In Fort Lauderdale circa 1987
Now British Racing Green & ready for restoration
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European Spec Items
Triple SU Carbs
European Lenses
Wing Knockoffs for Wire Wheels
Graves
Plating- Alabama
www.worlduph.com - interiors
Yes, I trailered this car from Ft. Laud to Charlotte when I moved in 1994, disassembled it, then back to Ft. Laud to get it painted a few years later. Then she was carted to the Smoky Mountains patiently awaiting reassembly in a warehouse in Bryson City for a 3 years. Now (2004) a handsome British Racing Green, the restoration is slowly in progress again !
Prior to 1993, the car was at British Sports Car Repairs and Florida Precision Systems in Ft Lauderdale for extensive metal work including replacement of the entire floor pan and inner and outer rocker panels. Anywhere there was a hint of rust, the surrounding area was cut out and new steel welded in.
..ajm
BY JESSE ALEXANDERThis is the most exciting sports car news of 1961. In late January, Jaguar Managing Director Sit William Lyons gave the go-ahead to plans to announce the XKE at New York's International Automobile Show. With countless miles of racing at Le Mans and road testing at England's MIRA proving ground, Jaguar is finally building a sports car directly descended from its competition experience. The 150-mph XKE will be available in closed or open form, both models powered by the 265 bhp, 3.8-liter XK six- cylinder engine. It will be no surprise to anyone if a team of XKE roadsters appears at Le Mans in June - in full-race trim.
At the moment, the Coventry factory is in an unusual and envious position among British car manufacturers. Bill Lyon's firm is practically the only one in the U.K. enjoying full production and an ever-increasing demand for its cars that is never quite able to meet. While larger English factories go onto two- and three-day weeks and management bends over backwards to keep labor happy, Jaguar production lines hum. Every effort is made to increase capacity. But the Jaguar story - the Bill Lyons Story - has always been like this, and he is now about to write one of the most exciting chapters of all.
Rumors about the XKE have been flying for months. When Briggs Cunningham entered one of the prototypes at Le Mans last year, tongues wagged even harder, and it was thought that its introduction was imminent. In actuality the Cunningham effort at Le Mans set the XKE announcement back several months, for this car that Briggs "borrowed" from the experimental shop was an important test vehicle, incorporating most of the features now introduced on the XKE. Driven by Walt Hansgen and Dan Gurney, it suffered from several weaknesses -mostly in the fuel handling department - and eventually succumbed to engine trouble associated with the fuel injection system on t he experimental engine. Its later experiences in the U.S., again driven by Walt Hansgen and entered by Briggs Cunningham, were no happier.
But the tale of the XKE begins not at Le Mans last year. It began with the racing D, the car with which British drivers (notably Mike Hawthorne) made history at Le Mans. With the D-Type, Jaguar began gathering pages of data that relate directly to the car being shown for the first time in New York this month. One might conveniently call the XKE a "production D", but this oversimplification doesn't really do the new Jaguar justice. The ill-fated XK-SS was that, and it was a very hairy-chested, almost-full-race machine, indeed. The XKE, on the other hand, is a tractable, comfortable, high-speed, sports-touring car.
Jaguar aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer (formerly with Bristol Aircraft) has outdone himself with the new XKE, a tribute to pure, near perfect form. It's not beautiful from every angle, but wonderfully efficient nevertheless, and he and his staff have created a sports car that even Stuttgart will stop and look at.
The shape of the 1960 Cunningham Le Mans car is the shape of the XKE, and Sayer told me that had the regulations for last year's race not specified a full-width windshield, it would have been the "cleanest" Jaguar yet. The test program for the new car included wind tunnels experiments, with scale models as well as full-size automobiles, and one test vehicle was put in the massive Farnborough tunnel.
This is the first production Jaguar to over full-independent rear suspension, a slightly modified arrangement of the layout used at Le Mans last year. Experiments over 21/2 years included de Dion suspension on a D-Type and swing axles on a small military vehicle, but severe breakaway encountered the rear led chief engineer Heynes to a dual-wishbone layout. The final step was the present setup, which uses the driving half-shaft as the upper "wishbone." The one-piece tubular lower wishbone is pivoted to the differential case and cast wheel carrier, while springing is accomplished by a pair of coil springs cum telescopic shock absorbers at both sides, fore and aft of the half-shafts. Positive hub location is guaranteed by pressed radius arms which extend forward from the outer ends of the lower wishbones to big rubber biscuit mounts on the floor pan, in a Mercedes-like manner. A torsion anti-roll bar is also supplied at the rear.Disc brakes are placed inboard at the rear on either side of the differential, which incorporates a Thornton "Powr-Lok" limited-slip unit. The two lower suspension arms plus the differential cases are rigidly mounted to a deep, double-sided steel cross beam, which in turn is flexibly attached to the body via rubber mountings.
The Cunningham Le Mans car did not have all of these refinements, lacking especially the radius arms which brace the lower suspension arms and prevent them from flexing forward under hard acceleration. This did happen on the Le Mans car, introducing unwanted toe-in. Though mechanically complex, the XKE layout should combine precise location with sufficient sound insulation from the unitized body structure.
