**** XK60 at Goodwood - Part 1 ****

[Colin]

It's 60 years since the much lauded XK engine first appeared in a Jaguar, and to celebrate, the XK Owners club put on a special three day event, 2 days at Goodwood, and one at Cowdray Park. The promise of not just hundreds of Xk120s, 140s and 150s, but the massed gathering of many "C" Types, "D" Types and other rarities sounded too good to resist, and so another Forum meet was conceived. Sadly, although the day started out with some patches of blue in the sky, by 10am it was drizzling, and by 10:30 it was raining harder, and with a strong wind, the weather did its best to ruin the enjoyment and the event. We did make it back to the car when the rain eased a little to get winter coats and large umbrellas, both of which were an essential survival element for a day that felt more like late October than high summer in mid August.

A form of "apartheid" applied to car parking. "Non Jaguars" were all directed to one field, and then the next furthest away field was allocated to "everything else Jaguar", leaving the XK150s, XK140s on hard-standing near to the pits and finally XK120s, "C"s and "D"s and cars that were venturing on the track in the paddock area. It is hard to estimate how many cars were there, but we reckoned that there were over 100 XK150s alone, and at least the same number of XK120s. Cars had travelled from far and wide - we noted plates from France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Sweden, about half of the cantons of Switzerland, Austria, the USA and even one from Western Australia.  Among the many statistics thrown out by the commentator was the fac that the survival rate for these cars is in excess of 60% - who says that old British cars all rust away?

XK120

First shown at the 1948 London Motor Show, it is hard to guess just what a sensation this car must have caused. If you compare it to the sort of resumed pre-war designs that were just starting to be produced again, this car must have seemed like it was from another era. It was initially conceived as a show case for the new engine, as Jaguar felt it too risky to put the engine in their production saloon car for which it was designed - the Mark VII - and so decided that a low volume sports car was just the ideal launch point. The huge demand for the XK120 caught Jaguar unawares and they had to revise the original plan of constructing the body from aluminium, to building it in steel. All the early cars went for export, to earn much needed currency for the UK, but eventually the car started to be available to UK buyers.
































XK140

Visually distinct from thee XK120 with its larger bumpers, and 7-slatted narrow grill, the XK140 was launched in 1955, and ran through to 1958, when it was replaced with the XK150.
















This Ghia-bodied XK140 is one of just 2 such cars made, and so has to be considered the rarest car of the day.











XK150

Decried by the purists as not the real deal any more, the XK150 was hugely successful, and marked the start of a transition from raw sports car to grand tourer, a theme taken further with every successive Jaguar through the "E" Type to today's XK

[cawimmer430]

Great pictures. 

Wow, lots of Jaguar XK's! 

[Submariner]

I could go for the BRG XK140, or that burgundy XK150.

[Tave]

 

You sir, are my hero.