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The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940. ==History== The XK120 was launched in open two-seater or (US) roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. The display car was the first prototype, chassis number 670001. It looked almost identical to the production cars except that the straight outer pillars of its windscreen would be curved on the production version. The roadster caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production. Beginning in 1948, the first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seater bodies with aluminium panels.〔Page 167, Chris Harvey.''The Jaguar XK'', Oxford Illustrated Press, UK. 1978. ISBN 0-902280-57-0, ISBN 978-0-902280-57-1〕 Production switched to the 1cwt or heavier〔Page 8 Roger Hicks, ''Jaguar: an illustrated history of the world's most elegant sports car'' Crescent Books, New York 1989 ISBN 0-517-67413-0, ISBN 978-0-517-67413-0〕 all-steel in early 1950. The "120" in the name referred to the aluminium car's 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed (faster with the windscreen removed), which made it the world's fastest production car at the time of its launch. In 1949 the first production roadster, chassis number 670003, was delivered to Clark Gable. The XK120 was ultimately available in two open versions, first as an open 2-seater described in the US market as the roadster (and designated OTS, for open two-seater, in America), then also as a drophead coupé (DHC) from 1953; and also as a closed, or fixed head coupé (FHC) from 1951. A smaller-engined version 2-litres, 4 cylinders, intended for the UK market was cancelled prior to production. On 30 May 1949, on the empty Ostend-Jabbeke motorway in Belgium, a prototype XK120 timed by the officials of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium achieved an average of runs in opposing directions of 132.6 mph with the windscreen replaced by just one small aeroscreen and a catalogued alternative top gear ratio,〔The Times, 31 May 1949 Ostend 30 May: British Car's Speed Record (extracts) A Jaguar 3½-litre sports car . . . travelled at a timed speed of 132 mph on the Ostend-Jabbeke motorway today . . . The runs were timed by officials of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium . . . moreover it was running on normal Belgian pump petrol and at the end of its high speed runs it demonstrated its ability to throttle down to 15 mph in top gear and to accelerate speedily without pinking. Running with the hood up, the car averaged 126.4 mph for a mile in two runs in opposite directions. The fastest mean speed of 132.5 mph was reached with a racing windscreen in place, the best run being made at 133.2 mph. The car also covered a kilometre from a standing start at a speed of 74.1 mph and a mile at 86.4 mph.〕 and 135 mph with a passenger-side tonneau cover in place.〔Porter, Philip (1998). ''Jaguar Sports Racing Cars'', Bay View Books. ISBN 1-901432-21-1〕 In 1950 and 1951, at a banked oval track in France, XK120 roadsters averaged over 100 mph for 24 hours and over 130 mph for an hour, and in 1952 a fixed-head coupé took numerous world records for speed and distance when it averaged 100 mph for a week. Roadsters were also successful in racing and rallying. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jaguar XK120」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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