During the difficult period after World War II, Jaguar Cars became the United Kingdom’s biggest U.S.-dollar earner, thanks in no small measure to the success of its XK120 sports car. Conceived and constructed in a few months, the XK120 debuted at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show, where the radical lines, potential performance, and bargain price of the roadster were the sensation of the show. Only 240 hand-built, alloy-bodied XK 120 roadsters were produced.
