We are pleased to be able to show you the original road test and review of the Jaguar XK120 in Road and Track of May 1951. Note the remark “The Jaguar XK120 is by far the fastest car tested by Road & Track”! The particular car (#670191) tested is of great importance to us all involved with the Del Monte trophy Race Group (www.dmtrg.com) because this is the car which Don Parkinson raced twice at Pebble Beach. On the second occasion, in May 1951 (in the same month as the this article but after its publication!), Don wrapped the XK120 round a tree in Turn 3; the chassis and body were so badly damaged they went straight to the junk yard. The engine and running gear became … the 1949 Parkinson Jaguar Special.
Download the road test in pdf here, noting that the pages are in the wrong order! Start reading at the lower page)… https://dmtrg.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Road-and-Track-road-test-Parkinson-Jaguar-2024.pdf
Present owner Terry Buffum and Del Monte maestro Rob Manson confirm that the Road and Track test car did indeed become the Parkinson Jaguar Special despite some doubt about the chassis number cast by http://www.xkdata.com/gallery/zoom/?id=736311 which appears to several inaccuracies in it.
The Parkinson Jaguar Special was built at Rodger Barlow’s International Motors in Los Angeles, by Joe Thrall, Parkinson and Phil Hill (Parkinson’s brother-in-law). The aluminum body was sketched by teenager Robert Cumberford and built by Marvin Faw. Chassis, running gear, and engine were reused with little modification, although the Special weighed 1000 pounds less than the roadster.
Ritchie Ginther subsequently hot-rodded the engine and increased its capacity to 3.8 liters. Parkinson raced his Special at all of the major West Coast road races in 1951 and 1952 with excellent results, including a win at Palm Springs. It was raced by others, principally Chuck Daigh, to continued success through 1955. It took a cameo role in the movie Johnny Dark, dark blue with the race #81 (see https://www.imcdb.org/v919736.html). The Parkinson Jaguar competed at the Pebble Beach Road Races in 1950,1951,1952,1954 and 1955. Now owned by Terry Buffum, the Parkinson Jaguar has been a regular participant at the Monterey Historics/Reunion since 1983 and the more recent Velocity Invitational where it finished 2nd in the hands of John Buddenbaum in the Del Monte Trophy Race Group feature race at the Velocity Invitational, Sonoma Raceway USA, October 6, 2024. 2009 F1 World Champ Jenson Button won that race in his ex-Fangio Jaguar C-Type.
See https://dmtrg.com/terry-buffum-1949-parkinson-jaguar-special/
Another article about this car at http://www.britishracecar.com/TerryBuffum-Jaguar-ParkinsonSpecial.htm