|
Pebble Beach XK120SE
Story by Ginger Corda
Photos by Mike Baker, Ginger Corda, Bryan May & Perry Stern
This exquisite 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE is more than just a pretty face. It also has a wonderful history and is still making great memories for it's owner. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, it was in many races - a real XK120 SE with C-Type heads and steel wheels. Current owner, Bryan May (of Windermere), recalls an old photo from the early 1960s of the car parked in a driveway when it was cream white in race trim.
The car has gone to Pebble Beach several times, and tied for best in class in 1972 - the only time it was in the Concours d'Elegance (limited by committee to once every 10 years, and by invitation only). The owner then, John Canepa, had purchased the car and restored it over 3 years, completing it only 1 or 2 weeks before the show. After that, it was shown all over California. When a well-known Florida collector, Walter Hill, saw the car in 1972 at Pebble Beach, he wrote John to buy it, and he did. Walter showed and then stored it in his mighty collection. When his collection was split up, another Jaguar enthusiast, Gary Bartlett of Indiana, purchased the car from the collection; owning it only briefly before reselling it to Bryan.
As a prior concours entrant, the car was eligible for the Pebble Beach Motoring Classic. The tour is limited to 30 either past or present Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance cars by invitation only. It consists of 1500+ miles from Northern Washington back down to Pebble Beach, California. It spans a total of 14 days over great driving roads. The car was driven in the Pebble Beach Motoring Classic in 2007. Bryan recalls, “the photos of us beside the yellow Duisenberg Mormon Meteor were taken the day before it won Best of Show at Pebble Beach. We were following, playing tag with it on the tour, so we ended up in several of the official Pebble Beach videos and documents.
We didn't know it was going to win best of show.”
The 2007 Motoring Classic was completed with the car in its unmodified, period-correct form. That is when the car was Israeli Defense Brown (DuPont paint code). Bryan explains, “We drove it as original and finished the tour. To be honest, I've never seen another Jaguar in that color. Because it was aged and that's the color it was when it was at Pebble Beach before, we wanted to keep it. However, the car was damaged in transport after the 2007 tour. We chose black because it was time to write a new chapter, to begin a new story in the car's history. We always liked dark colors on the 120. It goes from a pretty car to a mean-looking, pretty car.”
The path to the car's entry in the 2008 Pebble Beach event included a pit-stop in Kathleen, Florida, at the shop of Tsikuris Classics, where the skills and expertise of well-known Jaguar (Austin-Healey, etc.) restorer, Paul Tsikuris, were applied.
Paul and Bryan met while at the Winter Park Concours in 2006, where Paul was showing his beautifully restored 1964 Jaguar E-Type. Bryan saw the E-Type and picked up a business card. He called Paul a few months later and arranged a shop tour. He approached Paul with ideas to do a refurbishing of the XK120, to include several customizations that would improve the car's roadworthiness.
Rebirth as a Black Cat
Once the car arrived at Paul's, it was “under construction” for about nine months. It was stripped to bare metal and all bodywork perfected before sending it to the paint shop. That's when Bryan called to say he had just entered the car in Pebble Beach's Motoring Classic, and would need the car sooner than anticipated. The paint shop usually takes four to five months, but Paul rushed the job to get the car completed in time for the tour, getting it back in less than three. The paint is ICI polyurethane in a deep, “fall into depth” black, single stage, which consists of three to four coats, wet-sanded and buffed. No clear coat needed.
Improvements / Modifications
Paul didn't have to rebuild the engine -- it is what was passed on. Below is a list of items that Bryan and Paul thought would make the car the most beautiful and roadworthy possible, and accommodate a tall driver:
Mechanicals
•Larger 2” SU Carburetors
•Alloy radiator and aluminum expansion tank
•5-speed transmission
•Disk brakes up front
•Fuel filler door removed & replaced with 4” Cobra-style racing gas cap
•New fabricated stainless steel 22-gallon gas tank
•Suspension was upgraded with new torsion bars, springs, and overload springs, and Koni shocks all around
•Wheels trued and powder-coated black, with larger 205 70/16 Eagle tires fitted (rides nice)
•Single high-torque optima battery installed in right front wing area
•Smaller diameter wooden steering wheel employed to accommodate legroom
•Custom aluminum hub to accept original trafficator
•Battery boxes removed to allow 4”more seat movement to the rear
•New wiring harness
•New electric radiator fan
•Battery cutoff (kill switch) under dash
•3 power accessory plugs for computer/GPS systems/phone recharging currently under development
•Rear brake balance valves to balance braking from front to rear
•Tubular headers will be installed
Trim
•Custom aluminum seats fabricated and upholstered in C-Type style
•BAS interior kit used where possible, other custom pieces made from bulk hardura, moquette and leather hides - in Cinnamon
•D rubber for back of body work was custom made and fitted for the extra 4 inches
•Rear cowl cut back four inches to accommodate a taller owner Exterior
•Upon arrival, the original bumper was already removed. Chrome acorn nuts were fitted in all the original holes to enable return of original bumpers if desired
•Chrome nuts from E-Type cam covers were used to hold license plates to keep with the “acorn nut theme”
•Yellow “French” running lights enhance the tripod headlamps
•Back tag light bracket assembly customized to fit and clean up the look from the back end.
•Filled all windshield, wiper, and washer holes and installed Brooklands screen cowl set
Test driven - with all those modifications, this car is fit, handles well, stops in a straight line, and is fun to drive. 5th gear gives good cruising range. It was all tastefully done…and the result is absolutely stunning.
Minor adjustments were made to the ride height and it was ready to roll.
Work Well Done
Once the black cat returned from paint, Tsikuris Classics had only three and a half weeks to reassemble it all to perfection. Three dedicated men worked a total of 25 to 30 hours per day to accomplish this transformation in time. In fact, the car was finished three days ahead of pick up. When Bryan arrived, they put the tonneau cover on, zipped it up, and away he went. He drove it home in a light sprinkle up I-4 for 65+ miles to Windermere. The rain must have stung like hell, and no doubt awakened the senses of the driver.
Bryan called Paul when he returned from California with reports of how well-received the car was. One night it was parked beside a multi-million dollar LeMans Alfa Romeo, yet crowds were drawn to the black beauty. The XK120 was Jaguar's fastest production car when new, and remains the fastest-looking, just sitting still.
Bryan's notes about the trip.
“It really does perform well. I truly believe it out-performed modern sports cars. We did encounter some hail and some heavy rains, and we saw our other opponents pull off or stop at a diner, while my brother and I just decided to go for it. Unfortunately, with only ski goggles and leather caps, we were pelted. That's what the experience is all about; it's not always about comfort. We were very cold and wet but that just made another story.”
“Notice the picture taken between my brother and I after overtaking the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C2300 LeMans. This maneuver occurred somewhere in Oregon at speeds well into three figures. One for the history books. We were not taking it easy. Our faces were stretched.” •
|
