1953 XK 120 MSS Need info/documentatoin/value

... I have some swampland in Florida you may be interested in....

Seriously, this "story" sounds like a lot of hot air to me. Are the rear fenders alloy too? Or were they replaced after a freak accident? This car is not LT-1, LT-2 or LT-3 as those 3 cars are well documented and their histories are known.

The chassis number of this car indcates that it was not one of the early (1949) XK120's with alloy bodies either.

In the library section of this website you will find the procedures to follow to obtain a Heritage Certificate for this car. What is a Heritage Certificate? It is the factory build documentation for this car and it will tell you exactly in what form the the car left the factory. If this car is "special", then the trail will start there.

Daniel Thompson
XK Club representative
Jaguar Enthusiasts Club
Jaguar Owners Association - Montreal

Bob, Thanks so much for the info you sent. I had a long conversation with the current owner (MR Leake) and got some additional information which might be helpful. He is certain that he was told that this XK120 originated from a factory production run of 800 featuring all alloy bodies and frame, and that the owners manual even stated the designation ôMSSö. The original owner of the vehicle was MR Blackman who imported it from England, and resided in Warren, Pennsylvania. Between 53-55, MR Blackman raced the vehicle at Watkins Glen, and there is (or was) information on this specific vehicle in a web page featuring historical activity at Watkins Glen- though I was unable to locate this web site. It also may have been raced elsewhere, perhaps at Daytona or Sebring. During this period, Sterling Moss (Grand Prix champion ?) and David Rose performed repairs and or modifications to the vehicle. On an unknown date the vehicle was sold to Frank Shick in New York, who was (at that time) President of the Allegheny Valley Sports Car Assn. On an unknown date MR Shick gave the vehicle to his daughter as a wedding gift (married name unknown); who then sold it to the current owner in 1964. At some point prior to 64, both right and left fenders were replaced with steel fenders perhaps as a result of a mishap. MR Leake drove the vehicle in several rallies in the mid 60Æs, until the vehicle suffered an accident when some pranksters rolled it down a hill and it struck at tree, damaging the right fender. It has been stored ever since, and is in need of complete restoration which MR Leake cannot afford at this time. I obtained some numbers from the vehicle plate which may be helpful. Chassis S673655, Body F5702, Engine W7624-88, Gearbox JL15700. Any historical information regarding this specific vehicle during itÆs racing career would be greatly appreciated, as would information on the availability of (preferably) alloy fenders. Thanks !!

Mr. Omachel;
There are a thousand stories out there regarding factory specials. Jaguar did produce three XK bodies in 1950 of lightweight materials. Two found their way to the USA as complete cars, the third body was never mounted by Jaguar but sold to a Jaguar employee who completed the car. It is my understanding that LT-1 was the body kept in country and LT-2 and LT-3 were factory completed and shipped to the USA as they were not needed as backup to the C-Types. LT-2 is now in the hands of Chris Jacques and he has fully restored it. I do not have first hand information on either of the other two cars. Perhaps your friend in fact has the one lightweight remaining in the USA. Below are some notes I made a couple of years ago.
Bob Grossman

Christian Hueber wrote:
The XK lightweights, LT-1, LT-2 (and LT-3 not completed by the works), were
built for possible works use at LeMans. These cars had lightened alloy
coachwork and not much that was not necessary. I believe that they weighted
about 2200 pounds.

Christian Hueber wrote:
There were three XK-120 Lightweight bodies completed for Jaguar.

Two were fitted to XK-120 chassis, to be used in the event that the C-Type
was not ready for LeMans. When it was clear that the C-type would be ready,
the third body was not mountd on a chassis.

They were to be known as LT-1, LT-2 and LT-3. I can not remember just now
which number went with which car. They are all well documented in the Andrew
White books.

One factory car is in a private collection in Washington DC in the USA. I
have corresponded with the current owner, but would have to look in my files
to remember the name. Another factory car is in England and was raced last
September at Goodwood. The name of this owner would be listed in the
Goodwood programme and possibly on their web-site. The third body, was never
assembled by the factory but was sold to Bob Berry, who worked for Jaguar.
He mounted this body on an XK-120 Chassis and raced it with great success. I
do not believe that this car ever came to America and is still in England.

