[xk] 1950 Edwards with XK120 engine

XK
1

There is a car up for auction next month in Glenview Illinois identified as
a 1950 Edwards R26, with an early XK engine. The auction site does not give
the engine serial number, just mentions the number D628 stamped on the head.
It is a studless head with short top SUs, coil mounted above the front carb,
6 blade fan, which would put it in early '52, and it has an XK120 top water
hose elbow, not a Mark VII elbow which would have had a thermostat. The car
has Smith’s speedo and tach, possibly also a Moss box and Jag rear axle.
Sterling Edwards built this car in 1949 and raced it in California for a
couple of years but it had a Ford V8. I could not find anything about how or
when the XK engine came to be in it. Being a race car I suppose it got
modified a lot in the first few years.

http://www.auctionsamerica.com/events/feature-lots.cfm?SaleCode=LH11&ID=r115
http://www.96trees.com/edwards/edwards.html


BTW in the last link we see that a Mark V saloon made the cover of the
January 1950 Motor Trend.
And for a good laugh scroll through the other cars in this auction to the
1950 Veritas.
Rob Reilly - XK120 FHC & Mark V saloon

2

In reply to a message from R_and_J_Reilly sent Sun 23 Oct 2011:

I heard from the auction company, they sent some photos.
The XK engine in this Edwards has a clearly stamped head
number W3361-8C. The letter C after the 8 is in a larger
font. Anybody seen any others with a letter C like that?
I did a quick search through xkdata and did not find the car
it came from, but a few with near engine numbers are all
from mid 1951, including 660790, 671293, 671349, 671421,
671423, and Carl’s 679012.
The head also has the number D628 stamped between spark plug
#3 and the center hex socket plug.
It has the early side entry distributor cap but the plug
wires run over the right front like later cars, and it has
an early oval plug wire clip attached to the cam cover nut.
The coil is on a standard bracket above the front carb like
later cars, not on the block as the parts catalogue suggests
it was originally.
So with the late fan, coil bracket and suspicious letter C,
it is not a time warp from 51, but has had some updates.

The gear shift appears to be a standard XK type Moss box.

The rear axle is not Jaguar, in fact it is an IRS with
inboard drum brakes, u-joints and coil springs. The drums
have 3 fins and appear to be cast iron. Anybody know what
cars from the early 50s had inboard drum brakes? They are
not from a 300SLR.

The chassis frame does not appear to be Jaguar. The steering
wheel says Ford and the auction company thinks the front end
is Ford.–
The original message included these comments:

a 1950 Edwards R26, with an early XK engine. The auction site does not give
the engine serial number, just mentions the number D628 stamped on the head.
It is a studless head with short top SUs, coil mounted above the front carb,
6 blade fan, which would put it in early '52, and it has an XK120 top water
hose elbow, not a Mark VII elbow which would have had a thermostat. The car
has Smith’s speedo and tach, possibly also a Moss box and Jag rear axle.

–
XK120 FHC, Mark V saloon, XJ12L Series II, S-Type 3.0
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3

Hi Rob,

FWIW, my 671187 has engine #3398-8.

Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
www.jaguarclock.com
'51 XK120 OTS, '62 3.8 MK2 MOD, '72 SIII E-Type 2+2> I heard from the auction company, they sent some photos.

The XK engine in this Edwards has a clearly stamped head
number W3361-8C. The letter C after the 8 is in a larger
font. Anybody seen any others with a letter C like that?
I did a quick search through xkdata and did not find the car
it came from, but a few with near engine numbers are all
from mid 1951, including 660790, 671293, 671349, 671421,
671423, and Carl’s 679012.

4

I am just guessing, but when C-Type heads became available as an
optional/after market extra, they were supplied without any engine number.

Could be - owner had engine with W3361-8 head, and purchased a spare-part
C-Type head, and just restamped head number adding the “C” suffix himself.
And probably pre 1954 when C-Type heads were introduced as a factory option
on XK140s, but factory choosing to stamp an “S” suffix, not “C”.

Any sign of a cast “C” in valley of head - who knows, maybe not even a
C-Type head, just some wag adding the “C” suffix for whatever reason?

