3,442cc DOHC Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
2 SU Carburetors
160bhp at 5,000rpm
4-Speed Manual Transmission
Front Independent Suspension – Live Rear Axle
4-Wheel Drum Brakes

*Restoration project
*Matching numbers engine and transmission
*Extensive collection of parts, fully listed accompany the car
*Jaguar Heritage Certificate on file

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

John's first Jaguar, was this somewhat forlorn XK120. Despite its outward appearance, the car is an equally enticing project, in that it retains its original major components and also shares long term ownership that stretches back also to the 1970s.

As confirmed by its Jaguar Heritage Certificate, the XK120 was delivered new in one of the definitive schemes for all U.K. built cars, British Racing Green with a tan interior. It is noted that it came through Max Hoffman's esteemed agency in New York and the original owner was a W. H. Chamblee. How long Mr. Chamblee owned the car, or indeed who the successive owners were for the next 25 years is not known, but by 1978 when John Shuck found it, the car was laying in a field outside a restoration shop close to Cincinnati. Its rebuild had apparently been begun by the restoration shop and then abandoned, John was able to acquire the car from the shop. Selling the concept of its resuscitation was a bit of a tall order to his wife, but a few photos of what the finished article would look like sealed the deal.

Over the course of the next 37 years, John's travels to swapmeets and latterly across the web produced the numerous parts that he felt were required to return the 120 to the road. In 1994, the original cylinder head was sent to a shop in Norwalk Connecticut and re-machined, and the crankshaft redone, but beyond this, the project was not begun in earnest. Interestingly, the car was part of a feature article on restoring these cars in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car in July 2006, and was displayed on the cover alongside the late Malcolm Pray's concours XK120.

By 2015, John was able to report to his wife that he was now certain that he had all that was required to restore the Jaguar, yet at the same time having tried out other examples of the model, he was sure that because of his tall stature would not actually fit in the finished car comfortably and so he had decided that he was unlikely to use the car, challenging his interest in completing the project!

John sadly passed last year, with the 120 remaining on his 'to do' list. Working with his own schedules of acquired parts as well as parts catalogues and books on the model, his wife and friends have carried out the exhaustive task of itemizing the parts that go with the car, discovering the presence of many duplicates to facilitate the rebuild, all of which are carefully packed and ready to pass to its next custodian. This diligent work (a list of which is available by contacting Bonhams) as well as the knowledge that the car retains its original engine, gearbox and bodywork and was originally in the such an appealing color scheme, should assist the restorer/enthusiast in returning the car to the road.