V I C A R A G E
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Reprinted
from the September 2001 edition of Classiccars
Magazine
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Several
decades ago, Road & Track magazine's Dick O'Kane wrote that the XK120
is 'a machine to challenge all the gods and poets… sometimes.' If you've
ever driven one, you'll understand immediately, because it is surely
one of th most beautiful cars ever built. But it often frustrates with
overheating, cantankerous gearshifting, poor brakes, and a grotesquely
uncomfortable cabin. It's like expecting a gorgeous woman to whisper
sweet nothings in your ear, only for her to belch instead.
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So
ever since, owners, enthusiasts and specialists have fallen over themselves
to improve upon the basic design. Sure enough, Jaguar moved the dynamics
on in leaps and bounds with the XK120 and 150, but neither came close
to the sublime 120 for sheer blood-curdlingly good looks.
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This
is one of those interpretations on the XK120. It hardly strays from
the original design, but there are enough clever, subtle detail changes
to improve the driving and ownership pleasure two-fold. It was built
in Derbyshire by Jaguar specialist Derek Watson, to the order of Anthony
Parkinson, the American behind the famed Vicarage Jaguars of the late
Eighties and early Nineties. If you want one the same, it will cost
you 85,000 (pounds) plus VAT. We'll let Tony explain why he wanted it
that badly.
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 Tony Parkinson's extensively restored XK120 is more comfortable than the original - side vents take heat away from engine and cabin; car is bound for America |
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 Indigo Blue paintwork enhances XK's curves; built to left-hand drive specification in anticipation of the day Tony takes his car to the States; this car has disc brakes all round |
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| 'I
love the XK120 - it's a magnificent, stately looking car,' he says. 'But
I wondered how I could get more pleasure from one without making it boy
racer, keeping the charm and the elegance but making it as quick and exciting
as it looks. I stared to build it as a track care, but it turned out to
be a) more expensive and b) so nice that it's not a track car any more.
It's a car that I could use everyday should I want to.' And that's true, because this is one accommodating XK. Jump in and the first thing anyone taller and 5ft 10in. will be relived to discover is that the seats - XK150 racing buckets - have been made to slide just a few inches further back. They're spot-on for a six-footer now, with the back of the sear just nudging under the cockpit rail when the hood's removed. If you're taller, then there's the more drastic option of chopping back a bit of the bodywork. Some aspects of the seating just can't be changed though, and you wouldn't want them different. Like when you open the low-slung door, only to be reminded that an XK's floor is almost at knee height, and the seat a good few inches above that; you site stretched out in a typical sports care position albeit a good foot higher than you'd expect. But in this care, the steering wheel isn't uncomfortably close to your chest and thighs, in that curiously vintage driving positions that the 120 is famous for. No, in this XK the steering wheel is an inch smaller in diameter than standard (at 16 inches) and two inches further forward. It's hard to see why Jaguar couldn't have achieved this on the standard model, but here the original steering box has been substituted for the lighter, more accurate charms of an XK150 rack-and-pinion set-up. Okay, the wheel's on the wrong side of the car, but we can blame that on Tony's desire to ship the care back to the states later this year. So you get yourself comfy, strap yourself in with those super-trick inertia reel harnesses - flick a switch and the inertias lock - and fire up the engine. For all the modern technology here, you still have the perverse pleasure of pressing a starter button to turn the engines. Twisting a key just wouldn't be the same. |
WHEN THOSE The
reward for your fingerwork is a light tappety growl sneaking out through
the smart new bonnet louvers. It's the unmistakable sound of the sublime
XK motor, thank goodness - you rally mustn't rip the very heart out
of even the most modified XK120. |
As
for the footwells, they're cooler now, because they're no longer heated
by an over-hot engine bay. The vents never did a lot anyway, and there's
certainly no sigh of the footwells or the engine overheating, even on
our long runs through the Peak District on what has so far proved to be
