1954 Jaguar XK 120 Roadster

Our car rolled down the production line in January 1954 in left hand drive form and was despatched to a New York dealership. The lucky first owner was a member of the medical profession and we imagine he cut quite the dash.

He played it safe with cream bodywork and a fawn hood, but then aimed to dazzle with a red leather interior.

The car remained in America until it was repatriated in 2016 and reregistered. The observant amongst you will have noticed that the car now has the steering wheel on the correct side and that it is now green in colour.

The then owner had clearly decided that the car was worth spending a small fortune on (check out the invoices). The aim we are guessing was to create a replica of the record-breaking Jabbeke test car. The costliest part was clearly relocating the steering wheel, but we have been assured that this was professionally done.

Our seller is a well-established classic car dealer who bought the car from the previous owner. Advancing years had made getting in and out of the car somewhat challenging, though staying loyal to the brand he bought a Mk2 to replace it.

We are told that this is a matching numbers car, but this has not been verified.

Think classic British sports car, and British Racing Green is the obvious colour. Paired with a sand coloured soft top and black leather seats, to our mind it’s a better choice than the factory spec.

The hood looks to be in good order, and we suspect is a recent replacement. It is somewhat creased, having most likely spent most of its time folded away. Why would you want to drive an XK120 with the roof up? Some warm sunshine may help these to disappear in time.

The paintwork positively glistens and polishes up very well indeed. Whoever painted it clearly knew what they were doing - a professional job.

There are a few scratches and paint cracks in places, but the overall effect remains breath-taking. Most noticeable is the scratch on the boot, which may polish out…

If you remove the rear spats, the paint is a little marked over the wheelarches, but the car looks better with them fitted in our humble opinion. One of the covers is also missing a couple of its retaining screws, an easy fix.

The chrome work positively sparkles and has clearly been replaced at some point.

Matching period correct Michelin tyres adorn the gorgeous chrome and painted wheels and there is a matching spare. They were new in 2016.

If you should feel inclined to remove the sidescreens for that full-on open-air experience, there is a bespoke holder to store them safely in.

The car also sports a green tonneau cover, should you wish to park or store the car and not erect the hood. It is beautifully trimmed in green.

Step back in time and smell that leather, a heady aroma. The seats are in good order and have that lovely patina that comes from ageing leather. It adds character to the car.

The carpets are in excellent condition. We would have chosen a rather more discreet black, but hey the green attempts to match the paintwork.

The controls are all so delicate, from the Bakelite steering wheel to the spindly gear lever. Lovely Smiths instrumentation give you all the necessary information.

The boot is in good order, though travelling light will be a prerequisite unless you fit a boot rack. Tools and the spare wheel live under the boot floor and are easily accessed.

A trawl through our many photographs will show some surface rust on the XK’s underside. We would dispatch the car with haste to a body shop capable of sympathetically brushing this off and undersealing. Prevention is better than cure!

The engine compartment shows signs of careful ownership and the motor itself is a joy to behold. It is readily apparent that a lot of cash has gone into this area of the car, as evidenced by all the visible new parts.

We have attached photos of the extensive documentation that comes with the car. Some of this relates to its American life, but of most interest will be the invoices from 2016 onwards.

Yorkshire Classic Cars owned by Mark Waud carried out the extensive conversion and recommissioning work. A multitude of new parts were fitted, too numerous to list here. We suggest you study the invoices in detail for the full story.

We can see that the engine was taken apart and rebuilt, a substantial job.

A few upgrades were made too, such as the fitment of an electric cooling fan, so no overheating histrionics. A modern 12-volt battery and electrics were fitted, much better than the original twin 6 volt set up.

The eagle eyed will have spotted the range of switches under the central dash for the automatic choke, fuel pump, fog lights and engine fan.

A lot of brake work was carried out too, though we did notice on our briefest of test drives that the car does pull to right under braking.

Other than that, we think the car drives well and should delight.

This beautiful car is hard to fault. Clearly the object of a loving owner’s affection, much money has been lavished in the last five years to return this car to its former glory. Not only that, converting it to right hand drive has clearly increased the appeal to a UK owner.

Some sensible upgrades have been made to improve the car’s driveability, yet not in anyway spoiling the car’s period looks.

The price of all this Jaguar loveliness will not come cheap, but that will come as no surprise. We estimate the car will sell for between £70,000 and £90,000. Surely better than money in the bank earning zero interest, so get bidding.

Viewing is always encouraged (within Govt. guidelines of course), and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.