Beschreibung:

Jaguars have been called “the greatest crumpet catchers of all time,” a British reference to the car’s appeal to the fair sex. Add the cache of American movie star legend Clark Gable behind the wheel and that phrase takes on historic proportions. Such is the purported provenance of the rare alloy body 1950 Jaguar XK-120 offered here. First unveiled in London at the Earls Court Automobile Show in 1948 the XK-120 was a “stunner that left spectators agog,” its flowing, functional body lines were said to have been personally designed by the hand of Mr. William Lyons, himself, General Manager of Jaguar Cars Ltd. The 3.4 liter six-cylinder DOHC engine producing 160bhp was capable of propelling the car to over 120mph. Moreover, it could putter away in second gear from a standstill or pull without balking from 15mph in 4th gear. While characterized in the press as “a very fast, tractable touring car and not a racer despite its looks,” the alloy-bodied XK-120 showed its teeth with great success in sports car events, notably the Production Car Race at Silverstone and during a speed test in Belgium clocked 126mph over a flying mile with stock windshield and side windows erected making it at the time the “fastest series production car in the world and yet displaying the flexibility and even the silkiness and smoothness of a mild-mannered saloon,” so reported the April 14th, 1950 issue of the British enthusiast magazine Autocar. Jaguar thought they could probably sell 250 of the new cars, the total of the planned initial production run for the two-seater roadster. Delays in producing the steel body molds prompted the building of 240 hand-beaten aluminum bodied cars. This example is one of those few surviving alloy bodied cars. No two cars were alike. In fact the aluminum panels made for the for original run would not even fit on the later “mass produced” steel body 120’s further distinguishing them as unique machines…and in this case number 54 of the 240-car production run. As mentioned, significant anecdotal evidence as well as referenced serial numbers purportedly indicates that the original owner of this car was Hollywood icon Clark Gable, an avowed high performance car enthusiast. The car, originally painted Suede Green from the factory, when shipped to California, took on a particular shade of silver gray as the result of a respray, the color of choice Gable preferred for all his cars including the Jaguar Mark V he had been driving prior to his acquisition of his new XK-120. In addition, an entry from the Classic Jaguar Association recorded some 15 years ago states that Gable is reportedly the first owner of chassis number 670054, the chassis number affixed to this particular XK-120. As for his personal opinion about his car, Gable himself penned a special feature article titled “My Favorite Sports Car…” in a 1950 issue of Road and Track magazine that echoed those exact sentiments. Roger Barlow, the owner of the Hollywood, CA dealership that enjoyed Gable’s customer patronage, later wrote an article that appeared in the February 27, 1989 issue of Autoweek, which stated that Gable had requested that the first 120 to arrive be reserved for him as they were available only to the A-list and at a premium. However when the first of the new model Jag arrived it was intended for display purposes only, minus a crankshaft and thus not operable. However, as promised, Gable still got a first ride. Barlow attached a rope to the Jaguar, another to a truck, had Gable sit behind the wheel, and then hauled him out in the L.A. streets. At speed, the rope was released and Gable experienced his first “drive” including a crossed-up, four wheel slide across rain wet pavement as he maneuvered the car around a corner back into the dealership garage. Barlow reported, Gable was “grinning ear to ear…rolling to a stop at the shop door to cheers and applause.” Very soon thereafter Gable’s XK-120 arrived in the States, this one with a complete motor, the first of