Jaguar XK 120 Steals Scenes in ‘The Fast and the Furious’
Nope, not that The Fast and the Furious. This version dates to 1954, and features a Jaguar XK 120 in a starring role.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m going to begin here by stating I think the whole The Fast and the Furious series is pretty dreadful. It started out dumb as a box of rocks, then quite miraculously, managed to get even dumber. Currently, the F&F flicks aren’t even idiotic movies about car culture. They’re just excruciatingly stupid action movies. At some point, there will be a F&F set in space, and it will hemorrhage cash into the coffers of Universal Pictures. Mark my words.
That said, I have to admit I was surprised when our friends over at The Drive pointed out that the — admittedly catchy — title of the franchise wasn’t even original. The first Fast and the Furious film actually dates to 1954, and as you can imagine, there isn’t a tuned Honda Civic or Toyota Supra to be found. In the Eisenhower-era adventure, the hero car is a Jaguar XK 120, and since the whole movie is basically a pursuit, it fits nicely into our blog’s long-running Jaguar Chase Scenes series.
The film was produced by Roger “The Pope of Pop Cinema” Corman, and tells the story of Frank Webster, a trucker who breaks out of jail after being charged with a murder he didn’t commit.
To illustrate that he’s actually a good egg at heart, the film opens with Webster carjacking a young woman named Connie, and fleeing with her in her Jaguar. The ultimate plan is to use the XK 120 to slip into a sports car race, and eventually, make a break for Mexico. Along the way the reluctant pair fall in love, obviously.
Since this version of The Fast and the Furious long ago entered the public domain, the entire 70-minute film is available on YouTube for free. Be warned that it’s no masterpiece, but it’s still enjoyable to skim through, if only to see the gorgeous Jaguar XK 120 and some of the other period cars in motion. Given how most American cars looked, and how rare Jaguars were at the time, that must have been a compelling enough reason for many folks to cough up for a ticket. Have a look below, and let me know if you knew this moldy oldie even existed!
Photos: YouTube