Roger Payne - XK140MC OTS; E-Type 4.2 S.1 OTS; DSV8.
Canberra.-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xk@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-xk@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf Of
Mike Eck
Sent: Thursday, 3 November 2011 10:57 AM
To: xk@jag-lovers.org
Subject: Re: [xk] 1950 Edwards with XK120 engine

Hi Rob,

FWIW, my 671187 has engine #3398-8.

Mike Eck
New Jersey, USA
www.jaguarclock.com
'51 XK120 OTS, '62 3.8 MK2 MOD, '72 SIII E-Type 2+2

I heard from the auction company, they sent some photos.
The XK engine in this Edwards has a clearly stamped head
number W3361-8C. The letter C after the 8 is in a larger
font. Anybody seen any others with a letter C like that?
I did a quick search through xkdata and did not find the car
it came from, but a few with near engine numbers are all
from mid 1951, including 660790, 671293, 671349, 671421,
671423, and Carl’s 679012.

5

Here are some pictures.

http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1320341459

Near as I can tell it does not seem to be a C head, unless it is a very
early one, or possibly the head was converted with big valves and high lift
cams per Service Bulletin 95 at a dealer or speed shop, and the wag or the
shop decided to stamp it with a C for competition. You can see the letter C
is a larger font than the other numbers. Any guess we would offer here is
understood be speculative, but I am inclined to believe the other numbers
are original and the C was added later.

The independent rear axle with inboard drums is interesting, though not yet
identified.

So far I have not been able to determine how much Sterling Edwards was
involved with the XK engine if at all, or just when he gave up on this
thing, but for the '53 season he bought and raced a couple of C-types,
XKC017 and XKC026.

Rob Reilly - 679187

6

I think you are most probably right Rob,

Looks like the original early A-type head, with engine number having a
suffix “C” added - and “C” for “Competition” following Bulletin 95 upgrades
has a ring of probability to it.

Its not a factory “C-type” head.

Roger Payne - XK140MC OTS; E-Type 4.2 S.1 OTS; DSV8.
Canberra.-----Original Message-----
From: owner-xk@jag-lovers.org [mailto:owner-xk@jag-lovers.org] On Behalf Of
R_and_J_Reilly
Sent: Friday, 4 November 2011 2:42 PM
To: XK mailing list
Subject: Re: [xk] 1950 Edwards with XK120 engine

Here are some pictures.

http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1320341459

Near as I can tell it does not seem to be a C head, unless it is a very
early one, or possibly the head was converted with big valves and high lift
cams per Service Bulletin 95 at a dealer or speed shop, and the wag or the
shop decided to stamp it with a C for competition. You can see the letter C
is a larger font than the other numbers. Any guess we would offer here is
understood be speculative, but I am inclined to believe the other numbers
are original and the C was added later.

The independent rear axle with inboard drums is interesting, though not yet
identified.

So far I have not been able to determine how much Sterling Edwards was
involved with the XK engine if at all, or just when he gave up on this
thing, but for the '53 season he bought and raced a couple of C-types,
XKC017 and XKC026.

Rob Reilly - 679187

7

In reply to a message from Rob Reilly sent Wed 2 Nov 2011:

A de Dion would be my guess. Looks very much like the setup in the
HMW cars.–
The original message included these comments:

inboard drum brakes, u-joints and coil springs. The drums
have 3 fins and appear to be cast iron. Anybody know what
cars from the early 50s had inboard drum brakes? They are
not from a 300SLR.

–
JCRC SE member JCNA Publications and Authenticity Desk
Columbia SC, United States
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8

The independent rear axle with inboard drums is interesting, though not
yet identified.

