Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special - If you can't buy it - build it!

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special - If you can't buy it - build it!

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Created on May 14, 2025

Text:

Martin Sigrist

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Surprisingly good-natured for a former racing car

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - The headlights are a concession to road use

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - The headlights are behind bars

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Today, touring rather than racing is the order of the day

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Weighing just 950 kilograms, the car is still extremely agile today

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Driven on the road today

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - The hood reveals the entire front end, ideal for racing

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - The spare wheel was mandatory for homologation

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Form follows Function

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Not a trace of self-build, the Special looks as if it was cast from a single mold

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - special purpose form, professionally executed

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - lightweight aluminum construction

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Exhaust under the body panel

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - The SCCA was characterized by European cars

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - The Special retained the identity of the donor vehicle

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - commemorative plaque for a memorable race

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Flat steering wheel hub instead of the 120's bomb aimed at the sternum

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Hansgen chose rack-and-pinion steering for better steering precision

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Today, a 3.4-liter XK engine from a 140 or Mk 7 sits in the Special

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Lucas electrics as in the XK120

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Makes no secret of its origins - Jaguar Growler on the steering wheel hub

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - mechanic Pete Heath, restorer Georg Dönni and owner Christian Jenny

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Original dashboard from Hansgen's donor XK120 Quicksilver

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Original Jaguar front suspension with ball studs and torsion bar suspension

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - original manifold with adapted flex pipes

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Redline at 6000 for the XK-DOHC engine

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Siata quick-release fasteners for the fuel tanks

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Better safe than sorry, the fire extinguishing system has been retrofitted

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Sidepipe, but the sound is quite civilized

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - SU H8 Sandcast carburetor battery

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Door hinges of unknown origin

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Conversion to rack and pinion steering from an MG TD

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Conversion to KM speedometer

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Too tight to fit all the way in

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Tension strut, anti-roll bar and long, lower wishbone, with the torsion bar behind it

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Additional information

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Moss box as with all Jaguars of this period

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Exhaust side of the XK engine, clearly visible: the tubing of the frame

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - 2023 in the paddock at Goodwood

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Around the bend at Goodwood on three wheels

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - According to the driver, the Hansgen could keep up with the C-Type Jaguar

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Hansgen Special in the Freddie March Trophy 2023

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - After Woodcote towards the finish chicane

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - On the way to the most important victory of the Hansgen Special in September 1953 at Watkins Glen

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Walt explains with outstretched hand his self-built car in the Watkins Glen paddock

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Walt Hansgen in the cockpit after his victory at Watkins Glen

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Crossing the finish line at Watkins Glen

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Walt Hansgen in Special 670835 followed by Masten Gregory in XKC022

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Comparison between the former competitors

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - On a comparison drive in Bichester with a Jaguar C-Type

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Jaguar XK 120 C (1951) - Le Mans 1951 - the Walker-Whitehead winners

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - built in the Hansgen family bodyshop in 1952

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Max Hoffman, New York ca. 1952 - the Austro-American initiated the Mercedes 300 SL or the Porsche Speedster as an importer of European cars on the East Coast

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Jaguar E2A (1960) - in Plateau 3 (1957-1961) at the Le Mans Classic 2012

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Ford GT40 Mk II (1966) - offered as lot no. 102 at the RM-Sotheby's auction in Miami on February 27 and 28, 2025

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Jaguar XK 120 Hansgen Special (1953) - Walt Hansgen's son Rusty

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Summary

If you can't buy it, build it! Walt Hansgen was an ambitious amateur racing driver from New Jersey, USA, who wanted to buy the latest sports car from Europe, the Jaguar C-Type, in 1952. But none of the 7 examples brought to the USA were intended for Hansgen, so he built his own interpretation of the fastest racing sports car of his time.

This article contains the following chapters

Walt Hansgen
If you can't buy it, build it
Own design
Thicker - but thinner-walled
Double or triple
Victory on first outing
Aborted after accident
Another victory
Co-driver William Eager
Beaten by the champion
Your own car as an opponent
Road legal and veteran
Good-natured
Appreciation and significance

Estimated reading time: 14min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In September 1953 in Watkins Glen, New York State - about 260 miles from NYC - the most important sports car race in the USA at the time takes place: One last lap to go. The 34-year-old driver and constructor Walt Hansgen set the pace for 18 laps before George Harris, in his Allard with a 7-lt Cadillac engine, sped past his XK 120 "Hansgen Special" 3.4 lt in a barely legal maneuver on the 19th lap. Perhaps it was a moment of inattention on Hansgen's part? Quite possibly, but Hansgen regained the lead on the next lap, only to lose it again on lap 21. Harris now took the corner on the inside - but Hansgen was not to be deterred. On the outside, on dirt and gravel, Hansgen's wheel kicked up a storm of gravel and the roar of his engine stopped briefly as the "Special" flew around the bend in a drift. Hansgen stepped on the gas again, skidded again but flew past Harris and crossed the finish line - as the winner!

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