1952 Jaguar XK120 ‘M’ Roadster

Professor Philippe Hénon’s Collection

French titleChassis No.

672281

Engine No.

W5017-8- ‘M’ version, 180 hp - Original engine - Fully restored from the chassis up in 2005

Sold new in the USA, this Jaguar XK120 Roadster is a highly sought-after ‘M’ version (short for ‘Modified’) which is equivalent to the ‘SE’ (‘Special Equipment’) version in Europe. It differentiated itself from the standard version in terms of its sportier features: a sharper camshaft, a special crankshaft damper, spoked wheels, twin exhausts, 35.4 mm torsion bars, a lightweight flywheel, stiffer rear springs and Lucas fog lights.

With these modifications, the engine produced 180 hp SAE instead of 160.

An engineer from Philadelphia bought it new, before selling it four years later, when the mileage displayed 30,000 miles.

The second owner kept it until 1975 before giving it to his brother, who drove it for around ten years before storing it away with 62,800 miles on the clock.
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