The 'E' Type Forum

Just taking a look at the XK data site and it mentions that 860005 was fitted by the factory with 16" wheels - has anybody heard of E fitted with 16's and what difference would they make to gearing and handling I wonder?

see below:

This car was professionally restored with total disassembly of every component and factory correct rebuild. We learned two interesting things. The very early cars had 16" wheels rather than spec 15" wheels because the factory had some XK wheels to use up. Being that this was a domestic delivery, the wheels were painted rather than chromed. The seats were roadster seats because the new FHC seats had not yet arrived when the first few cars were built. I learned this from an old Jag collector in England and it turned out to be true. This car was shipped to the US as a dealer show-car but was never titled until it was sold in 1967. Hence, it was titled as a 67. After the restoration it was sold to a wealthy collector in Japan though a deal brokered by Doc's Jags in 1988.

As far as we know all E-Type's had 15" wheels (see 9600 HP) because all of the testing was done with that specification. So another apocryphal tale that assumes Jaguar were a bunch of incompetents - "I learned this from an old Jag collector in England"

Fitting them would also screw up the speedometer calibration and cause a nightmare for service departments. There is nothing in any of the parts catalogues or bulletins that documents 16" wheel fitment.

That is a shame - I notice Dunlop produce a road legal Dunlop R5 but only in 16"...