Lot 239: 1953 Jaguar XK 120 Barchetta by Barou Special bodied Jaguars have always been held with high regard amongst collectors and enthusiasts across the

1953 Jaguar XK 120 Barchetta by Barou Special bodied Jaguars have always been held with high regard amongst collectors and enthusiasts across the world. From the out and out sports racing specials to the road going coach built cars they have seemed to have a special cache. The combination of seemingly unfailing Jaguar mechanicals, normally a derivation of the immortal XK engine and a special, and often one off, bespoke body has had an alluring appeal. The combination was usually a successful one both aesthetically and competitively and the car we are delighted to offer here is just such a car. It combines rugged XK120 mechanicals with a delightful Barou barchetta style body, so popular in the early 1950s and has a comprehensive and remarkably successful period competition career. This interesting car was the brainchild of M. Henri Peignaux, Jaguar's distributor for the Lyon area in France. He was a keen competition driver who used his connections to run Jaguars in all manner of events in the early 1950s. He took delivery of his new 120 in 1952 and subsequently entered the Lyon-Charbonnieres Rally in 1953 which he won. For the next years event Peignaux enlisted Lofty Englands help in obtaining approval for a special bodied lightweight version when he had found it impossible to acquire himself a C-type. This was duly completed in time and Perignaux is believed to have competed with his co-driver but the pair were apparently disqualified because another competitor complained not about the modified body but about the modified mechanicals, which were reportedly uprated to something approaching works C-Type specification Over the ensuing seasons Perignaux raced the car as far a field as Brazil and Argentina (apparently at the behest of Fangio). After an eventful and varied career Perignaux retained the car until the mid 1960s. His long term ownership was followed by another long term owner who kept the car for 23 years recording very few road miles with it. Thanks to this substantial period of inactivity, when the third owner acquired it, it was described as being in 'complete original condition'. The third owner was respected Jaguar historian and enthusiast Roland Urban who owned and used the car until 1997. Subsequently owned by the vendor the Barou XK120 has been exercised in such appropriate events as the Mille Miglia Retrospective in both 2001 and 2002 proving that is has lost none of its competitive and reliable edge. It is a most fascinating and historic survivor and the epitome of one mans determination to build himself a race winning lightweight sports racing car using the well proven mechanicals from the legendary XK. Estimate: Refer Department