1955 Jaguar XK140 MC Spent 69 Years (And Only 32K Miles) With One Family Before Sale

Most cars don't spend 69 years with their original family, but a 1955 Jaguar XK140 MC Fixed Head Coupé auctioned on Bring a Trailer is one of the rare ones that did. The coupe was purchased by the previous owner's grandfather in 1957 and passed down through an inheritance in 2013. Unlike the museum-quality example shown above, the XK140 MC that was auctioned off in early August 2026 had faded maroon paint, with body-color wire wheels held on with two-eared knockoff center-lock hubs.

The Jaguar XK140 MC, known as the XK140 SE in the U.K., debuted in 1955 as an improved follow-up to the very successful XK 120, one of the coolest Jaguar designs of all time. The MC had additional performance cred thanks to its use of a cylinder head right out of the Jaguar C-Type racing car. Its 3.4-liter inline six featured bigger valves that flowed more air, boosting the MC's output to 210 hp. Additional MC equipment included a harmonic engine damper, upgraded SU carburetors, wire wheels in either body color or chrome, fog lamps, and twin exhausts, all present on the auctioned example.

The lucky buyer, who paid $55,000, also received a Jaguar Heritage Trust Production Record Trace certificate, showing the car's gearbox, engine, body, and chassis numbers it was built with, along with its make, model, date of manufacture, and colors, inside and out. It also came with the owner's manual, spare parts, and an Indiana title.

Aside from having a cylinder head from one of the best Jaguars ever made, the XK140 MC also received other mechanical changes compared to the standard XK120. These included new rack-and-pinion steering, telescopic shocks, increased suspension travel, and bigger brakes. To free up more space for the passengers, the engine was shifted forward an additional three inches, compared to where it had been located in the XK120.

The MC's 210 hp was a noticeable upgrade over the XK140's engine, which produced 190 hp. The standard transmission was a four-speed manual, but there was the option of a three-speed Borg-Warner automatic. Out of the 2,797 XK140 Fixed Head Coupés built, only 396 were optioned with the automatic, and most of those were exported to the U.S. 

Tests of the time showed that a 1955 Jaguar XK140 MC equipped with the four-speed transmission and overdrive could hit 60 mph in 11.0 seconds, reaching a top speed of 129 mph. The $55,000 that the buyer paid for this particular XK140 MC Fixed Head Coupé falls in line with market trends, with running examples listed on Bring a Trailer between 2021 and 2026 usually selling around the $60,000 mark.