Interim and enthusiast terms, 1967 to 1968
Series 1.5
The interim cars built for the 1968 model year, with open headlights on an otherwise Series 1 body. An enthusiast term in settled use, not a Jaguar designation.
Specification
- Built
- From around August 1967 for the 1968 model year
- Factory status
- Recorded by Jaguar as late Series 1 4.2 production
- Body styles
- Open two seater, fixed head coupe and 2+2
- Engine
- 4,235cc XK six
- Carburettors
- Three SU on most home market cars, twin Zenith Stromberg on many North American cars
- Gearbox
- All synchromesh four speed, automatic available on the 2+2
- Identifying points
- Open headlights without glass covers, rocker switches in place of toggles, padded switchgear, lights still above the bumper line
Production
| Series 1.5 total | 6,726 | 1,942 coupes, 2,801 roadsters, 1,983 2+2s |
|---|
That figure comes from the per-body-style table, which treats the interim cars as a separate group. Jaguar's own records do not, so any total drawn from factory sources will fold these cars into Series 1 4.2 production. Two tables can therefore both be right and still disagree.
Series 1.5 is a useful term for a real group of cars and a designation Jaguar never issued. The cars exist because United States federal safety and emissions rulemaking arrived faster than a new model could, so Jaguar changed what it had to change and kept building.
What actually changed
- Headlight covers deleted, leaving exposed lights in the Series 1 nose.
- Toggle switches replaced by rockers, and switchgear padded, in response to interior safety rules.
- Twin Zenith Stromberg carburettors on many cars sold into North America, in place of the triple SUs.
- A variety of detail changes to seats, mirrors and trim which do not appear consistently across all cars.
Why the definition is loose
Because the changes were made as parts and rules allowed rather than at one clean cut, cars exist with some of the 1.5 features and not others. A car with covers deleted and toggle switches retained is not a contradiction; it is simply where that shell sat in the sequence. Identify a car by its chassis number and its Heritage Trust record, and treat the label as shorthand.
Living with one
Mechanically these are 4.2 Series 1 cars, so they share the better gearbox, alternator and seats. Owners of Stromberg cars often note poorer driveability than the triple SU set-up, and conversion back to SUs is common. That conversion is a change from original specification, and it should be declared honestly when a car is described.
Sources
- Per-body-style production table reproduced in the Wikipedia Jaguar E-Type article, used here as the archive's secondary breakdown and cited as such.
- Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust research guide to E-Type chassis numbering and build dates.
- xkedata.com, for chassis number ranges and build-record detail.
Last reviewed .