Look what showed up in our parking lot last week.
Apr 17, 2017 17:17:39 GMT -5
90GTVert, spaz12, and 1 more like this
Post by bluegoatwoods on Apr 17, 2017 17:17:39 GMT -5
t's a 1957 Jaguar model XK 140. It's a model I have only the vaguest memories of. It's likely that I've seen them before, maybe only in photos, yet was probably never all that numerous in the first place and is exceedingly rare now. I think I've been told that there were models 140, 150 & 160. My assumption is that we're talking about 1400, 1500 & 1600 cc engines.
Though this particular profile was vaguely familiar, I wasn't aware that the XK designation went back further than those Jags from the 1960s that were known as XKEs or E-class Jaguars. But when you consider this model plus the XKE plus the later XK8s, then it seems to become clear that XK was the designation for whichever model they were making at any given time that was of the 'long hood, driver sitting almost on top of the rear axle' type sports car. As opposed to, say, the XJ class. Which was the larger sedan which a successful, older professional might drive.
In the first photo you can see the owner approaching. He showed me under the hood. It has an inline six cylinder with dual overhead cams. The engine has a 'high gloss' appearance that didn't quite look like chrome, which would probably be ridiculous anyway. But it didn't look quite like stainless steel either. Maybe it was sixty year old stainless?
The engine also had rather smoothly flowing contours which gave it a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon-ish science fictional look. The 'channels' in the head cover, which the cams would run through, seemed strangely narrow. I can only guess that the cams and drive gears are tiny by our standards, opening valves with a very short distance to fulcrum and a long reach beyond that.
And the engine as a whole seemed a bit longer than, for instance, a Ford 260 inline six. I can think of no reason that this would be desirable. So I'm guessing that Jaguar engineering at the time wasn't up to the task of getting those engines smaller and still working properly. Maybe they just didn't have smaller crank bearings that would stand the load? But that's just guessing.
A gorgeous car, nonetheless.
Though this particular profile was vaguely familiar, I wasn't aware that the XK designation went back further than those Jags from the 1960s that were known as XKEs or E-class Jaguars. But when you consider this model plus the XKE plus the later XK8s, then it seems to become clear that XK was the designation for whichever model they were making at any given time that was of the 'long hood, driver sitting almost on top of the rear axle' type sports car. As opposed to, say, the XJ class. Which was the larger sedan which a successful, older professional might drive.
In the first photo you can see the owner approaching. He showed me under the hood. It has an inline six cylinder with dual overhead cams. The engine has a 'high gloss' appearance that didn't quite look like chrome, which would probably be ridiculous anyway. But it didn't look quite like stainless steel either. Maybe it was sixty year old stainless?
The engine also had rather smoothly flowing contours which gave it a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon-ish science fictional look. The 'channels' in the head cover, which the cams would run through, seemed strangely narrow. I can only guess that the cams and drive gears are tiny by our standards, opening valves with a very short distance to fulcrum and a long reach beyond that.
And the engine as a whole seemed a bit longer than, for instance, a Ford 260 inline six. I can think of no reason that this would be desirable. So I'm guessing that Jaguar engineering at the time wasn't up to the task of getting those engines smaller and still working properly. Maybe they just didn't have smaller crank bearings that would stand the load? But that's just guessing.
A gorgeous car, nonetheless.
