VIN: the works Jaguar XK120 chassis 670002
History of chassis 670002
Chassis 670002 was the second left hand drive XK120 prototype.
Famously, on May 30th 1949 the Old English White car was used by Jaguar for a high speed record attempt on a closed section of the Ostend to Jabbeke motorway in Belgium.
For this, 670002 was fitted with a full-length aluminium undertray and the tallest possible gear ratio. It was piloted by Jaguar test driver, Ron Sutton, who was filling in for the unwell Walter Hassan.
With the windscreen, hood and side screens in place, Sutton achieved a two-way average of 126.5mph. The hood and sidescreens were then removed, the windscreen was replaced with an aero screen and a rigid tonneau was fitted over the passenger side of the cockpit. In this configuration, Sutton averaged 132.6mph.
Chassis 670002 next appeared in a one-hour Production Car Race that supported the first Silverstone International Trophy for Grand Prix cars on August 20th.
A trio of patriotically coloured red, white and blue XK120s attended, all of which underwent special preparation. Both chassis 670001 and 670002 were converted to right-hand drive to stop the right-hand rear wheel lifting on right-hand turns.
Chassis 670002 was entered for Leslie Johnson who, despite an early collision with a spinning Jowett Javelin, won the race. Johnson finished 5.6 seconds ahead of Peter Walker who placed second in one of the sister XK120s.
By the time of chassis 670002’s next appearance (at the same race a year later - August 26th 1950), its bodywork had been repaired and repainted Birch Grey. Tazio Nuvolari had originally been expected to race 670002, but as the Italian was not fit enough to drive, Peter Whitehead stepped in.
After a good start, Whitehead was third at the end of lap one. However, soon afterwards oil began to gush out of 670002’s engine and it retired from the race.
For the RAC Tourist Trophy three weeks later (September 16th), Peter Whitehead was once again behind the wheel of 670002. The event took place in horrible conditions over 43 laps of the 22km Dundrod road course in Northern Ireland,
Whitehead was fifth at the end of lap one and by the two hour mark (just passed mid-distance) he had moved up to second behind Stirling Moss in Tommy Wisdom’s semi-works XK120 lightweight. Moss ultimately finished just over two-and-a-half minutes clear of Whitehead who claimed the runner up spot.
Chassis 670002 subsequently appeared twice during the course of the 1951 season.
The first of these events was the Mille Miglia (May 11th and 12th) where Jaguar entered 670002 for Stirling Moss and his ride-along mechanic, Frank Rainbow.
Torrential rainstorms made the event an arduous and dangerous affair. Moss and fellow XK120 driver, Leslie Johnson, were well positioned during the early stages, but on the winding road between Lonato and Dezenzano near Lake Garda, both Jaguars went off on the same patch of oil that had seen Alberto Ascari’s Ferrari skid off into a crowd where one spectator was killed and several others injured.
Chassis 670002’s final period outing came three months later when it was entered for the Liege-Rome-Liege Rally (August 15th to 19th). The 3000 mile Marathon de la Route was held on a mix of tarmac and gravel roads and included many mountain passes. The course travelled through Luxembourg, Belfort, Annecy, Guillames, Nice, Genoa, Florence, Rome, the Dolomites and the French Alps.
670002 was allocated to the Belgian pairing of Johnny Claes and Jacques Ickx who became the only partnership to lose no marks in the history of the event. The runners up were fellow Belgians, Jacques Herzet / Georges Baudouin, who received 20 penalty points in their privateer XK120.
With its frontline competition career over, chassis 670002 is understood to have served in an R&D capacity back in Coventry, after which this most historic XK120 was dismantled for parts.
Notable History
Old English White
Left-hand drive
30/05/1949 IND Jabbeke Speed Records (R. Sutton) 132.6mph
Converted to right-hand drive
Registered HKV 500
20/08/1949 IND Silverstone International 1 Hour Production Car Race (L. Johnson) 1st oa (#7)
Repainted Birch Grey
26/08/1950 IND Silverstone International 1 Hour Production Car Race (P. Whitehead) DNF (#29)
16/09/1950 IND Dundrod Tourist Trophy (P. Whitehead) 2nd oa, 2nd S3.0+ class (#5)
29/04/1951 IND Mille Miglia (S. Moss / F. Rainbow) DNF (#432)
19/08/1951 IND Liege-Rome-Liege Rally (J. Claes / J. Ickx) 1st oa (#56)
Dismantled
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Jaguar Heritage Trust - https://www.jaguarheritage.com/
