Start with what the Jaguar XK120 is: a open two-seater / 2-seat fixed head coupé / 2-seat drophead coupé with 3.4 , built from 1948 to 1954, in a decade split by war, when civilian production stopped and restarted. What it meant takes a little longer.
How it came about
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since SS 100 production ended in 1939.
The XK120 was launched in open two-seater or (US) roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine designed by Jaguar Chief Engineer William Heynes. The sports car caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and Chairman William Lyons to put it into production. The fastest production car in the world in its time, it would go on to be developed into the XK140 and XK150 models.
The hardware
The engine is 3.4 . On the scales it comes to 1150 kg. Drive goes through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 102 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
In the Jaguar line-up the Jaguar XK120 has a clear place: it replaced the SS Jaguar 100; it handed the line to the Jaguar XK140; the factory was Holbrook Lane, Coventry. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Citroën 2CV, the Porsche 356, the Chevrolet Bel Air. Its Jaguar stablemates include the F-Type and the Vanden Plas.
Owning one today
EPA combined economy is 19 mpg, about $4,450 a year in fuel at the EPA's assumptions. Condition, mileage and specification move any single car a long way from a headline figure.