| Pete Ruff's Cars & Bikes | ||||||
| XK120M Jaguar | ||||||
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| XK120M Jaguar | 1965 Mustang 2+2 | 1969 Corvette | 1986 Corvette | 2001 Corvette Z06 | The Workhorse |
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Click any image to enlarge it. |
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| Sorry, there are no color photos of this car. It was dark (British Racing) green with white wheels. |
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Notice the photo above, taken on Twin Peaks
in San Francisco in 1960. The car is cornering at a pretty good clip, as you can see the
right front tire bending under the rim, and the body roll is quite
noticeable. Judging by the open vent on the right fender, it must have
been warm that day in San Francisco. This Jaguar was my very first car. It is one of 2,484 left hand drive Fixed Head* Coupes built. It had been pretty well thrashed when I bought it, but it ran, handled and stopped well enough. Nearly every mechanical part of the car broke except the Moss transmission. But the tranny was not wonderful - fast shifts always resulted in a loud "grunch". Nevertheless, this first sports car set the tone for all my sports cars that followed. |
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Read
a Road & Track |
The photos directly above, to the left and below were taken after I had installed 'nerf' bars to replace the missing front bumpers and had the car repainted the same 'British Racing Green' as before. Midge is on guard! | ||||||||
| * The English use different terms for their cars than we do. The roof, or top of the passenger compartment is called the head - fixed head is a hardtop, and a drop head is a convertible. Our hood is their bonnet, fenders are wings, and the trunk is called the boot. | |||||||||
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Jaguar shocked the world
when it introduced the XK120 at the Earl's Court Auto Show in 1948.
The Dual Over Head Cam inline 6 cylinder engine was a technical tour de
force. The engine was originally conceived to power a four door
saloon (sedan), but that car wasn't ready, so the roadster was rushed into
production as a place to showcase the engine. The 120 in the name
signified the car was capable of 120 mph. The fixed head coupe came
along in about 1952. |
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I see a remarkable similarity between this car and my 2001 Corvette Z06. They are separated by 50 years of technology, but in spirit they are very similar. |
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| Mr. John McEwen's nicely restored XK120M FHC. Placerville, CA | |||||||||
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| Home Motorcycles XK120M Jaguar 1965 Mustang 2+2 1969 Corvette 1986 Corvette 2001 Corvette The Workhorse | |||||||||
