2006-04-15 05:21:22 | David Barnett writes:

This car was reported in an XK Bulletin (Jaguar Drivers Club) dated April 1973 to exist with only 900 miles on it. Described then as "brand new".

2006-08-27 19:46:25 | Anonymous writes:

This car was featured in Porter's Original Jaguar XK book.

2010-12-03 10:32:09 | Rob Reilly writes:

Delivered new and sold from International Motors of Hollywood California to Tom Williams of San Francisco.
Extensive photo shoot and article in July/August 1994 Jaguar World magazine.
Showing 1062 miles on the odometer at that time.

2017-03-12 15:06:34 | Mike May writes:

While investigating authenticity for my alloy car restoration and viewing the pictures in the Jaguar World article I too noticed over spray on the drivers door which is mentioned in the article. This is not normal. I can attest that factory painted the body before the installation of the interior.
Possibly the car was re-painted by the original owner before 1968 or by the dealer before delivery. Just saying.

2017-03-13 07:06:23 | M Miller writes:

Mike, as the author of the 1994 Jaguar World article and an alloy 120 owner myself, I find the evidence compelling that this car was not repainted subsequent to its first sale as a new car in 1950. There is also information showing the same patterns of poor masking and sprayed-over gaskets on other very early cars with believed-original paint. I personally think this car is exactly as it first left Coventry. Could it have been repainted prior to initial delivery? There's no way to know. But that would not detract from its status as one of the most authentic, untouched, and best-preserved XK 120s in existence.

2017-03-13 14:35:38 | Mike May writes:

Mr. Miller,
You article is excellent and has been very helpful to me.
I am in no way trying to detract from the status of the car.
I am only trying to restore #088 as original as possible.
My father worked for Jaguar in new car prep. and final inspection and he told me that any car suffering damage in transit was routinely repaired and repainted. This would possibly account for the over spray and the spat fit. I am finding that after disassembling 2 alloy cars and pouring over hundreds of photos of cars before restoration that you cannot with certainty say the fit and finish of any components on one of these early cars was the same. If I ever have my cars judged,(not likely) I do not want to be told that the nuts on the exhaust should be steel or the steering box should be all black just because one car was that way.
By the way, I am happy to discuss and share any details I have gleaned with other alloy XK owners and would be very interested to find the photos and or information about factory poor masking and gasket over spray that you mention.

2017-03-13 15:01:17 | terry mcgrath writes:

mark can you email please
regards terry
tmcgrath@bigpond.com

2017-03-14 15:22:32 | Michael DeBacker writes:

670178 is exactly as it left the factory when new. Jaguar masked and repainted every car prior to final delivery when lacquer paint was being used (the final repaint was sometimes referred to as a "blowover"). In one of the pictures in Mark's article you can see where the shut-face welting has been masked but the "new car" service sticker has no overspray on it. If the sticker had been masked it would have been damaged when the masking tape was removed. This alone confirms that final repaint was done prior to delivery to the dealer.

670926 was completely original when I purchased it in 1987. It is a steel boded twin to 670178, it had the exact final repaint masking details as this alloy car. (I have retained all the original soft trim pieces that I replaced when I repainted my car). The rubber trim piece between the rear license panel and the deck lid was originally painted silver but I left the replacement black on 670926. I also restored 670656 (which is now in France), that car had been repainted red when I purchased it but the original grey was under the red on the soft trim also.

Refer to 670278, the pictures there were taken when the car was new and being shown at a dealership in Michigan. There is a wealth of information in those pictures if you look closely at them.

There are several references to the "sloppiness" of the new Jaguars in magazine articles written in the 1950's &1960's. One article in Popular Mechanics in the late 60's specifically referred to the crude masking as "sloppy workmanship", it also stated something to the effect that "if you could fix an XK you could fix anything". I remember reading the article in my high school library, if anyone remembers this article please let me know, I'd love to find it again.

2017-03-15 13:30:15 | Mike May writes:

Michael,
Where did you get your information about #670178?
Whatever "blowover" is,(nothing found in a search) Jaguar was unlikely to repaint every car before delivery. Masking and polishing is a lengthy process especially with all the chrome hardware and soft trim attached to the car. Just driving the cars to the docks as was done would have exposed them to damage which would have to be repaired prior to sale by the distributor. I have inspected the original trim panels and carefully removed the cockpit leather trim on my car which would be especially difficult to mask and have found no evidence of a repaint. I agree the sticker would not have paint on it as it would be applied just before delivery but doubt the car came from the factory with paint on the trim. I am not saying that every car was or was not repainted but only to take so called expert opinion as just that.

2017-03-20 16:47:44 | Michael DeBacker writes:

There are references made to the final respray in books by Paul Skilleter & Chris Harvey. There was an article in E-Jag magazine written after a visit to the factory when the early XJ-6's were in production stating the cars were repainted after final road testing (lacquer paint was being used on early XJ-6's). I would recommend a study on the painting techniques used at different times as the paint type changed on a forum of some type (possibly on the Jag-Lovers site) and not on any single chassis number on XK-data as this is a general topic about production methods. There may still be factory workers still alive that can clarify details on painting techniques on the various models at different times.