2018-11-02 09:40:47 | XK Data writes:

The record was updated:

2021-07-14 08:30:55 | pauls writes:

Car at auction 7/21

www.carandclassic.co.uk/auctions/1953-jaguar-xk120-dhc-lhd-j8xyeg

Auction description:

Sold for £73,000

1953 Jaguar XK120

Colour Cream

Odometer 100,620 Miles

Engine size 3500

Location Suffolk

Country United Kingdom

• Stunning XK120 recently renovated

• Fully restored in the 1990s before more recent work

• Originally supplied to the USA and eligible for re-export

• New paint, wood & interior trim 

According to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust certificate supplied with it, 897 XUB left the Brown’s Lane production line on June 17, 1953, as body number P1443, with engine number W8851-8 – numbers that still match up almost 70 years on. 

It was supplied via the famous Hoffman Park Avenue Jaguar dealership in New York, but later made its way to Ohio where it was owned for a long time by an enthusiast called Dave Hart, who drove it around with the registration number ‘GO HART’. He had the car restored in stages, from 1987 through to 1994. 

In 1998, the Jaguar was acquired from Mr Hart’s family by an owner in Staffordshire, who had it shipped back to the UK and registered here. He used and enjoyed it for two decades before it was purchased by the current owner, who has spent a small fortune on new paintwork, an interior retrim and an engine and gearbox rebuild. 

With another XK in progress along with a couple of recently acquired MG projects to be cracking on with, he’s ready to let this one go to a new home. 

The Paperwork

Included in the car’s history file are bills and receipts dating back to 1987, when Dave Hart first started work on the car’s restoration. 

The bills and paperwork are split year by year and include, in some cases, a handwritten log of the work carried out on the car. It’s fascinating and really helps build the XK120’s provenance. 

Its owners in the UK have kept this up and for each year there’s a folder of receipts documenting expenditure on the Jaguar, right up until the most recent work. There’s a separate folder containing all of its UK MOT certificates, though it is of course now MOT exempt. 

In addition to the annualised receipts, there’s a wallet of photos recording the car’s restoration in the USA and a genuine Jaguar workshop operations manual, along with the export paperwork from 1998 when the car arrived in the UK. 

The Exterior

Of course, the XK120 is a stunning car. It’s something that it is famous for, and 897 XUB is more stunning than most. 

First, it’s in truly delightful condition. It would look perfectly happy on a concours lawn, and you have to look very hard indeed to find any blemishes. There are barely any. 

Second, it’s such an iconic colour scheme. The cream paintwork brings to mind Ian Appleyard and Pat Lyons’s famous ‘NUB 120’, which won the RAC Rally, Coupe d’Or and Tulip Rally between 1951 and 1953.

All of which makes you just want it. You do, don’t you? It’s an absolute stunner. The quality of the restoration work and recent paint is superb, too. 

The hood is also in good order, not that you’d ever want to use it. Though the XK120 is one of those cars that looks just as good with the roof up as it does with it down. 

The Interior

In the past year, the XK120 has had a complete interior retrim, with new leather seat facings in the original red colour scheme. The walnut veneers on the doors have also been refinished to match the excellent varnished dashboard. 

One of the car’s most charming features is its original black metal steering wheel, as owners over the years have resisted the cliché of fitting a wooden three-spoke sports wheel. Instead, it has a four-spoke steering wheel and the original plastic central boss with Jaguar ‘growler’ logo. There’s some wear to the wheel, but that in itself gives it a glorious patina and it really is one of the car’s most endearing features. That and the anti-clockwise rev counter, which works as it should.

The Mechanics

As part of its recent overhaul, the vendor has had the engine taken out, stripped and checked over, along with a transmission strip-down and rebuild.

It starts easily, holds good oil pressure and has a steady idle. 

The seller says that it drives exactly as it should do and feels very lively, with good performance.

Don’t expect too much from the brakes, though. It’s 100% original down to the drums all round, which require a modicum of forward planning. It’s all part of the fun of ownership…