By virtually any measure, the Jaguar XK 140 was an improvement over the XK 120: When it debuted for the 1955 model year, it was more powerful than its predecessor, and also larger and more luxurious.

Although Coventry’s stylistic aim for the new model was more evolutionary than revolutionary, clients seeking a visually avant-garde car could still purchase a chassis and have it completed by a coachbuilder of their choice.

Relatively few would exercise this option: Only 10 XK 140s are known to have been supplied by Jaguar as bare chassis to coachbuilders (an 11th chassis was retained by Jaguar for experimental purposes).

That Ghia would be one of the Italian carrozzerie to create special bodies for the XK 140 should come as no surprise; its stunning, Giovanni Savonuzzi-penned Supersonic coachwork had been applied to the XK 120 chassis to great effect.

The XK 140-based successor would retain the Supersonic’s dramatic long-hood, short-deck proportions, but it was clearly modernized.

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