The three official series, 1968 to 1971
Series 2
The first series Jaguar announced as a series. A larger front intake, open headlights set forward, wraparound rear bumper with the lights below it, and twin electric fans.
Specification
- Chassis numbering begins
- August 1968, 1R prefix
- Body styles
- Open two seater, fixed head coupe, 2+2
- Engine
- 4,235cc XK six
- Carburettors
- Three SU on most markets, twin Zenith Stromberg on North American cars
- Gearbox
- All synchromesh four speed, automatic available on the 2+2
- Cooling
- Twin electric fans and a revised radiator, with the enlarged intake to feed them
- Identifying points
- Enlarged mouth, forward set open headlights, side marker lights, indicators and tail lights below the bumper line, more curved 2+2 screen
Production
| Fixed head coupe | 4,855 | |
|---|---|---|
| Open two seater | 8,628 | |
| 2+2 | 5,326 | |
| Series 2 total | 18,809 |
This is the series where the published figures disagree most sharply. Robson gives 13,490 Series 2 cars of all types against the 18,809 above, a gap of more than five thousand cars, and the archive has found no primary Jaguar document that settles it. Treat any single Series 2 total with caution.
Series 2 answered problems the earlier cars had: cooling in traffic, brake feel, and a regulatory climate in the United States that was tightening every year. It is the least romanticised E-Type and, for a driver rather than a collector, often the most practical of the six cylinder cars.
The visual changes
- A much larger bonnet mouth, which is the quickest way to identify the series at a distance.
- Headlights moved forward and no longer recessed behind the wing line.
- A one piece wraparound rear bumper, with larger tail lights and indicators moved below it.
- Side marker lights front and rear, required for the United States market and fitted broadly.
Under the skin
Twin electric cooling fans and a revised radiator address the reputation the earlier cars had for climbing temperature in slow traffic. Brakes gained larger calipers, and the steering column and switchgear were revised again for occupant safety. Home market cars kept the three SU carburettors; North American cars received twin Zenith Strombergs with emissions equipment, which is the single largest difference in how two apparently identical Series 2 cars drive.
The 2+2 and the screen
The Series 2 2+2 received a more steeply raked and curved windscreen, which most observers regard as a considerable improvement to the proportions of the longer coupe. Automatic transmission remained a 2+2 option, and a Series 2 automatic 2+2 is a genuinely usable touring car rather than a compromise.
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.
- Production figures attributed to Graham Robson, widely reproduced, which divide the same cars differently from the per-body-style table.
- 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 .