Originally dubbed to as the Competition version of the Jaguar XK120 or XK120 C, it would later be referred to as the C-Type. In 1950 Jaguar founder William Lyons was convinced that the XK120 had great potential as a racing car, and went about assembling a small team to develop the C-Type to compete on the world stage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Even though the new C-Type was a purpose-built race car, it carried over the twin cam inline 6 engine from the XK120. Changes were made to the 3.4L engine with the cylinder head, pistons and camshafts all swapped out for revised race prepped versions and topped with a pair of SU carburetors. These changes meant peak power was raised from 160 hp for the road going version to 200 hp for the race track. The production version of the C-Type came in 1952 with over 40 examples built and sold to customers, with some being privateer racers who went on to race their C-Types.
