Jaguar

The car has aluminum doors made of five different panels. They were damaged so we made new sections for both doors where the hinges mount and reconstructed them.

1952 Jaguar XK120 Roadster with M-code engine

Location: Nebraska

Layout: front engine, rear drive.

location of manufacture: Coventry, England

Engine: M-code with 180 horsepower

History: Jaguar’s model XK120 was the first production car capable of reaching 120 mph.

This Jaguar was a remarkably complete car when we got it. Sometimes a lot the original equipment starts to leave over the years as a car gets worked on. For some mechanics, it’s too much trouble to put it all back. But this Jaguar was full of original parts in their original places. It was a really good starting point for a restoration like this.

We also studied the car as we took it apart. The suspension and chassis were essentially untouched. We took thousands of photographs of all the parts in their original condition so we would know exactly what it looked like.

Some fasteners are painted a dull dark red color while others are a black oxide finish or zinc plated. Every nut, bolt, washer, clip and screw was refinished correctly and put back the way that it was.

The original leather covers for the rear leaf springs were still on the car and mostly intact. Unlike the reproductions that are being made with zippers, they laced up with eyelet hooks like a boot. We had them copied and we put them back on.

We’ve done everything to this car. We’ve had every nut and bolt out of it. Everything has been restored or replaced.

See more of this Jaguar on Flickr.com

We did everything we could to get everything as correct as possible. We started by getting the Heritage Certificate from Jaguar. Based on the car’s serial number, it lists lots of information from the factory records of the car’s production such as the engine and transmission numbers, colors of the body, interior and convertible top and where it was sold originally.

It had been painted black, but the color it is now, bronze, is the correct color. We found evidence of the factory original color hiding in certain areas. The Heritage Certificate helped us verify that it was supposed to be this bronze color.