The world was still recovering from the worst hostilities the globe had seen, and although World War 2 had been over for ten years, reminders of the conflict was everywhere. Rationing had finally ended in the UK late in 1954 but the Brits faced another challenge as fuel was rationed from the end of ’56 until May 1957 as the Suez crisis gripped. Britain then lurched from one catastrophe to another. But the light of hope glowed; dimly at first but soon the warmth of that glow was to bathe a nation in a light of success.
A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Aldous Huxley anticipated a future where humanity would be effectively hatched into divergent roles, each destined to adopt its own function in the future. Jaguar’s brave new world could not have been more different as they sought to offer the buying public freedom of expression with products of unapproachable quality at a price that must have bewildered their competitors. Three years after the war the mighty XK120 was introduced and at the end of 1955 a compact saloon.
It was never taken as read that the new saloon would have a short stroke version of the six-cylinder XK engine as the abortive four-cylinder unit
