1949 Jaguar Parkinson Special

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 later became a General Motors designer and styling critic), 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. Richie Ginther tuned the XK engine and 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.

The aluminum-bodied Jaguar XK120 Roadster was one of the first of the new Jaguar sports cars to arrive in California. Don Parkinson drove the XK120 to Pebble Beach for the 1950 Concours and raced it in the inaugural Pebble Beach Road Races, finishing second in the Pebble Beach Cup. Returning to the forest in May of 1951, he lost control on Turn 1 and rolled the car, and the remains of the wrecked Roadster became this Special, which was built by Joe Thrall, Parkinson, and Phil Hill (Parkinson's brother-in-law) at Roger Barlow's International Motors in Los Angeles.

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.

Parkinson raced his Special at Pebble Beach and elsewhere in 1951 and 1952 with excellent results, and it was also raced at Pebble Beach by Chuck Daign in 1954 and 1955.