1949 Jaguar Parkinson Special pictures and wallpaper

1949 Jaguar Parkinson Special news, pictures, and information

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Roadster
Chassis Num: 670191

This racing special was built at International Motors in Los Angeles for the late Don Parkinson in 1951, following a racing accident at Pebble Beach in which he hit a tree. The new body was stretched by then teen-aged Robert Cumberford (who is now with Automobile Magazine), and constructed by the late Marvin Faw under the supervision of Phil Hill, Parkinson's brother-in-law. The chassis is an early Jaguar XK-120 with the engine moved rearward about 12 inches and down about 4 inches and slightly to the right. Displacement was increased from 3.4 to 3.8-liters in 1952 making it one of the first big displacement Jaguars. The car weighs about 2000 pounds.

Parkinson successfully raced the car in its present configuration for two years before replacing it with a Jaguar C-Type. The car was restored by John Buddenbaum in 1983 and it continues to be very competitive in its class.

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Roadster
Chassis Num: 670191

Don Parkinson was a professional architect living in Los Angles during the early 1950s. He was an avid racer with aspirations with achieving success in the competitive road racing segment. In early November of 1950 he drove his Jaguar XK-120 to a very impressive second place finish behind his brother-in-law, and legendary race car driver Phil Hill. In May of the following year, he returned to Pebble with his Jaguar determined to capture an overall victory. During the race, the desire to win exceeded the cars capabilities and he rolled the car in a sharp turn. The car was badly damaged but luckily, he was able to walk away from the wreckage.

The car was brought back to his hometown of Los Angeles and was re-worked with the help of Joe Thrall, a mechanic at International Motors In Hollywood, California. As the wrecked body was removed from the chassis, Parkinson decided to replace it with a custom body. He enlisted the help of Robert Cumberford who designed a cycle-fender Special that had a very narrow and rounded design. Marvin Faw molded the aluminum into the shape of the design. Thrall and Parkinson repaired and modified much of the drivetrain including repositioning the engines farther back, lower, and to the right in the engine bay. A new factory racing camshaft was fitted and the flywheel was lightened. The result was a car that weighed around 2000 pounds.

Upon completion, Parkinson raced the car in several events, beating some stiff competition and outpacing many talented drivers of the day. The car was raced from late 1951 through 1953 rather frequently with many podium finishes including at Palm Springs, Pebble Beach, Golden Gate Park, Torrey Pines, and many more.

During the 1970s, the car was treated to a restoration by Faw and became a frequent visitor in historic competition.

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Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120 Alloy

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