Joel's connection to the exotic marks started at age 4, he remembers being driven around a race track in a black Ferrari Dino by his dad's mate. “That Dino remains one of my all time favorite cars” Jole fondly recalls.

Like many of us, Joel's biggest influence was his dad, who had a great love & appreciation for exotic cars as far back as Joel can remember, especially Porches & Ferraris. In 1992 his dad purchased a 1989 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet that he still owns today. The Porsche was one of only 4 examples in the country at the time that was legally a 4 seater.  Joel jokingly recalls, “We were pulled over at Bondi Beach by a police officer who refused to believe the 4 seats were legal and accused dad of modifying the car illegally to fit my sister and I in the tiniest of rear seats”. 

Even Joel's mum to has a love for exotic cars, she has a 1969 Mercedes 280SL, which she's owned since the 90’s. Joel’s path into the classic exotic cars was truly handed down by his parents. Not only did they influence him by the cars they owned, they encouraged & supported Joel's passion & set him on his own path of classic exotic car ownership. What fantastic parents!

Joel's journey in finding his very own exotic classic began unexpectedly. Whilst a teen watching the movie Cruel Intentions in 1999, on screen appeared a beautiful black roadster. “It was love at first sight” Joel dreamly declares. From that moment on he put his heart & soul into researching exactly what that car was he saw on screen. He eventually discovered it was a replica XK140 Jaguar. “Suddenly I had to know everything about the XK140 and most importantly how it drove” Joel passionately describes.

At age 18, Joel's life took an extraordinary good turn of fortune. We mentioned his parents supported Joel's passion for the exotic cars, but they went one step further & made his wildest dream come true. They loaned Joel an immense sum of money - $70,000 to buy his first car, a replica Ecurie Ecosse teams Le Mans racing Jaguar XK120. His parents understood Joel's passion & they knew it would be a greater life experience to own his own exotic car now, rather than postpone the dream to later in life.

Joel’s replica was originally a XK120 with body number 660211. It was later turned into a replica Ecurie Ecosse team's Le Mans racing Jaguar, finished in a beautiful blue metallic paint. With a C-type head, 2" sand cast SU carburettors, extractors and a V12 E-type gearbox. It was as quick as a Holden V6 commodore off the line, but retained the style and class of an era long lost to history. Joel firmly suggests “This car was the closest experience to driving a go-kart on the road, something I think that only Morgan drivers truly can appreciate”.

Joel really loved his Le Mans XK120 replica. But the small imperfections really started to bug him. The slightly incorrect shaping rear fender, small dents, the missing emplacements for the wheel spats, the list seemed to grow by the day. Even after knowing the extraordinary amount of work that went into the replica build by the previous owner, Joel still yearned for something more original.

“I wanted something that acted as a time capsule. A chance to step back in time and drive a car that is crude, lacking comfort, cramped and lacks so many simple features such as door handles, heater, windows, a radio or even rear view mirrors and indicators” Joel passionately describes. 

After so many years of yearning for a more authentic classic Jaguar experience, Joel finally sold the Ecurie Ecosse Le Mans replica & found exactly what he was looking for, the car you see here - a 1950 Jaguar XK120.

This Jaguar was delivered to Brylaws of Melbourne in 1950, it’s an original right hand drive car. Build number - 660196. To most people, that build number doesn't look that special. But the first Jaguar XK had a build number - 660003, doing the maths you’ll realise Joel’s XK Jaguar is the 193rd off the production line, making it a very early production car.

In 60 years of life she has only done 68,000 miles and features the original - engine, gearbox, differential and body panels. She still has the original interior, from back in 1950. Unfortunately the interior was very brittle & fragile, so Joel sensibly removed & put it away for safekeeping. The seats still have the original dunlopillo moulded seats. Bib Stilwell modified the wheels in the 50's, carrying out a "turbo" ventilation to try to reduce brake fading through cooling. Despite a cracked engine block, Joel went to extreme measures to get it "metal stitched" as he wanted the car to retain its original matching numbers engine.

History of the Jaguar  XK120

Launched at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine designed by Jaguar Chief Engineer William Heynes. The sports car caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar to put it into production. The first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seater bodies with aluminium panels. In early 1950, production switched to all-steel. The "120" in the name referred to the aluminium car's 120 mph top speed, which made it the world's fastest production car at the time. The first production car was delivered to actor Clark Gable.

Joel's connection to the exotic marks started at age 4, he remembers being driven around a race track in a black Ferrari Dino by his dad's mate. “That Dino remains one of my all time favorite cars” Jole fondly recalls.

Like many of us, Joel's biggest influence was his dad, who had a great love & appreciation for exotic cars as far back as Joel can remember, especially Porches & Ferraris. In 1992 his dad purchased a 1989 Porsche Turbo Cabriolet that he still owns today. The Porsche was one of only 4 examples in the country at the time that was legally a 4 seater.  Joel jokingly recalls, “We were pulled over at Bondi Beach by a police officer who refused to believe the 4 seats were legal and accused dad of modifying the car illegally to fit my sister and I in the tiniest of rear seats”. 

