This unique Pininfarina-bodied 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE was unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, following a full restoration that took 6,725 hours.
This XK120 was first delivered to a Mr Max Hoffman in 1954, a New York-based importer of luxury European cars during the 50’s. He was also a petrol-head and is believed to have inspired Pininfarina to reinterpret the shapes of the XK.
Initially unveiled at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show, this car also made appearances at the Autocar Show later that year, although never made it to the Turin Show due to the owner wanting to take delivery of it.
“There is little trace of the car’s history, but we are certain that Hoffman was the supplying dealer, then first owner of the car and that there was only one XK120 by Pininfarina produced, which makes this one of the rarest Jaguars in existence,” said Classic Motor Cars (CMC) chairman, David Barzilay – CMC being responsible for fully restoring the car.
“Some of the original parts were impossible to find so we had to remake items such as the bumpers and chrome work by hand from photographs. We had to scan the front and rear end of the car and make mock ups of the lights, which were then scanned and 3D printed. Smaller missing parts were also 3D printed in-house. The rear window was missing so we also had to scan the window aperture and have a new rear screen made from the scan data,” added Barzilay.
The full restoration saw the car get a completely new front end, new rear quarter panels, inner arch panels, boot floor, sills and door skins. The chassis had to be fully repaired and repainted, while the front and rear bumpers needed to be rebuilt.
A full 80% of the original chrome work needed to be remade, including the rear screen and screen surround. Inside, the interior needed a full re-trim, while the engine and gearbox had to be rebuilt.
The 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE by Pininfarina is powered by a 3.2-liter straight-6, good for 182 PS (180 HP) at 5,300 rpm.
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