NOW THAT the engine has warmed up, you have to push it a little more, just to hear the noise,” comments Jack Pearson of Classic & Sportscar Centre near Malton in North Yorkshire. It’s the induction roar from a bank of six Jenvey 45mm throttle bodies to which Jack is referring and he’s right: as I head off behind the wheel of this modernised XK 150 and at the first opportunity, leave the five-speed gearbox in second and allow the engine revs to continue climbing at a steady pace.
The exhaust system remains quiet and refined, but the induction system eventually erupts into an enthralling gargle that opens your senses to the very modern acceleration provided by what is after all a 1958 car.
Those six throttle bodies breathe through a bespoke plenum chamber that’s visible inside the engine bay, although part of it is hidden inside the modified offside inner wing so engaging though it may be, the induction noise is actually not as ferocious as you’d experience from a bank of Webers running mesh filters.
Instead, it’s music to my ears, but at the same time, I need to be aware of the fact that
