Series 2, 1968 to 1971

Series 2 is where the E-Type stopped being a 1961 design lightly revised and became a car engineered for the market it actually sold into. Nearly every change is traceable to United States federal regulation or to a known weakness in the earlier cars, and the result is the most usable of the six-cylinder E-Types and the least admired by people who care most about the shape.

Chassis numbers and dates

Series 2 4.2 chassis numbering opens in August 1968 with the 1R prefix: 1R 1001 for right-hand drive open two-seaters, 1R 7001 for left-hand drive open two-seaters, 1R 20001 and 1R 25001 for the fixed-head coupes, and 1R 35001 and 1R 40001 for the 2+2s. The last chassis numbers in those runs fall between July and October 1970.

The Heritage Trust also records that some late cars built to United States specification and designated 1971 model year carry a 2R prefix rather than 1R, from approximately 2R 13621 in May 1970 and 2R 27981 in April 1970. That single fact explains most of the confusion over when Series 2 ended. Counting by build date gives 1970. Counting by model year designation gives 1971. Both are correct about different things.

What changed from Series 1

• Headlights. Open, and moved slightly forward, with the surrounds reworked. This is the change that costs the car its admirers, and it is not reversible in any honest sense.
• Front intake. Substantially enlarged, with twin electric fans behind it. Cooling was the recognised Series 1 weakness and this is the visible half of the cure.
• Lights and bumpers. Larger tail lights below the bumper line, a wraparound rear bumper, and side marker lights on the wings, all following American rules.
• Steering column. Collapsible, with the ignition switch moved onto the column to take a steering lock.
• Seats. New seats able to accept head restraints.
• Options. Air conditioning and power steering became available from the factory, which no Series 1 buyer could order.
• Carburettors. United States market cars ran the twin Zenith-Stromberg installation throughout. Cars for other markets retained the triple SUs.

Living with one

An owner who drives rather than displays generally finds Series 2 the easier proposition. The car sits in traffic without the anxiety an early 3.8 induces, the brakes are better, and the option list makes a long journey more tolerable. The engine and gearbox are the late 4.2 units covered on the XK engine page, so nothing about routine maintenance is unfamiliar.

Two cautions. A United States specification car on Zenith-Strombergs will feel down on output against a triple SU car, and many have been converted; find out which you are looking at. Rust behaves exactly as it does on earlier cars, because the structure did not change, which means the restoration page applies in full.

Numbers built

Series 2 is where the published breakdowns diverge most sharply. The per-body-style table gives 4,855 fixed-head coupes, 8,628 open two-seaters and 5,326 2+2s, for 18,809 cars. Graham Robson gives 13,490 of all types. A gap of more than five thousand cars is not a rounding difference: it reflects where each source puts the 1968 model year interim cars and how each treats the 2+2. Both tables, and the four reasons totals differ, are on the production numbers page.

What came next

Series 3, from late 1970 with the 1S prefix, replaced the six with the 5.3-litre V12 and put both remaining body styles on the longer wheelbase. It is a different car, and this archive covers it factually rather than in depth. Production ended in June 1974.

Common questions