Looming on
the horizon is the Sotheby’s Motor City Auction and they have quite the
selection up for grabs. Singled out for the spotlight is the 1955 Jaguar XK 140
MC Drophead Coupe.
By
the time of debut, North American was vital to Jaguar’s sales, so keeping their
customers across the pond happy was top priority. Enter the XK 140 MC at the
1954 Earl’s Court Motor Show. Coming from a 3.4-litre twin cam six at 160-hp
through a four speed manual transmission on a XK 120, the standard XK 140 was
the same internally but now put out 190-hp in the standard model.
The
standard XK 140 was one of three options that jaguar put out during the
marque’s run from 1954-1957. The XK140 MC is one of that three. It consists of
the M version with dual exhaust, wire wheels and fog lamps plus the cylinder
head from the competition C-type.
The
MC XK 140 being auctioned, puts out 210-hp on a 3.4-litre dual overhead cam
inline six through a 5-speed Borg-Warner T-5 manual transmission. The original
4-speed overdrive transmission will be included in the sale.
This
XK 140 MC sat unused for about 25 years and was meticulously maintained and has
toured the United States, Canada and Europe during its current ownership. So at
least the new owner knows that this car can be used for the remainder of the
Michigan summer, however long that decides to last. Only 1,455 coupés were
built for the 1955 model year and this model is expected to auction anywhere
from US$ 100,000 to US$ 140,000.
