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      RED LEATHER DAY

          Jaguar’s XK120 was as stunning at its 1948 launch as the Nostalgia replica is today. In a kit car world awash with rev-happy, flick of the wrist, hyper-quick sports cars, the low down torque, swooshing acceleration and sheer grace of a big, heavy, road-munching sports tourer is hugely impressive as Ian Hyne revelled in discovering.

The Nostalgia Classic XK120 and 140 may come in bits but they’re not kit cars. They’re coachbuilt perfection, the Rolls Royces of the specialist car world and it’s no accident. Malcolm Rolfe, one third of the guiding hands behind the company, is an ex-Rolls Royce and Bentley apprentice who met his partners, Chris Boyer and Simon Davis, when they applied the paint to his completed bodywork. It was a professional relationship that became friendship over the years of their association. Malcolm spent five of those years building himself an Autotune Aristocat and, though he could see the sense, logic, convenience and affordability of the Autotune car, his professional ability led him to produce something that rather negated the Autotune concept. However, the number of people contacting him to enquire about his special parts, made him think about producing a Jaguar XK replica rather than a car that merely offered the flavour of the 1948 classic. Thus he got together with Chris and Simon, and over a few pub meetings, Nostalgia Cars was born in 1998 and the company’s first demonstrator was registered in September 1999. The rest, like the story of the Jaguar XK120 and 140, is history.

The Jaguar XK 120 is a classic far more deserving of the accolade than many that carry it. Not only did it have the first pure Jaguar engine, it was the first mass produced twin-cam with hemi-spherical combustion chambers. In addition, it offered 160 bhp from its 3,442 ccs to achieve a top speed of 120 mph hence the XK (engine) 120 (mph) model designation. At the time when the vast majority of cars could manage about half that, such performance had been the exclusive preserve of V12 Ferraris costing about four times as much and available only to selected racing teams. Indeed, the £998 price of the first production cars was as sensational, and more importantly affordable, as its looks and performance.

      The strange thing is that the car was never really meant to be. In the finest traditions of Britishness, the XK engine was designed during wartime firewatching in Coventry. Designers Heynes, Hassan, Bailey and Mundy had reservations about the cost, complexity and reliability of the engine but Jaguar’s William Lyons would not be deterred and added that it also had to look good. The prototype XK120 used a modified MKV chassis and had an aluminium body supported on an ash frame, as it wasn’t envisaged that many of the cars would be made. Rather, Lyons saw the XK120 as a mobile test bed for the new XK engine that would power the coming Mk VII saloon. However, the fervent reaction to the car changed all that and Jaguar had to tool up for production with the first steel-bodied cars emerging in 1950. And as if its appearance, performance and price were not enough, two prototype 120’s left the field standing in the 1949 Silverstone Production Car race, the first major UK motor race since the war and the Jaguar XK 120 was set firmly on the course that would add to its classic status by carrying the XK engine on the first leg of its journey to the 1980’s! 

  The 120 and 140 used the same body pressings while the chief external difference is the bumpers. The 120 had slim front corner bumpers and rear overiders while the140 had deeper bumpers front and rear. Both were offered in Roadster and Fixedhead form while the 140 was also made as a drophead but much was different under the skin. With the experience of the XK120 (competition) or C-Type, the 140, introduced in 1954 had the same chassis but moved the engine forward to achieve 50/50 weight distribution and to make room for the optional Laycock overdrive gearbox instead of the standard, four speed Moss box. The 140 also had the C-Type’s rack and pinion steering which, together with much improved dampers, greatly improved the car’s handling. Today, a top condition XK 120 or 140 will cost you up to £50,000 but for around half that, you can build a Nostalgia replica which, whilst looking almost indistinguishable from the real thing, also benefits from the myriad technical advances of the intervening years.
      The Nostalgia replica uses a massive, ladder-frame chassis with 100 x 50 mm main rails of 3.2 mm wall thickness. It’s augmented by the scuttle frame. When they originally designed the car, Nostalgia approached a local company that made these scuttle frames for original XK cars under restoration. They made their own alterations to the structure to suit the donor car parts and had the units supplied to them. When the company ceased trading, Nostalgia bought the tooling. The structure is the heart of the car as well as imparting a great deal of torsional strength to the chassis frame. The donor mechanics are Jaguar, either from the XJ6 or XJS (1970 – 1985) or the later AJ6 model (1986 – 1994).

