Joseph Scott | April 1, 2015

Special thanks to author Joseph Scott and TorqueNews for allowing us to reproduce this article.

Some cars have a sophisticated look that sets them apart from the rest and the 1955 XK140 is in that category. The clean lines and elegant style on this classic Jaguar is part of what defines the brand.

The 1955 XK140 DHC (Drop Head Coupe) was manufactured the way a luxury sport coupe is supposed to be, with style, performance, and sophistication. The XK140 was the successor to the popular XK120 and was produced from 1954 – 1957. It was sold as a two seat sports car in three versions; 2-seat roadster, 2-seat convertible, and the 2-seat coupe. It was powered by a 3.4 liter DOHC Straight-6 with 190 or 210 horsepower versions. The 210 horsepower version featured the C-Type cylinder heads carried over from the XK120.

Road & Track tested the XK140 in June of 1955 with an average top speed of 120.3 mph and a best zero to 60 mph of 8.4 seconds. They also tested the car from zero to 100 mph and it recorded a time of 26.5 seconds. The performance of this car was on par or better for the other sports cars of the day, for instance, the 1955 Chevy Corvette was clocked at zero to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds and a top speed of roughly 120 mph. And that was from a 231 cu. in American V8. Consequently the 1956 Porsche 356A was only capable of a zero to 60 mph in 14.3 seconds.

Jaguar took great pride in producing a sports car with such distinctive styling, elegant luxury, and world-class performance in one sleek package. The rich interior was so luxurious with its fine leather and elegant wood grain trim. The gauges and steering wheel were as stylish as a fine Swiss watch and had an immaculate look and feel like no other. This car also offered 3 more inches of legroom thanks to an engine and firewall that was moved forward.