The Jaguar XK 120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. Jaguar's first post-war sports car, she succeeded the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.

The XK 120 was launched in roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. She caused a sensation, which persuaded William Lyons to put her into production.

The - 120 - in her name refers to her 120 mph top speed, which made the XK 120 the world's fastest standard production car at the time of her launch.

She was available in two convertible and a closed version. First the roadster or OTS, for open two-seater, then from 1951 as a closed or FHC, for fixed-head coupé and from 1953 as a DHC, for drophead coupé. The roadster version was successful in racing.

The first 242 cars, all 1949-model roadsters which were hand-built in late 1948, have aluminium bodies on ash frames. To meet demand it was necessary for the mass-production versions, beginning with the 1950 model year, to have pressed-steel bodies. They retained aluminium doors, bonnet, and boot lid.

With alloy cylinder head and twin side draft SU carburetors, the dual overhead-cam 3.4 L straight-6 XK engine is comparatively advanced for a mass-produced unit of the time. With standard 8:1 compression ratio it developed 160 bhp. A 7:1 low compression version was also available to cope with low quality fuel. This same basic design of the XK engine, later modified into 3.8L and 4.2L versions, survived into the late 1980s.

All XK 120s have independent torsion bar front suspension, semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear, recirculating-ball steering, telescopically adjustable steering column, and all-round drum brakes which are prone to fade.

The roadster's lightweight canvas top and detachable sidescreens can be stowed out of sight behind the seats, and her barchetta-style doors have no external handles; instead there is an interior pull-cord which is accessible through a flap in the sidescreens when the weather equipment is in place. The windscreen can be removed for aeroscreens to be fitted.

In addition to wire wheels with two-eared Rudge-Whitworth knockoff hubs, upgrades on the Special Equipment, or SE, version include increased power, stiffer suspension and a dual exhaust system.

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