Drums, lever-arm rear dampers and a steering box. Almost nothing on it is shared with an XK150.
The XK120 launched the 3,442cc XK six at 160bhp, with a Special Equipment version quoted at 180 or 190bhp depending on which source you read, and an optional C-type head worth about 210bhp. Underneath: independent torsion-bar front suspension, a live rear axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs, lever-arm rear dampers and recirculating-ball steering. Brakes are 12-inch drums on all four wheels and they are famously prone to fade — some cars got Alfin finned drums. The period advice still holds: they want proper adjustment and a warm-up before you lean on them.
The body is the thing to establish before you order anything. The first 242 cars are aluminium panels over an ash frame; from early 1950 the body is pressed steel, though the doors, bonnet and boot lid stayed aluminium. Early doors are wooden-framed with aluminium skins and the frames rot. Glass differs by body too: the roadster’s windscreen is removable and can be swapped for aeroscreens, while the drophead and fixed-head cars have a flat two-piece screen in a steel frame. One more warning from the trade that applies to all three XKs: the bodies were mounted on spacers and no two cars were the same, so expect body-rubber fit to vary from car to car. 12,055 built — 7,606 roadsters, 2,672 fixed-heads, 1,767 dropheads.
Jaguar XK120 — specification & changes within the model
- Brakes
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12-inch drums, all four wheels, the whole run. Prone to fade; some cars have Alfin finned drums. The XK150 of 1957 is where Jaguar discs arrive — not here.
- Suspension and steering
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Independent torsion-bar front. Live rear axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs. Lever-arm rear dampers — the XK140 changed to telescopics. Recirculating-ball steering box, costly to rebuild once play develops; the XK140 went to rack and pinion.
- Body — and the date that matters
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The first 242 cars are aluminium over an ash frame. Pressed steel from early 1950, with aluminium doors, bonnet and boot lid retained. Early doors are wooden-framed and the frames rot.
- Glass
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Roadster: removable windscreen, swappable for aeroscreens. Drophead and fixed-head: a flat two-piece screen in a steel frame. Neither is anything like the XK150’s one-piece curved screen.
- Engine
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3,442cc XK six, 160bhp at 5,000rpm. Special Equipment quoted at 180bhp by one source and 190bhp by another — we will not pick. Optional C-type head, about 210bhp, red painted with a plaque.
- Check the engine number against the car
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So many XK engines were built that a later unit in an earlier car is not unusual. Check block and engine numbers before ordering to the model rather than the engine.
- Not claimed
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Earth polarity and nominal voltage. No source states either for any XK. Also not established: whether the Special Equipment car is 180 or 190bhp.