the hottest day of the year. Pootling through towns and past A-road speed cameras, mindful of the area's speed-monitoring helicopter too, the XK is a docile as you could ask for. Tony and Derek have been careful not to lose any of the low-down torque of the original engine in their quest for more power, and it always settles back to a neat idle, helped no doubt by the Aldon electronic ignition. But when those all-too-rare chances to boot the thing come along, boy does it go! Up to about 3000rpm it feels as 'normal' as an XK engine can feel; above that the full effect of the camshafts comes into play. The revs soar to the 6000rpm redline - and beyond if you're not concentrating - transforming the XK from the nice old sports car to outrageous projectile, seemingly without effort. When Tony tells stores of out-gunning E-types and XK8s on the recent Entente Cordial Jaguar run through France, you know he's not exaggerating. In fact, the 0-60 mph acceleration time is estimated to be about six seconds, while the top speed is theoretically well over 150 mph. Of course, aerodynamics come in to play, but with aeroscreens it should just nudge 150, and with the full screen it will be close to 145 mph. It's already been past 130 mph on a relatively tight engine… Of course, the E-type managed 150 mph too, albeit in rather false conditions, but the XK's task is made easier by the welcome addition of a modern five-speed gearbox., based around the super-tough Borg-Warner T5. Say goodbye to the infamously slow-changing Moss 'box; it won't be missed by many. Anyway, the gearknob still show the original four-speed, and the only sign of anything amiss is that the gearlever is ever-so-slightly cranked to keep it within the driver's reach. |
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 XK120's Keeping its eye on the gods; interior is more roomy than original - bucket seats are a few inches further back and steering wheel is both 2in further forward and smaller |
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| It
would take a serious purist to object to that gearbox, and it leaves the
less experienced, or simply occasional, XK driver to concentrate on the
road rather than the gearchanging. And when you're doing that, you'll
be amazed at how well the care copes with its new-found power and torque,
considering that the suspension has received only detail changes. An extra leaf in the semi-elliptic springs, and fine-tuning of the adjustable Spax dampers - telescopic in place of the old lever arms - has eliminated the car's early tendencies to squat down excessively at the back under hard acceleration. Neoprene suspension bushes help no end, and a simple beefing-up of the chassis must contribute. All that Derek's team has done is double upon the number of welds used on the chassis, and used large steel plates to beef up the one known chassis weak spot, where the lever-arm dampers were once mounted. The feel from the front wheels is just spot on too, to the extent that you know exactly where you're heading and at what point you're going to stop going that way. The steering rack so much more accurate than the original box, and uprated front coil springs and Koni telescopic dampers with XK150 anti-roll bar work wonders through the corners. You can sear through the twisties as if you're in a car half the size, reveling in the power and oblivious to the work going on inside the rear axle as the new limited slip differential doles out the power, without upsetting the handling. Then, when the going gets tough, the tough brakes stop it going, hauling what is quite a heavy machine up with so little drama that after a while you even stop thinking about them. |
It's only when you peer through the wheel
spokes that you realize what's going on, with the original's big old
Lockheed drums replaced by vented discs and four-pot XJS calipers
at the front, sold discs and XJ6 calipers rear, withXK150 handbrake
calipers adding a helping hand at standstill. With the assistance
of a remote servo, there's little you can do to faze these brakes. |
Best of all, though, is that there's no question of the gung-ho character of the XK120 having been lost in any of its modifications; that just wasn't an option for any of the team involved. They reckon, and it would be hard to disagree, that the standard XK120 is a great car, but that this is how Jaguar would have made it given the time and cash for further development. If only it was possible to hand it back to Road & Track's Dick O'Kane, to confirm that this XK really can now challenge the gods and the poets on a more consistent basis. Thanks to: Jaguar Specialist Derek Watson, Bakewell, Derbyshire (01629-630776); Tony Parkinson of Vicarage USA (305-866-8511). |
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Tony Parkinson: Father of the Vicarage HIGH-CLASS professionally
modified classics may be common enough now, but when Tony Parkinson
started in business that wasn't the case. He formed the original incarnation
of Vicarage Jaguar back in the late Eighties, and later found modest
fame on converting them to more usable specifications. |
But
by the mid-Nineties, there were legal disputes over the Vicarage name
in the UK, and Toney had returned to the States. He still trades there
as Vicarage USA. His five-speed gearbox conversions have been going
down well over there, but he felt there was a gap. |
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5333 Collins Avenue #502 Miami Beach, FL USA 33140 Tel: +1 772 225 7038 Cell +1 305 987 9107 Fax +1 772 225 7669 Email: vicarage@ix.netcom.com Web: www.vicarage-jaguar.com |
Wim vanGinhoven Travertin 39 t'Harde 8084 EG. NL Tel: 31 05255 2618 Fax 31 05255 3887 |
c/o Derek Watson Jaguar Specialist Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1RA Tel 01629 640776 Fax 01629 640089 Email: jagwat@talk21.com Web: www.jaguar-info.com |