2026-05-22 14:13:32 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 6/26

www.handh.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-1950-jaguar-xk120-roadster-alloy-dick-protheroe- ...

Auction description:

17th Jun, 2026 Kelham Hall | Newark, Nottinghamshire

Estimate £80,000 - £100,000

Registration No: LOE 606

Chassis No: 670982

MOT: Exempt

Painstakingly restored and rebodied to lightweight 'Alloy' specification

Fitted with a 3.8-litre racing engine with triple Weber carburettors

Registered for road use in the United Kingdom

Offered with an FIA Technical Passport valid until 2029

It was manufactured as a left-hand drive Open Two-Seater on October 18th, 1950, finished in Black with Biscuit and Red upholstery and a Black top. It was despatched on November 15th to Hornburg, the Los Angeles distributor, and from there was sold viâ the Peter Satori dealership of Beverley Hills to M. B. Mendelson. Marvin Mendelson just happened to be a very prolific racer with the Sports Car Club of America, with a particular penchant for the XK120.

Sadly, the precise details of Mendelson’s relationship with this car are not well-documented, but results indicate that he was racing an XK120 between 1952 and 1954. A photograph of the time shows him with a stripped-down OTS sporting whitewall tyres and a pin-up girl painted on the side; we believe that to be the car offered here. We now turn our head to British soil, and the activities of gentleman racer Dick Protheroe, one of the foremost Jaguar drivers of the ’50s and ’60s. His association with Browns Lane began in 1952 while he was stationed in Egypt, when he bought one of the first aluminium-bodied XK120s to race. That car, ‘GPN 635’, was campaigned heavily after Protheroe shipped it back to Britain in 1953, but he would become most famous for his exploits in the 1960s with two E-types bearing the ‘CUT 7’ number plate.

Our interest in Protheroe stems from the fact that, in recent years, this XK120 has been prepared as a faithful tribute to ‘MXJ’, not only with disc brakes, 3.8-litre engine and easily exchangeable aero screens, but also with a rebody in aluminium alloy, 16in. wheels, a lightweight hardtop, and a funnelled bonnet (the latter is not shown in our photographs).

‘LOE 606’ was imported by well-known XK racing specialists Tester Engineering, and purchased from them by our vendor in July, 2013. It was then built up to racing specification over five years, with the initial plans for a club racer gradually evolving until this uncompromising Protheroe tribute was decided upon. In order to obtain certification from the FIA, meticulous adherence to period specification was insisted upon, and the FIA Technical Passport was issued in 2019, placing it in Class TSRC6, in the Special GT category for Period E (1947-61). Previously, it had still been eligible for some race meetings, and débuted at Silverstone with the HSCC in October, 2015. It has raced on several occasions but has covered only 2,000 miles since its début, and in more recent years has been equipped for road use rather than racing. Said to produce 273bhp at 5,500rpm and 282lb. ft. of torque at 3,800rpm, its specification further includes a bespoke stainless steel gas-flowed inlet manifold, a lightened flywheel, lightened and balanced crankshaft and con-rods, forged aluminium race pistons, Tester racing valves and high-lift camshafts, a ported and polished cylinder head, electronic ignition and electric fans, four speeds and overdrive, a Powerlok differential, and heavy-duty racing springs.

A marvellous XK120 for road use or racing, ‘LOE 606’ is supplied with paperwork including the V5C, history pertaining to Mendelson and Protheroe, race performance reports, dynamometer results, and an FIA Technical Passport valid until 2029.