FACTORY FIT - Series 1 4.2

[Heuer]

Earliest car I can find with the curved '3' knob is 1E13599 (about March 1967):


1E13556 has the flat top '3':


One other difference between the two versions is that the earlier one has much deeper engraving whilst the later one is much shallower and prone to wearing the markings away.

I will consolidate all this info into one post and delete the rest. If you have more photos and car numbers please let me know.

[Maikel]

Back to the topic,


I still think that the center model on my picture can possibly be an original intermediate as the same design came with my 1E34052 a late December car. Still very heavy, almost same diameter and also non magnetic.

Does anybody know about a supplier change at any point in the past.

We need more other '66 cars in here please.

[Heuer]

We don't even know who the original supplier was let alone any others. Likely suspects are Lucas and Streetly Manufacturing Co. although there are none represented in any of the Lucas catalogues I have. Bear in mind almost every vehicle produced in that era had similar knobs (Jaguar, MG, Aston, Ford, Austin Healey, Rootes, Mini etc etc) so it would have been big business.

The middle knob in your display is a poor reproduction as evidenced by the squished characters. Current reproductions are excellent copies of the first iteration knob although I have not come across any copies of the second iteration one. It would be helpful to have measurements of an original 4.2 flat '3' knob.

[Heuer]

Guido Cipriani has been in touch with the following observations:

"Hi David,

The following doesn’t address your immediate question about original knob changes by date, but it might be of passing interest.

The attached first 2 photos (“Knob.1” and “Knob.2”) show a knob that I believe is original (left-hand side) next to a repro. (The white lettering on this “original” knob is not the original paint, which was completely gone when I bought it, but rather Wite Out correction fluid that I used to “restore” it -- a great trick that I picked up on the J-L forum.)



I have no history on this knob. My basis for believing it to be original is solely that it is has the correct dimensions: ~1.67'' diameter and ~8.0 oz weight using a ruler and a kitchen scale. Also, the core is non-magnetic (v.s. my repro’s magnetic core). And of course it screws on perfectly. Do you see any reason to question that this is an (E-Type) original?

Separately, I wonder whether another feature distinguishing an original knob from a repro might be that the original knob’s base tapers slightly at the point where it meets the round knob -- see photo “Knob.3,” showing again the original on the left and the repro on the right, whose base stays perfectly straight through to where it joins the ball. Is this a general distinguishing feature between an original and a repro, or might this be just one that my particular knob happens to have?


Regards,

Guido"


This is another original showing the base detail:

[Philk]

A useful detailed video of a 8,000 mile "barn find" 1965 4.2 E-Type OTS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71D4p6ngcfE

What immediately caught my eye was the black air filter canister notwithstanding its October 1965 build date (as per XKEdata).

The car was then cleaned up and many photos put on XKEdata.

http://www.xkedata.com/cars/detail/?car=1E11687

[Philippe-J.]

Sometimes strange discoveries wait at the corner of a restauration. In the case of my feb. 67' OTS, I found a mysterious scribe under the paint of the bonnet, engraved by a finger in the red oxyde on the inner side of the center panel, between the louvers:



If you zoom in you can read "MALES 2":



I can't imagine that's my imagination. Although I don't know if the car was repainted in the past (but it wears the original ODG color) I asked the JDHT if they were aware of such humorous practice at Jaguar factory of the time. The answer was polite but somewhat stiffly: "no such behavior would ever occur at Jaguar".

Of course I had no way to keep this hidden message as I had to fully protect the metal. Only these photos keep the memory of it.

Did anyone discover such funny markings on their cars? Any idea about the meaning of "MALES 2" ?