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During the post-war period, Jaguar, and its founder, William Lyons, wanted to add more prestige to the company. A trend towards manufacturing more exciting sports cars fulfilled this goal and began with the development of the XK engine. It was made independent from Standard's engine tooling, being Jaguar's first bottom-up design.

The XK engine's potential was first realized by the public in a concept car which would give Jaguar its greatest promotion. It was the XK120 roadster which stole the London Motor Show with it's striking body, 160 horsepower XK engine and 120 mph top speed for which it was named. Eventually the XK120 had to be put into production, and became Jaguar's leading product.

However, the XK legacy didn't end with XK120 roadster. Later competition cars with XK engines won Le Mans outright in 1953, 55, 56 and 57. Throughout this victorious period, Jaguar upgraded the XK120 to XK140 specification, including more powerful engines and larger interior spaces. This culminated with the XK150, which reached 265 bhp in top form.