Want to see what's inside? Click on the photo to remove a body panel (five different views).

Some of my readers might have read "The Last Open Road" by Burt Levy. It's a story about a kid from New Jersey who's dream is to drive a race car. The story is fiction, but the hero is similar in many respects to the man who built this car, Walt Hansgen. In the early 1950's, Hansgen and his father ran a body shop in Westfield, New Jersey. Walt had a yearn to drive fast, and in 1951 he bought a brand new XK120 with money he borrowed from his mother. After spending a year or so racing it, he decided that it just wasn't competitive against the new factory racers from Jaguar and Ferrari. So he decided to fix it.

Taking his almost brand new XK120 down to the components, he rebuilt the car as a competitive sports racer. Working with panel beater Emil Hoffman, a lightweight chrome moly space frame was developed to support the 120's suspension and drive train. The beautiful aluminum body was hand formed by Hoffman, to Hansgen's penciled design. The engine was improved, and the suspension carefully tuned. The resulting car is nearly six hundred pounds lighter than a stock 120, comparable to any of the factory built racers of the day.

Hansgen's first big race for 1953 was at Cumberland. Piloting the Special, Hansgen out-raced J.L. Negley, who was driving a big Allard, and took the checkered flag. In his next event, at Bridgehampton, the Special easily kept pace with the C-Types, although the race was stopped before the finish. At Thompson, Connecticut, Hansgen took second place, behind Masten Gregory in a C-Type. Several more good finishes were chalked up as the year progressed. Finally, on September 19, 1953 Hansgen proved the car with a convincing win at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix, edging out George Harris's Allard. The car was sold the following season, when Hansgen bought a Masten Gregory C-Type.

Hasgen's shoestring racing effort continued for several years, until he was selected as a team driver by Briggs Cunningham. He went on to race with Cunningham for many years, driving D-Types, Lister-Jaguars, and Lightweight E-Types. In 1960, he piloted the prototype Jaguar E2A racer at Le Mans, co-driving with Dan Gurney. Hansgen was tragically killed while testing a Ford GT40 in preparation for the 1966 Le Mans.

The Hansgen Special is currently owned by Bob Millstein of Briarcliff Classic Imported. Bob found the car in 1983, suffering from years of neglect. The car was placed into storage until he could restore it properly. With the help of his staff at BCI, it was perfectly restored by 1988. Following restoration, the car was JCNA National Concours Champion, Class 15 Competition, in 1989. The car was exhibited at the New York State Museum for a time. But Bob firmly believes that the car should serve it's intended purpose, and it's now a familiar sight at vintage racing events in the North East.

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About the author - Michael Frank is Vice President and Webmaster of the Jaguar Touring Club. His red 2+2 E-Type is a familiar sight at JCNA events in the Northeast. Currently, he is building a reproduction of the 1963 Cunningham Lightweight E-Type.

About the owner - Bob Millstein is the proprietor of Briarcliff Classic Imported (914 762-1200), an independent repair and restoration facility in Briarcliff Manor, NY. He is a member of JCNA, and an accomplished vintage race driver. Bob and his car are frequent participants in vintage competition.

Copyright © 2001 Michael Frank, New York. All rights reserved.

Posted: 6/2001