blocks.
The clip for the bonnet support rod, it is the early type used on alloy cars.
The spark plug leads, (I have seen several other early cars using the same spacers & bare metal wire connectors).
The radiator cap and brass manufactures plate are painted black (same as the radiator).
No metal tie on the shift lever boot.

2014-08-01 07:44:42 | terry mcgrath writes:

mike good to see someone who knows their XK's
I would describe the paint as a bitumen based paint and here in Australia it is called chassis black and like road base bitumen when you drop petrol on it it dissolves. same paint in the boot
other little things are the lack of spiral wire around copper tube for temperature capillary.
I would love to get a set of the pics at a 1000dpi and 50mb files you could study these for hours
terry

2014-08-04 11:17:22 | Michael DeBacker writes:

I first saw these pictures on the "Jag Lover's" site several years ago although the exact chassis number wasn't listed there. Its great John was able to magnify the photo with the data plate enough to figure out the chassis number. I wonder who took these photos. It appears to be in a showroom of some kind being there is a MK5 and several other cars in the same display room. Being the car has 1950 Michigan plates it would seem it was being driven, possibly to different showrooms, Michigan in 1950 wasn't exactly the capital of foreign car sales in the US! I wonder if it was a "demonstrator". Does anyone know that if in 1950 Michigan had what we now know as "dealer plates"? If Michigan didn't have "dealer plates" back then that may be why it has the standard plates.

If you look closely at the spare tire you can see the printed white lettering on the tread so the spare hadn't been used at the time the photo was taken. (Anyone old enough will remember how often we use to get flat tires back then so that detail alone could indicate the car hadn't been driven many miles). There is another detail that shows it has very low mileage, if you look closely at the photo that shows the gas petal you can see that the felt bushings on the pivot bolt are still very white, these bushings darken from dirt and oil vapor from the engine breather pipe very quickly.

I'm familiar with alloy car 670178, early steal bodied cars 670656 (now in Cannes, France) & 670926 (which I still own), all these cars had the same details. 670656 & 670926 had factory installed air cleaners & spark plug wire "fiberboard" looms but with bare metal connectors. The early wire looms were made of a red fiberboard material and painted black, (on 670926 I didn't repaint it black, see the photos posted of that car).

2017-11-06 11:50:49 | John Elmgreen writes:

One of these photos was greatly enlarged by the then owner of the photos, as a result of which nearly 20 years ago I concluded that the chassis number was 670278. However, I later found that 670278 was sold new via California to an owner in Sacramento - which of course is inconsistent with the Michigan license plate. However, 670275 was sold new to an owner in Michigan, so it may be that the correct chassis number for these photos is that. I hold the original prints and will endeavour to re-check in due course.

2017-11-09 18:41:49 | Michael DeBacker writes:

John, your conclusion makes perfect sense being that a 5 & 8 numerals are shaped closely enough that they could be easily misread. If 670275 was sold new in Michigan is most likely that car. I would suggest having the web-master move your pictures to that chassis number to avoid confusion in the future.

2024-04-19 16:02:49 | Rob Reilly writes:

Hi Michael, I disagree on your point about the black on the cylinder head. I believe what you are seeing in the photo is the upper surface of the flanges of the exhaust manifolds themselves, and possibly the shadow of the flash photo gave you the impression of black paint on the head. I've never seen any evidence of black paint on any other early XK head.