         The front end uses the Jaguar wishbones and uprights with Nylotron upper wishbone bushes. The rest are metallastic. The set up is completed with a Nostalgia specification anti-roll bar and Pro-Tech aluminium coil spring damper units. At the back, it employs XJ6 or XJS narrowed lower wishbones and driveshafts or, you can use standard Jaguar 420 S Type components. It also has twin radius arms and Pro-Tech aluminium coil spring damper units. The Jaguar 2.88:1 (you can use any of the available diff ratios) Powerlock differential has hitherto been bolted directly to the chassis but a current development is to isolate it from the chassis with a special frame using metallastic bushes. The aim is to further reduce transmission noise and enhance the car’s refinement. The brakes are standard Jaguar ventilated front discs and inboard solid rears, the pedals are Jaguar while the ¾ turns steering rack is a Nostalgia unit which will shortly be offered with power assistance.

The engine offers an increasing range of options. First is the iron-block, alloy-head XJ6 unit up to 4.2 litres with a choice of SU carburettors or fuel injection. Next come the lesser capacity, fuel injected AJ6 units. This car is fitted with the 3.6-litre AJ6 engine while in the workshop, a car is under construction with the 4-litre straight 6 supercharged unit from the XK8. The twin, polished cam covers of XJ6 units may look more authentic and prettier but the all-alloy XJ6 units are around 40 kgs lighter while Efi and effective management offer far higher levels of mechanical sophistication. The gear box also offers choices between the manual XJ6 unit or the Getrag from the AJ6 but, as these are increasingly hard to find due to the vast majority of cars being automatic, Nostalgia also offer their own 5-speed manual conversion based on the Ford MT 75. Of course, you could use the auto box but somehow, it just detracts from the enjoyment of driving the car.

       The body work is flawless as one would expect from the credentials and experience of Malcolm, Chris and Simon. It’s a combination of surface quality, panel fit, panel gaps and paint such that when the light hits it, you just get a smooth flowing line that confirms the military precision of the whole job. It’s complemented by a full complement of reconditioned and replica hardware covering the bumpers, grille, leaping cat, the screen, lights and instruments that additionally add beauty to a car that just doesn’t have a flawed line.  

 Internally, the image is reinforced. This car was made for the timeless attraction of Wilton, wood and leather and they combine to stunning effect that lends a real sense of occasion to taking the driver’s seat and, as you sit there, there’s far more than the dash and the view down the bonnet to take in. The red leather trim is a superbly striking complement to the silver paintwork but there are also the flaps that cover the commodious door pockets. There are two more behind each seat. There are the crudely simple, but oh so stylish door pulls with their chrome escutcheon plates, the polished perfection of the handbrake, the knurled chrome fittings for the side-screens and the windscreen itself. Below it, this car has the smaller XJS instruments set in wood-pattern dash but pukka wood and 5” Smiths instruments are also available. It’s just a riot of sensory rewards, the scale of which will never diminish no matter how many times you open the door and hop in. And finally there’s the sheer scale of the thing. It’s reassuringly big; an 8’ 6” wheelbase gives an overall length of 14’ 5”. It’s over five feet wide and weighs what comes as a surprisingly light 2830 lbs (1,286 kgs). But with 235 bhp on hand, it still musters over 180 bhp per ton and you can have a lot more if you want it. That said, the Nostalgia is not about blistering 0-60 statistics, wheel spin and opposite lock. It can do it but its manners allow it to show its ability without resorting to gutter tactics. This car flexes its muscles in a thoroughly self-assured manner that belies its true pace.

