The Jaguar XK120 was one of the defining post-war British sports cars, combining a lightweight open body with Jaguar’s then-new 3.4-litre XK twin-cam straight-six. Introduced in 1948, it established the mechanical foundation for decades of Jaguar performance cars and quickly gained a reputation for both speed and long-distance capability. The open two-seat roadster is the purest version of the model, with its minimal weather equipment, simple cabin and sweeping bodywork.

This 1952 example has reportedly remained with the same owner for more than forty years. The seller states that it received an older restoration before 1983 and was subsequently kept garaged and covered, spending many years in Scottsdale, Arizona. It had not been driven since 1998 but has now been recommissioned sufficiently to run and drive. The engine is described as matching-numbers. The photographs show an honest older restoration rather than a recently detailed car, with presentable but aged paint, a coherent tan interior and an engine bay that appears largely period-correct in presentation.

Recent brake work reportedly includes new shoes and wheel cylinders on all four corners, a rebuilt master cylinder and new brake hoses. The sale also includes the top and side curtains, original maintenance manual, spare wheel, jack, tools, old receipts, owner notes and boxes of miscellaneous parts. Particularly useful is a complete five-wheel wire-wheel conversion set with hubs, knock-off spinners and four new brake drums, plus four never-mounted but older tyres and tubes. Given the long period of inactivity, a thorough inspection of the fuel, cooling, electrical and drivetrain systems would still be sensible before regular use, but the long ownership history, matching engine and unusually extensive parts package make this more interesting than a typical older restoration. Find it for sale at $48,500 here in Morgan Hill, CA.