The car that the 'owner of tweety' believes his family owned must have been
one of the two factory cars that came to the US through Hoffman. Since one
is still in the US, it is possible the car that raced at Goodwood.

These cars did not have tube chassis, rather they had well prepared XK-120
chassis and benefited from being very light weight.

These cars were known at the factory as Lightweights, hence the LT chassis
number. The Silverstone designation for these cars is US inspired much like
the MC designation. It is no less correct but reflected different marketing
for a different market.

Regards, Christian Hueber

Dave Quirt wrote:
I have a set of photos of LT-3 (and its owner) that I took in Vancouver
back in the '80s. Veeerrrrry nice car. I have one pic in digital format
and I could scan the others sometime when I have some spare time (like
in May!!).

Dave Q.

Rob Reilly wrote:
This is probably LT-2. It is pictured in Skilleter's "The Jaguar XK's"
published in 1981. Looks unrestored. Owner or country not mentioned, but
appears to be at a shop called Classic Autos in Herts. Skilleter says it
acquired the C-type-like front by the mid-fifties, and they were dubbed
"Silverstones" in the USA. That's what was confusing to me, because at
first I thought we were talking about the 3 standard alloy cars that
raced at Silverstone in 1949.
Rob Reilly - 679187

Paulie Wigton wrote:
Some of you may remember that, back in March or so, I asked in this
forum if anyone knew of the whereabouts and current state of my
parent's Silverstone XK120 race car. Phil Porter read the post and
put the current owner and me in touch. The owner, a Mr. Chris
Jaques and I subsequently began emailing each other. Turned out he
was coming from Jollye Olde to see the Monterrey Historics and to
auction off an *early* race car (a 190? or something participant in
the Bennett races..more on this later!). He was also keen to learn
of LT-2's history (the cars were only known as Silverstones here in
America: Someone thought it sounded jazzy!) from the time he
purchased it in 1974, from the Brit who found in my parent's back
yard moldering away...
To make an incredibly long story just a weee bit shorter, Mr.
Jaques (pronounced ''Jakes'', long A) stayed over with my wife and I
this past couple of days, on his way to California. I had gathered
all the pictures I had of LT-2 (2) that I had and he had brought
along all the reaserched ones he had gleaned, plus the pictures of
the car in its current GORGEOUS condition (pix will be posted as
soon as I can get them scanned in).
Mr. Jaques is acquaintanced with Sir Stirling Moss, who, when over
in the States back in 1963 at the invitation of the local chapet of
SCCA and to promote a race at CDR, he drove and signed the back of
2. At the time it was thought that Stirling had driven 2 in the
early 50s (a 'fact' soon disproved). The VERY short history of 1,
2, and 3 follows!
There were three lightweight 120s constructed in 1950, in case the
C-Types were not ready for Le Man the next year. In fact, the C-
types not only were ready, but they 'whipped hiney' in 1951 and the
trio of lightweight 120s went 'on a shelf.' 2 and 3 were indeed
factory-built race cars; their chassis and one-piece magnesium-
aluminum alloy bodies were constructed by Jaguar. 1 was the
prototype body and was later put together by another person.
2 and 3 were bought by the East coast distributor of Jaguars, a Mr.
Hornberg. 2 was driven by Bill Breeze at Reno and 3 was driven by
none other than Phil Hill (a fact confirmed just last year, when
Mr. Hill visited Mr. Jaque's residence in England).
Time constraints make it so I'll have to continue this later! If
you've any questions, I'll try to answer them along the way of
writing more enties on this *very* interesting and seminal car in
Jaguar's history! Kinda neat that I know now my parent's and I were
a small part of that history!
Next: Why 2 had a funny nose....
--
Paul Wigton, whom Tweety rules!
Brighton, CO, United States

XK120 FHC
XK140 DHC
Mk2 competition
S1E - coupe
C-replica