Jaguar - Jaguar XK
The Jaguar XK evolved over 3 models (XK120 , XK140 , XK150) spanning 1948 to 1961, available in open or closed body options. After the war Jaguar for the first time built its own engine from scratch, a twin cam 6 cylinder 3442 cc and the work principally of Walter Hassan. The first sports car it went in was the XK120, producing 160bhp, the120 referring to the top speed of the car that had been officially recorded in Belgium, but without windscreen and so on . . . The first XK120's were alloy bodied and soon all steel was used adding some weight.
In 1955 the Jaguar XK140 replaced the XK120, the XK140 having more leg room helped by moving the engine forward, as they had done with the sports racing D Type. Although the XK 140 had the same engine as the XK120, power output was increased by 30bhp to 190bhp with the use of different camshafts and compression.
1957 saw the the XK150 which differed considerably to the earlier XK120 and XK140, and no longer available as a roadster. With its one piece windscreen and generally bigger (some 100 kilos worth) it had the most powerful of the 3.4 engines, quoted at 210bhp, and for 1959 the XK150 was given the new 3.8 litre engine to get the performance of the car back to something like its original XK predecessors. Production stopped at the end of 1960, and the XK150 was replaced with a new model that took everyone's breath away!
Original tyre fitment for the XK120, XK140 and XK150 Jaguar was the cross ply 600x16. The equivalent radial size everyone fits now is the Blockley 185VR16 size. See full details of these exceptional tyres at the links below:
