Telling a Series 1 from a Series 1.5 and a Series 2

Identification of an E-Type is done from the car and from its numbers, in that order. The visual points below will place a car in a series within a few seconds. The numbers confirm it, and the numbers are the part where published guides most often diverge, so this page separates what the factory records say from what enthusiast literature says.

This page is the comparison. Each series then has a page of its own: Series 1, the interim cars usually called Series 1.5, and Series 2.

The quick visual test

• Headlights. Glass covers over faired-in headlights means Series 1. Open headlights means either a very late Series 1, an interim 1968 model year car, or a Series 2. The covers went for reasons of United States lighting regulation, and Jaguar applied the change worldwide rather than only to export cars.
• Front air intake. Series 1 and the interim cars have a small mouth. Series 2 has a noticeably enlarged intake, with twin electric fans behind it. Cooling was a known Series 1 weakness and the bigger intake is the visible half of the fix.
• Rear lights. Above the bumper line means Series 1. Larger units sitting below the bumper line means Series 2.
• Bumpers. Series 2 has a wraparound rear bumper. Side marker lights on the wings are a Series 2 feature, again driven by American regulation.
• Switches. A symmetrical row of metal toggle switches on the centre dash is Series 1. Black plastic rocker switches indicate an interim 1968 car or a Series 2.
• Cam covers. Smooth polished alloy cam covers belong to earlier cars. A ribbed finish arrived in early 1968 and carried on through Series 2.
• Bonnet. The forward-hinged one-piece bonnet never changed in principle across the whole production run, so it is not by itself a series indicator.

The earliest cars: flat floors and outside bonnet locks

The first Series 1 3.8 cars had flat footwell floors, without the recessed panels that were introduced to give more legroom, and external bonnet latches operated from outside the car rather than from within. The figure most often quoted is that the first 500 or so cars had both features. That number is repeated widely and is a reasonable working figure, though it is a round one and the two changes did not necessarily happen at precisely the same chassis number. If it matters for a specific car, the Heritage Certificate is the answer, not a guide page.

Series 1 3.8 chassis numbering, per the Heritage Trust guide, begins in March 1961: 850001 for right-hand drive open two-seaters, 875001 for left-hand drive open two-seaters, and 885001 for left-hand drive fixed-head coupes, with right-hand drive fixed-head coupes starting at 860001 in July 1961. The last 3.8 chassis numbers in each of those four runs are dated August 1964.

3.8 to 4.2

The move from the 3.8-litre engine to the 4.2 happened in the second half of 1964. The Heritage Trust guide shows the 4.2 chassis sequences opening in August 1964 for left-hand drive open two-seaters and for both fixed-head coupes, and in September 1964 for right-hand drive open two-seaters, using the 1E prefix. October 1964 is the date most commonly given in the enthusiast literature for the public changeover, which sits comfortably alongside those first-chassis dates without being identical to them.

Two things changed with the engine and both matter to a driver. The Moss gearbox, with no synchromesh on first, gave way to an all-synchromesh box. The 4.2 also brought a better braking servo and a revised electrical system. The engine change itself is covered on the XK engine page.

The 2+2, on a longer wheelbase with a raised roofline, entered the 4.2 chassis sequence in September 1965 for right-hand drive cars and October 1965 for left-hand drive. There was no 3.8 2+2.

The 1968 model year cars, usually called Series 1.5

Series 1.5 is not a Jaguar term. The factory records make no such division, and the Heritage Trust research guide has no Series 1.5 section: these cars sit inside the Series 1 4.2 chassis sequence, which runs to July 1968. The label exists because the cars are visibly and mechanically transitional, and collectors needed a word for them.

The features usually gathered under it, built as 1968 model year cars from around August 1967:

• Open headlights, with the glass covers deleted.
• Black rocker switches in place of the earlier toggle switches, in response to American safety rules on interior projections.
• On United States market cars, twin Zenith-Stromberg carburettors replacing the triple SU HD8 installation, for emissions compliance. Cars for other markets kept the three SUs.
• Ribbed cam covers, twin cooling fans and adjustable seat backs.
• A hexagonal knock-off nut on wire wheels in place of the winged eared spinner, again a United States requirement for 1968 model year cars.

Complicating this, a number of late Series 1 cars were built with open headlights but were otherwise wholly to earlier Series 1 specification: three SU carburettors, push button starter, toggle switches, polished cam covers. These are sometimes called Series 1.25, which is a term of convenience and nothing more. How many were built is not established, and this archive will not guess. The point for an owner or a buyer is simple: on cars from 1967 and 1968 the headlights alone do not tell you what you are looking at. Check the carburettors, the switches and the cam covers, then check the chassis number.

Series 2

Series 2 4.2 chassis numbering opens in August 1968 with the 1R prefix, at 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 notes that some late cars built to United States specification and designated as 1971 model year carry a 2R prefix instead of 1R, from approximately 2R 13621 in May 1970 and 2R 27981 in April 1970. This is one of several reasons why calendar-year and model-year descriptions of Series 2 production do not line up, and why you will see the series described as ending in 1970 by some sources and 1971 by others. Both are defensible, and they are counting different things.

Beyond the exterior changes already listed, Series 2 moved the ignition switch to the steering column to accommodate a steering lock, adopted a collapsible steering column and new seats able to take head restraints, and offered air conditioning and power steering as factory options. United States cars ran the twin Zenith-Stromberg installation throughout.

Series 3, briefly

Series 3, from late 1970 onward with the 1S prefix, is a different car and outside the depth of this archive. It is easy to identify: the 5.3-litre V12, a cross-slatted front grille, flared wheel arches, wider tyres, four exhaust tips and a V12 badge at the rear. Both remaining body styles used the longer wheelbase, and there was no Series 3 short-wheelbase fixed-head coupe. Production ran to June 1974.

Common questions