Front suspension of the car is virtually D-Type, utilizing beautifully slim transverse wishbones and longitudinal torsion bars as well as telescopic shock absorbers. The XKE, however, has a high roll center, obtained through the adjustment of the wishbone pivot geometry. An anti-roll bar is also fitted. The Dunlop disc braking system on the XKE features two entirely separate systems for the front and rear discs--the failure of one circuit does not affect the other. The hand brake actuates separate pads on the rear discs. The fact that the power unit for the XKE is the normal 265-bhp 3.8-liter engine is not surprising. This and the gear box have been directly passed on from the XK 150S. Improved air silencing is the only important alteration to the engine, famous for its ruggedness and reliability plus ample power when called for. Fuel injection might be an option in the future, doubtless by Lucas, but no confirmation from the factory is at yet forthcoming.
In racing trim the XK engine has been giving well over 300 bhp and if Sir William should decide to enter an XKE or two at Le Mans this year, the full-race version of the powerplant would give the car most impressive performance. The Cunningham Le Mans Jag weighed about 1960 pounds dry, while the XKE scales 2464 pounds dry in roadster form and less than a hundred pounds more as a coupe. This is on the order of 800 pounds less than its predecessor, the XK 150S, an extremely impressive accomplishment.
The closed version of the XKE is an entirely new type of car for Jaguar, This fast-back coupe, with its large rear door, has generous amounts of room for both passengers and luggage. A lipped package tray folds down to increase the level area behind the two bucket seats. Underneath the rear floor the spare tire and tools are carried. Leg room forward is excellent, despite the large transmission tunnel. The distance from windshield cornerpost to cornerpost measures 48 inches, and Jaguar engineers are the first to specify three separate windshield wipers to keep this huge expanse of glass clean. From the bottom of the windshield forward to the front of the car is 76 inches, a deliciously long hood to look over. Overall length of the XKE is just over 14 1/2 feet, almost two feet longer than the D-Type. The two-place roadster has the same dimensions and only lacks the large luggage volume of the closed version. A removable hard-top will also be available for the convertible.Body construction of the XKE relates directly to experience with the D-Type, and I was interested to learn from Jaguar's Bill Heynes that this type of monocoque center body section is not especially difficult to fabricate on a larger scale. The fact that large panels are used makes it an easier structure to put together, and gives the car an extremely high degree of rigidity. This stiff central body assembly is welded to the brazed high-tensile-steel tubular forward structure onto which the engine and front suspension are mounted. The constructed this way in an effort to reduce the cost of repairs in a minor accident. Bodies will be made by England's Pressed Steel Corporation. An aluminum body for competition might be up Jaguar's sleeve for 1961 Le Mans race.
Jaguar has no intention of giving up racing or even showing a reduced interest in competition. They expect XKE owners to race their cars and are therefore offering three different rear axle ratios: 3.54, 3.31 and 2.93 to one. Standard will be the 3.31 ratio. Larger tires will also be an optional extra but there will be no overdrive or automatic transmission option on the XKE.
How fast is the new Jag? The speedo reads to 160 mph and test driver Norman Dewis has lapped the banked MIRA track at 150. Under the right conditions it would seem that it wouldn't be too difficult to get the needle close to its 160 mph maximum. From the aerodynamic standpoint, in fact, the car should be capable of no less than 180 mph, with 265 bhp and the right gearing, which would pretty effectively make it the world' s fastest series production car today, as the XK 120 was in its time. This is a point Jaguar may decide to prove to the world's fastest series production car today, as the XK 120 was in its time. This is a point Jaguar may decide to prove to the world's satisfaction by means of record runs in Belgium near the date of introduction.
Though speed like this is seldom usable on the road, it will mean Bill Heynes has accomplished what he set out to do with the XKE roadster: design and build a real sports car which can go from the road to an international race meet with only detail changes. The new Jaguar should fit beautifully into G.T. racing, which is definitely on the way in throughout the world. For enjoyable Grand Touring on the road, all the usual Jaguar luxuries are on hand. An indicator light signals low brake fluid level or that the hand. An indicator light signals low brake fluid level or that the hand brake's applied. Seventy-two-spoke wire wheels are standard fittings. The fan is driven by an electric motor, thermostatically controlled, and the interior heating system is unusually comprehensive. The side windows wind down, completely out of the way. The center of the dash, a handsome array of dials and toggles, folds open easily to expose its back for service. Interiors are upholstered in genuine leather, over Dunlopillow foam rubber cushioning. Dual mufflers on both sides of a dual exhaust system, tucked under the center of the car, provide sophisticated silencing without losing the six-cylinder sound for which Jaguar is famous.
The specs are sensational; that such a car could be engineered is remarkable. As usual, Jaguar adds a minor miracle by selling such a machine at an incredible price. The XKE is not expected to cost appreciably more than the XK 150S, top car of the series it completely replaces! This means we're talking about $5500. What did the XK 120 cost when it was fast introduced in the U.S., in 1948? No less than $4900. This fantastic growth in value, at practically the same price, is dramatic tribute to the policies of Jaguar's Sir William Lyons.