    Start her up and you get that refined purr from the twin tail pipes first engages with a smooth click and letting in the clutch has the car steam-rolling the rutted path that leads from the workshop to the main road. Copying this well with a rubble path bodes well for the gravel-crunching luxury to come – and the car doesn’t disappoint. As I take off with minimal throttle pressure the tail dips and the nose comes up. It’s barely noticeable but it just conveys the fact that the cat’s got some claws. Going up the box, everything’s smooth as silk and suddenly I’m rolling sedately along having barely touched the throttle. The only thing I’ve come up with is that the gear lever is too short or too far away but that’s easily remedied. If you go for Nostalgia’s MT 75 conversion, it comes equipped with a clever sliding assembly that allows you to put the lever wherever you want it.

      Cruising the gently twisting roads that characterise the area around the Quantocks, the Classic XK140 gives a highly polished impression of the grace, pace and space that was Jaguar’s proud advertising slogan. It’s relaxing, greatly exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable as you watch the scenery slide across the acres of bonnet and skip over the leaping cat that meets the world head on. You’d never believe you were doing 70 as the engine’s only exerting a bit more effort than idling at around 1,500 rpm. So I change down. Given a bit more of a shove, it just leaps up to 80 or as fast as you want. There’s no drama to it; just a slightly more strident exhaust note, the wind whistling overhead at a slightly increased rate and a new set of readings on the main instruments. Make no mistake, the Nostalgia has as much pace as you want and will eat the miles of continental cruising. Brakes too are supremely effective in response to a brief caress of the pedal. Few miles on the clock show up the grab of unbedded brakes when exerting a bit more pressure but miles will soon settle that. And then there’s handling.  Brake, change down and put her into a corner and, though you get controlled body roll, you also get grip from the standard XJ6 geometry and 6J  205/70 x 15 Pirelli P4000’s that urges you to get your shoulders behind the big, four-spoke Mota Lita and hold the line. I felt the steering was pretty light even at parking speeds but power assistance is on the way. It could well be of greater benefit when the car has a quicker rack. On sweeping turns, it’s absolutely fine but tight ones require quite a bit of elbow work on the 3 ¾ system such that scenic touring in European mountains could become a bit of a chore.
 

        But the rest of the time, the car is a pure delight. The torque of the big six is the key to it all. It’s so smooth in its power delivery and so flexible that often, you only change gear to hear the rasp of the exhaust as you blip the throttle. It just purrs ahead to any speed you want. It’s beautifully stable (you can even have a stainless steel cup holder that won’t spill the bubbly) and it handles perfectly although you need to adopt a driving style that suits the car. You don’t barrel up to the turns, go hard on the brakes and chuck it in. Instead, you brake gently in plenty of time, come off the throttle going in and squeeze it out with nary a bump or jolt to upset either occupants or the balance of the car. It’s utterly superb while the craftsmanship of its construction is the fact that tips many customers towards factory built.

      Since 1998, the company has produced 40 cars and kits augmented by four of its aluminium-bodied C Types and while factory built will undoubtedly get you a car to be proud of, the cost almost doubles over the kit form route. In addition, while the standard of construction and finish on this car are utterly beyond reproach, the company is equally adamant that the kit has been developed to a degree that allows home builders to achieve the same level of finish. The trick is in the quality of the components that promotes the quality of finish.

      So what are the numbers? Well, there’s an absolute mountain of information contained in the excellent brochure that has a fully itemised price list for every single component on the car. However, most people will go for a donor car that supplies much of what is needed after which the comprehensive body chassis kit for the 120 is £5,675 and for the 140, £5,900 (both prices plus VAT). From there, it’s a straight addition job with the final total coming out at around £20,000 for the 140 with the Classic 120 costing £2,000 less which, for a car as beautifully crafted as this, is a snip.

     Finally, my thanks to Ricky Matthews for allowing his car to be driven for this feature.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 With Thanks To Ian Hyne.

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