Clark Gable’s classic Jaguar XK120 Roadster heads to auction
‘MDU 420’ was specified by the actor to include wire wheels and bonnet louvres.
A 1952 Jaguar XK120 Roadster owned by legendary Hollywood actor Clark Gable is heading to auction.
Chassis number 672282 was specified with a colour combination of Battleship Grey with a contrast red interior, while Gable had a number of upgrades added including the wire wheels and bonnet louvres. Plus, he requested a custom luggage rack so that he could take his golf clubs along too.
During Gable’s ownership, the Jaguar was used to tour a number of locations across the continent, including a trip from Rome to Paris. The XK was then returned to America ‘before the end of 1953’, according to auction house RM Sotheby’s which is listing the Jaguar, where it was sold to Irving Robbins Jr.
In 1982, the car was bought by the owner’s father. RM Sotheby’s says that by 2011 ‘the XK 120’s age was catching up with it’ and the owner contacted Jaguar specialist Georg Donni who put the car through a full restoration.
That restoration took nearly five years and cost over 400,000 Swiss Francs, or around £357,364. During that time, the car’s matching-numbers body, chassis and engine were confirmed. It was finished in time for the 2016 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este.
The Jaguar will go under the hammer on May 20 in Italy and currently has an estimate of between €350,000 and €500,000, or between £307,351 and £439,187.
