Just got a matching numbers car.
Chassis. 675782
Body. F8060
Engine. F3069-7
Gear Box JL22447
Head. F3069-7
Story on car is it was delivered to UAE, then brought to California, then purchased by the father of the woman I bought it from in mid 60’s. She had driven it to nurseing school in early 70’s. Car got parked in early 80’s and has been garaged since. Found original paint under tail lights. Old English White? Tear down for restoration started before I bought it. Seems quite complete and bagged and tagged. Have one broken headlight spear. Few minor dents here and there. Only rust is behind headlight rim gaskets. Bottom of what I think you refer to as “B” pillers. on drivers side. Both battery boxs are solid but gas corrosion on plate behind them.( Already cut out) about 2"x7" on both sides. Right wing vent frozen up. Front and rear bumpers will need some work but not bad. Right wing above bumper looked to have had a light parking misshap. (knocked out 99%) with rubber mallet already. Little hammer and dolly and will be hard to even feel where it was. Have dropped fuel cell but need to find a place to dispose of old fuel before getting further into it. Feels solid though. Floor boards need replaced but good for a pattern. Same in boot. Boot lid needs a few pieces of wood replaced and skin smoothed out or reskined. TBD. Both doors will need some minor work but quite nice.
Have been told there is someone on this forum who can tell me more on this car from the numbers? The more I learn now the better I can do on this frame off nut and bolt build over. Have British standard tools will turn! Any ideas on nut and bolt Id?
Welcome to the fun.
According to the book Original Jaguar XK by Philip Porter, your car was built in June 1954. Production continued into August, so yours was near the end. There were many changes throughout the production run from 1949-54 so you may find other earlier cars have different features, side vents and turn signals for example were added in '52.
This is an international forum, and I am assuming you are in the USA.
This is the best place for information about these cars. No question is too trivial. For example, we have had discussions about comparing between Ivory, Cream and Old English White.
You will find a combination of screw threads on these cars. Chassis and engine bolts and nuts will be SAE or UNF threads, where body and electrical fitting screws will be British Standard Fine or British Association threads, gearbox and rear axle also BSF, and pipe fittings on carbs and fuel pump will be British Standard Parallel Pipe threads.
There is good spare parts support both in the US and other countries.
There are restoration guide books, some more accurate than others, but this forum is a good place to compare books and check details.
You also want to get the Service Manual and Spare Parts Catalogue either on paper or CD-ROM.
The Heritage Trust Certificate, as recommended by Peter, is essentially the “birth certificate” for your car. I have a collection of Jaguar’s Overseas Distributors and Dealers pamphlets. These show no Jaguar distributor or dealer in what is now known as the UAE at the time your XK120 was new.
However, the Heritage Certificate should indicate to what country and distributor the factory originally shipped your car. Let us know what you learn.
Best advise is to obtain the Jaguar Heritage Certificate and second best is to contact Terry McGrath or John Elmgreen (both of Australia) to see what they have regarding that particular car.
You refer to the story that the car was delivered to the United Arab Emirates. There were no importers in the UAE itself but the nearest Jaguar importer would have been located in Bahrein (a company named Kooheji that imported British cars including Jaguar from 1945 until today).
The other candidate importers seem less likely: one is located in Beirut (Lebanon) and the other in Tripoli, Libya (but that’s Africa).
Problem is that Anders Clausager (in his book “Jaguar XK 120 in detail”) doesn’t list any Jaguar XK 120 OTS sales via Bahrein in 1954. Another possibility is that this car was supplied directly via the PED scheme, but also in that list there are no exports listed in 1954.
What remains is exports via either Beirut, Lebanon or Tripoli, Libya, as both have delivered one or two standard XK 120 OTS cars in 1954. So it’s a bit of a puzzle…
So back to the advise: contact Jaguar Heritage for their Certificate and it all will become clear.
Bob, Thanks for the information. Got the license plate in arabic with the car. Will give the folks I got the car from a call and see if I can get her to write a letter of provenance as to the best of her recollection.
Rob, Thanks, guess I need to keep my thread gages handy and double check I have all the different types. My car does have turn signals. Good information! Thanks again.
Interestingly 675782 doesn’t show up in our XK book as being delivered new to middle East but did get sent new to Libya.
Gordon woodruff the dealer in Tripoli
Originally cream red fawn
We had no further info but it would have
Been sold to US MILITARY PERSON OR OIL PERSON GIVEN FONISHED UP IN UAE most likely oil
Terry, Great information. Color under tail lights makes sence as it has a light red tint to it. Thanks! Will ask Mary the gal who’s father had bought the car and see what else I can come up with. Interior is all vinal
david
thanks for uploading looks good, can you send pic of Arabic rego plate please. Did you get any old documents rego papers etc? http://jtpublications.com.au/
JDHT will not tell you any numbers you don’t already have. All they will do is confirm (or not) any numbers you give them that match their records. This is due to a rise in the numbers of ‘ringers’ in recent years
Very interesting this is actually painted onto the original UK backing plate so there is a very good chance it was registered in the UK before going to Libya? I have checked the Arabic writing not sure if UAE as such lots of countries here use Arabic letters and paperwork to say which actual country
Wow! nothing like internet. Ysmalkie, thanks soo much. Do you know if the part not translated is TU. Believe it would read left to right if I remember right they read left to right?
