Post-war Classics
The XK engine and a run of Le Mans wins built Jaguar's post-war reputation.
The XK120, launched in 1948, paired a sleek, low-slung body with Jaguar's new twin-cam XK engine — a unit so well engineered it stayed in production, in various forms, until 1992.
Through the 1950s Jaguar's saloons (the Mark VII, and later the compact Mark 2) built the marque's reputation for combining performance with genuine luxury at a price undercutting rivals.
On the track, the C-Type won Le Mans in 1951 and 1953, and its successor the D-Type won three years running from 1955 to 1957 — a run of results that gave Jaguar's road cars real competition credibility, not just style.