The Gentleman Magazine Issue 15 | June 2019 | Page 32

JAGUAR CLASSIC CREATES TAILOR-MADE XK120
FOR MALE MODEL DAVID GANDY
Jaguar Classic has completed a bespoke XK120 sports car
restoration commissioned by renowned British male model
and life-long Jaguar enthusiast David Gandy.
The 11-month project, which was a close collaboration between
David Gandy and Jaguar Classic’s experts at its Classic Works
facility in Warwickshire, took 2,700 hours to complete.
Following a brief to make it race-ready for classic motorsport
events such as the Jaguar Classic Challenge, the car’s
specification is inspired by the original XK120 Lightweight.
David Gandy, said: “Having driven a Jaguar XK120 at the Mille
Miglia in 2013 and 2014, I knew that I wanted to own one of
these incredibly special cars. The team at Jaguar Classic have
done such a remarkable job engineering this car and executing
everything that I asked for and it was amazing to have such an
in-depth involvement in its creation.”
Jaguar Classic’s dedicated sourcing team tracked-down a
suitable 1954 base car in California, US, and has retained as
much of the original car as possible.
The in-line six-cylinder unit was meticulously rebuilt over five
and a half months, with the final objective to use the car for
racing. The result is a performance upgrade from the original
180bhp output to 225bhp and enhanced durability for higher
speeds, with items like the core plugs featuring steel bracing
so they don’t dislodge during high-performance driving. An
all-new, upgraded exhaust system features dual pipes instead
of the usual single pipe.
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