To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' London event, 24 October
2019.
Estimate:
£90,000 - £130,000
- Just two owners from new; nearly sixty years of prior single
ownership
- Highly original, including original paintwork and interior
- An ideal candidate for the preservation class at shows and
concours
- Registration and maintenance records dating to the 1950s
This left-hand-drive Jaguar XK120 Drophead Coup�, finished in Birch
Grey over red leather, was built 12 March 1953 and dispatched to
Los Angeles, California, on 26 March 1953 through the West Coast
distributor, Charles Hornburg.
As designated by its chassis number, S 677020, this is a Special
Equipment model, making it the 20th drophead coup� built, the
sequence for these starting at 677001. It was ordered by Bertha A.
Brown in Lake Forest, Illinois, on 28 August 1954 and remained with
her family, passing to her son Charles, until 2013, when it was
purchased by the consignor, a very well-respected collector of
British sports cars.
A file of documentation with the car retains early U.S. road
registrations and receipts for maintenance going back to the 1950s,
and, alluding to the family interest in motoring, the car still
wears a Sports Car Club of America sticker in its windscreen. Close
inspection of the car today, both in terms of paint and its
interior, seems to suggest that the car was never restored,
although the wheels have been painted. The leather, while clearly
old, shows only limited wear and boasts incredible patina, and the
headlining for the convertible roof is in remarkably outstanding
order.
A document file includes the handwritten order form, the car
invoice from 28 August 1954, and early registrations as well as
maintenance receipts dating to the 1950s.The wooden panels of the
dashboard have been replaced, but the original panels come with the
car. This Jaguar should prove an ideal candidate for a preservation
class, adding to its desirability.
After almost 60 years in the ownership of the Brown family, it is
believed by Jaguar specialists that there are less than a handful
of such cars on the planet in original condition like S 677020.To
view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/lf19.