  The diff.and drum brakes look much like what was used on the front

wheel drive Cord but the axles U joints and springs are different I had a
long talk with the owner of an early Cord at a car show several years ago
and the discussion got around to how much “fun” it would be to rebuild the
inboard drum brakes
Bill Schorse>>

9

In reply to a message from Rob Reilly sent Wed 2 Nov 2011:

Here is a link to a discussion of what is apparently thi particular
car, along with additional links to other information about this
Edwards model:

Article in the link says that this particular car has only an
Ewards body, removed from its original chassis, and installed on a
(apparently modified) Fory Henry J chassis.–
The original message included these comments:

a 1950 Edwards R26, with an early XK engine. The auction site does not give

–
Mike Spoelker
Louisville,Kentucky, United States
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10

In reply to a message from Rob Reilly sent Wed 2 Nov 2011:

From another online source:

‘’…The R-26 was sold to Edwards� friend Hamilton Reidy and
rebodied as a cycle-fendered racer, which continued to compete with
some success. The original aluminum body was removed and kept by
Reidy. Lee Roy Hartung reportedly obtained it from Reidy�s widow.
At some point, either before or after acquired by Hartung , it was
mounted on the current chassis. The front section is from an
unidentified production car, perhaps the early 1950s Ford that
furnished the steering column, dashboard controls, radio, brakes
and wheels. The rear of the frame, however, has been modified to
accommodate DeDion suspension, much like the original car but with
coil springs instead of torsion bars. It currently has a Jaguar XK-
120 engine and transmission…’’

So apparently, this is the Edwards aluminum body installed on a
modified Henry J chassis fitted with an available engine & tranny
from a presumably crashed XK-120, while the original chassis was
used as an open wheel racer, apparently with either Ford V8
flathead power or early V8 Chrysler Hemi.–
Mike Spoelker
Louisville,Kentucky, United States
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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11

In reply to a message from Rob Reilly sent Wed 2 Nov 2011:

And lastly, photos of the open wheel version.


Mike Spoelker
Louisville,Kentucky, United States
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12

In reply to a message from Mike S sent Fri 4 Nov 2011:

Well, looks like it sold for $143,750.
We’ll have to watch for it to come back on the market
restored and see if they kept the XK120 engine in it.–
XK120 FHC, Mark V saloon, XJ12L Series II, S-Type 3.0
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13

Today I went to JK Restorations, and found a pleasant surprise, this same Edwards was in Jim’s shop. The owner brought it to them to get the engine running. It seems to have been cleaned up a bit since 2011 but no restoration yet; it has a radiator leak.

PICT0001
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I can confirm that the head and block are both stamped W3361-8 and the head number has the suffix C stamped after the 8 in a larger font.
PICT0002
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PICT0004
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With the block stamping they did not use a straight “-” dash, they used a number 1 turned on its side.
The sequence number between spark plug 3 and the hex plug is D628, and it appears to be a standard A head, nothing modified that I could see, although there may be unknown modifications, which may possibly explain the letter C added on to the head serial number.
PICT0003
PICT0003.JPG2560×1920 889 KB

It has an early water pump but the five blade fan has been replaced with a later six blade fan.
PICT0011
PICT0011.JPG2560×1920 849 KB

Side entry distributor cap but the plug wires run over the cam cover using a clip from under the manifold.
PICT0012
PICT0012.JPG2560×1920 917 KB

PICT0013
PICT0013.JPG2560×1920 915 KB

The carbs are date stamped G1 and F2.
It has the early type starting carb solenoid with screw thread terminals.
PICT0008
PICT0008.JPG2560×1920 852 KB

Lucas coil dated 12-50 but mounted in the 1952 location.
PICT0007
PICT0007.JPG2560×1920 878 KB

Unusual repurposing of the Otter switch.
PICT0009
PICT0009.JPG2560×1920 909 KB

I did not see any place for a thermostat, but there is a big header tank.
PICT0010
PICT0010.JPG2560×1920 938 KB

Gary told me the trans was a JH type but I could not get the number as it has an aluminum shield over the shifter.
The dashboard mirror and instruments were all XK120.
He said the rear axle is a DeDion and the chassis is a Ford. There were a lot of Ford switches and the steering wheel was Ford.
PICT0016
PICT0016.JPG2560×1920 922 KB

The current windshield is not the original, and it appears to be from a boat.
There are two switches marked Wiper and two marked Choke but there are no wipers and no choke.
The whitewall tires are branded Cities Service which was a gas station chain in the 1950s.
As to future plans, a flathead Ford V8 with racing heads has been mentioned. Apparently that is what it had before the XK engine.

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