PROMOTING THE XK
From the Earl’s Court Motor Show debut of the XK120 in 1948 through to the final production XK150 rolling off the line in October 1960, Jaguar’s three-generation XK line-up proved to be a major turning point for the firm. Not only did it see Jaguar entering into the highly competitive upmarket sports car sector, it also marked the start of the six-cylinder XK engine – a unit that would go on to power saloons and sportsters alike over a period of more than forty years.
The original intention was for Jaguar to produce just 200 examples of the XK120, a car that was seen as a ‘halo’ model guaranteed to generate headlines worldwide rather than achieve major commercial success. But when orders started flooding in (with particular demand from the company’s North American importer), the aluminium-bodied show car had to be redesigned
