It’s official. My dad’s old XK 120 is on the block:
eBay Motors: Jaguar (item 250102645237 end time Apr-14-07 16:41:35 PDT)
This highly reliable old war horse is up for sale. I’m going to miss it. My father bought it in 1999; his second post-retirement collector car purchase. He had owned the E-type for several years but found that many of the vintage events that he really wanted to attend would not accept a car as “young” as the E-type. He found this really nice XK 120 being sold by a Doctor in Houston and bought it. Suddenly a whole new level of event was open to him, such as the California Mille, the Colorado Grand, etc. I first saw and drove this car on the La Carerra Nevada in June of 2000. I still recall that event fondly, mostly because it was insane… completely bonkers. The field was made up entirely of pre-1955 cars, and all but two were American iron. There was another XK 120 there, an FHC, and more than half of the cars entered failed somehow/DNF’ed… EXCEPT the two old Jags! So much for the supposed “unreliability” of British cars eh? It was just crazy to traverse this barren outback in an iconic beauty such as the XK 120. Here was a lithe English sports car, built for A-roads and Autobahns, tearing up pavement and gravel, and leaving the Locals in the dust! Tons of fun.
I distinctly recall a moment, tearing along a desert valley floor’s smooth, but still gravel-surfaced road, around 75 MPH, with a plume of dust behind us… turning to my father with a grin and saying “I don’t quite think this is what Sir William had in mind.”
After a proper rebuild of the SU carbs a year later the XK really came into its own, and reclaimed the BHP time had robbed from it. I drove the car 3 years after the Nevada rally and it was a revelation. The agricultural rear suspension was still there, but the grunt from that engine! Wow. High Performance Tractor! In the 2003 New England 1000 the car felt wonderful. Fast, fun, and flair! Grace, Pace and Space (now that my father’s pedal & seat mods made me (5′ 11″) finally fit so that I could drive without “squatting” in the foot well.
I really do hope that this car finds a good home, with somebody that will DRIVE it. If you know somebody in the market for a good driver-level XK, pass it along.
think the advert needs more photos! 😉
hope the sale goes well – pity to see it go for him and you
what will your dad have now to drive on rallies? or will he just go with you and the E-type?
Jerome
Having shopped for cars and sold a car on ebay, I can say definitively there is no such thing as too few photos. It is a shame that I’m 3000+ miles away from the car as I’d have even MORE photos. It is good to show lots of detail in auction photos and I don’t have too many good detail photos of this car.
He’s really cutting back on the rallies. Only doing two this year. He bought a 3.5 V-8 early S-class Mercedes Coupe that he’s been running in rallies of late; far more comfortable car. (has A/C) For the “big dog” rallies the 300sl is the ticket. The XK 120 is just a bit too wild and woolly for him these days I think.
I’d buy it in a heartbeat if I could, but I have two kids to put through University here very soon. 🙁
–chuck
Boy, wish I was in the market (I don’t even have the excuse of kids going off to college!). Good luck on the sale!
do what my kids are doing … paying their own way with govt student loans… we can’t afford to help them so it is the only way…. the two with degrees now have come out with about $30K in debt each – changed a bit from my day…
Jerome
I have an aversion to loans & debt Jerome… so much so that our sole debt is our house. My wife has a student loan she’ll be paying back for centuries, but I’m personally free & clear except the home mortgage. Plus as I criticize our US Government for its habit of spending beyond its income (FAR beyond at the moment!), I must stand by my principles and fund the kids on my own. I also need another Jaguar about as much as I need a second nose! 😉
I’m very pleased with the eBay auction so far. Had a lot of questions and even a few pleasant telephone conversations with potential buyers.
My only regret is that I didn’t have a chance to photograph the car with the INTENT of an auction presentation. The photos are good, but they don’t show everything a potential buyer SHOULD see. Oh well. My Dad is happy so far too, so I’m still optimistic.
–chuck
you’d be a rare breed then Chuck with regard to debt … both there and here – one day I’ll get rid of most of it… or die … or go bankrupt… 😉
so have the market prices for the XK gone up a lot since your Dad bought the car? hope it goes for top dollar to a good home
Jerome
Chuck, I have an XK-140 rack I’d sell you if that helps that one person that asked the suspension question.
Anyone ever tell you it is a “nice rack” Roger? 😉
I do need to consider being fitted for a “bro”…