Even Joel's mum to has a love for exotic cars, she has a 1969 Mercedes 280SL, which she's owned since the 90’s. Joel’s path into the classic exotic cars was truly handed down by his parents. Not only did they influence him by the cars they owned, they encouraged & supported Joel's passion & set him on his own path of classic exotic car ownership. What fantastic parents!

Joel's journey in finding his very own exotic classic began unexpectedly. Whilst a teen watching the movie Cruel Intentions in 1999, on screen appeared a beautiful black roadster. “It was love at first sight” Joel dreamly declares. From that moment on he put his heart & soul into researching exactly what that car was he saw on screen. He eventually discovered it was a replica XK140 Jaguar. “Suddenly I had to know everything about the XK140 and most importantly how it drove” Joel passionately describes.

At age 18, Joel's life took an extraordinary good turn of fortune. We mentioned his parents supported Joel's passion for the exotic cars, but they went one step further & made his wildest dream come true. They loaned Joel an immense sum of money - $70,000 to buy his first car, a replica Ecurie Ecosse teams Le Mans racing Jaguar XK120. His parents understood Joel's passion & they knew it would be a greater life experience to own his own exotic car now, rather than postpone the dream to later in life.

Joel’s replica was originally a XK120 with body number 660211. It was later turned into a replica Ecurie Ecosse team's Le Mans racing Jaguar, finished in a beautiful blue metallic paint. With a C-type head, 2" sand cast SU carburettors, extractors and a V12 E-type gearbox. It was as quick as a Holden V6 commodore off the line, but retained the style and class of an era long lost to history. Joel firmly suggests “This car was the closest experience to driving a go-kart on the road, something I think that only Morgan drivers truly can appreciate”.

Joel really loved his Le Mans XK120 replica. But the small imperfections really started to bug him. The slightly incorrect shaping rear fender, small dents, the missing emplacements for the wheel spats, the list seemed to grow by the day. Even after knowing the extraordinary amount of work that went into the replica build by the previous owner, Joel still yearned for something more original.

“I wanted something that acted as a time capsule. A chance to step back in time and drive a car that is crude, lacking comfort, cramped and lacks so many simple features such as door handles, heater, windows, a radio or even rear view mirrors and indicators” Joel passionately describes. 

After so many years of yearning for a more authentic classic Jaguar experience, Joel finally sold the Ecurie Ecosse Le Mans replica & found exactly what he was looking for, the car you see here - a 1950 Jaguar XK120.

This Jaguar was delivered to Brylaws of Melbourne in 1950, it’s an original right hand drive car. Build number - 660196. To most people, that build number doesn't look that special. But the first Jaguar XK had a build number - 660003, doing the maths you’ll realise Joel’s XK Jaguar is the 193rd off the production line, making it a very early production car.

In 60 years of life she has only done 68,000 miles and features the original - engine, gearbox, differential and body panels. She still has the original interior, from back in 1950. Unfortunately the interior was very brittle & fragile, so Joel sensibly removed & put it away for safekeeping. The seats still have the original dunlopillo moulded seats. Bib Stilwell modified the wheels in the 50's, carrying out a "turbo" ventilation to try to reduce brake fading through cooling. Despite a cracked engine block, Joel went to extreme measures to get it "metal stitched" as he wanted the car to retain its original matching numbers engine.

History of the Jaguar  XK120

Launched at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine designed by Jaguar Chief Engineer William Heynes. The sports car caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar to put it into production. The first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seater bodies with aluminium panels. In early 1950, production switched to all-steel. The "120" in the name referred to the aluminium car's 120 mph top speed, which made it the world's fastest production car at the time. The first production car was delivered to actor Clark Gable.

In concluding, I asked Joel, what does this amazing Jaguar mean to him, all these years later? With his response his eyes widened & the passion in his voice was evident, this XK120 Jaguar still meant a lot. Heres his response - 

“It is a slice of history, a throwback to an era when cars were just starting to be attained by the public. This was one of the first mass produced and affordable sports cars and generated a massive worldwide interest in Jaguars. It is crude, has no safety features but at the same time it is so distinctively distilled into the pure essence of enjoying driving cars that it is incredibly entertaining”. 

“We wanted our Jaguar to be visible to the public and inspire the next generation of car enthusiasts to look beyond the throwaway, disposable modern day cars, so we’ve driven her everywhere - Dubbo, Newcastle, Wollongong and the southern highlands, even Sydney to Melbourne & back, before dual carriageways existed on the Hume Hwy. Trucks used to literally push us off the road, it was terrifying. We loved driving “BABY” into the city nearly every single weekend. On the day my son was born my wife and I knew that it marked the end of an era”. 

Our sincere thanks to Joel & his family for sharing such a fantastic car with us.