‘Lofty’ England, who joined Jaguar as service manager in 1946 and succeeded Sir William Lyons as chairman and chief executive on the latter’s retirement in 1972. England held the post until 1974.
‘I had always liked the song of twelve cylinders.’
Enzo Ferrari in The Enzo Ferrari Memoirs
The Series III V12-engined E-type appeared in 1971 to meet two basic requirements: to prove the reliability of the new 5.3-litre power unit, prior to its fitment in the XJ12 saloon, and to prolong the life of a, by then, ageing sports car. Eventually a total of 14,983 examples of the V12-powered E-type would be built, which was about the same number as the original 3.8-litre cars, before the model ceased production in 1974.
Like the E-type itself, the origins of Jaguar’s V12 engine are rooted in the 1950s. However, its concept was diametrically opposed to that of the XK engine. Whereas the redoubtable six was conceived to power a saloon with a competition application as a secondary consideration, the V12 was designed essentially as a racing unit and then refined and simplified for road use. A V12 layout had been one of the options briefly considered when what was to become the XK engine was conceived during the war. Subsequently Jaguar engineer Tom Jones began the first brief drawings as early as 1951 though it was not until 1955 that work started in earnest on the project.
Although that year Jaguar had just won Le Mans for the third time, chief engineer Heynes was the first to recognise that, for competition purposes, the days of the six-cylinder XK engine were clearly numbered. One of the limiting factors of the six was that it had been designed during the war when a car’s road fund licence was payable on the RAC rating of its engine, and accordingly, the bore size of its cylinders. As it happened the reviled ‘horsepower tax’ was repealed and replaced by a flat rate from 1948.
Despite its abolition, the tax cast a long shadow and tended to distort engine configurations of British cars of the immediate post-war years when small bore/long stroke power units proliferated. In Jaguar’s case, the XK six had an 83×106mm bore and stroke. This resulted in a piston speed of 3,820ft per minute at 5,500rpm. In the words of Walter Hassan, one of the architects of the XK unit and who was to subsequently play a key role in the creation of the V12 used in the E-type, this figure ‘… was well within the requirements of that time. However, as time passed and racing took on a greater significance in Jaguar’s programme, crankshaft speed became a limiting factor in the engine’s performance, making a new design necessary.’
‘Lofty’ England, who joined Jaguar as service manager in 1946 and succeeded Sir William Lyons as chairman and chief executive on the latter’s retirement in 1972. England held the post until 1974.
Working under the direction of Heynes, Claude Baily, another member of the original XK trio, was responsible for the layout of the V12. It was clearly inspired by the success that Ferrari had made of the configuration. For just as William Lyons had produced a revolutionary power unit in the shape of the twin overhead camshaft XK engine in 1948, so from the previous year Enzo Ferrari had been unique amongst racing car constructors in perpetuating the V12 unit so successfully employed by Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union racing cars in the immediate pre-war years. In order to meet the requirements of the prototype class in racing, Jaguar opted for a 5-litre engine, and according to Hassan: ‘In order to provide the maximum potential in power, a 12-cylinder “Vee” configuration with a short stroke of 70mm was conceived to provide safe running at 8,000/8,500rpm.’
The 4,994cc oversquare 87mm bore, 60 degree V12 that resulted was effectively two 2.5-litre XK engines, accordingly with twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank, mounted on an aluminium block/crankcase unit. However, when Jaguar announced its withdrawal from racing in 1956, the V12 project was shelved. Then, in the early 1960s, interest in the 24-hour classic was revived and there were thoughts, once again, of competing at the Sarthe circuit.
A Series III E-type of 1974. This is one of the last fifty black-finished V12 roadsters made. Its chassis number is IS 2858.
The V12 ran for the first time in August 1964 when it developed 502bhp at 7,600rpm and the original idea was to enter at the 1965 Le Mans event though, in reality, work on a suitable car did not begin until that June. Derrick White, who had put in so much work on the development of the lightweight E-types, was responsible for the design of the car which, somewhat ominously, was titled XJ13, while Malcolm Sayer was responsible for the bodywork.
Formula 1 racing cars had become almost exclusively mid-engined from the 1961 season onwards and sports-racers had followed suit, noticeably on the Ford GT40 of 1964. It was to eventually break the Ferrari dominance of Le Mans by winning the event on no less than four occasions, from 1966 until 1969, and it is no surprise to find that White opted for this configuration, with the V12 unit mounted longitudinally behind the driver. A German ZF five-speed gearbox was fitted, the equivalent British-built Hewland unit only just having begun to prove its worth.
The body, of monocoque construction, was made of 18 gauge aluminum alloy sheeting. There was a double bulkhead at the front attached to two broad, deep sills; one carrying two of the car’s three flexible petrol tanks (the other was located in a boxed member below and behind the driver) and the other carrying the oil reservoir for the dry-sump engine. There was a stressed floor, and a second single bulkhead behind the driving compartment to which the V12 engine was attached. Suspension was all independent and related to that of the E-type, with forged wishbones at the front – though coil springs and dampers took the place of longitudinal torsion bars. At the rear, there were also E-type associations, with fixed length driveshafts forming the top wishbones but with single rather than double spring/dampers, lower A members and twin tubular trailing links on either side. Brakes were all round Dunlop discs, later changed to Girling ventilated ones, though, unlike the E-type with its inboard rear ones, on the XJ13 they were mounted outboard. When Derrick White departed for Cooper in 1965, his job was taken over by Mike Kimberley. The latter had joined Jaguar as an apprentice and subsequently left for Lotus in 1969. Today he is the firm’s chief executive.
As originally conceived, Jaguar’s V12 engine had twin overhead camshafts per cylinder bank. This 4.9-litre 60deg V12 has been prepared for display purposes and appears to be singularly tidy because it has yet to be fitted with its carburetters.
The XJ13 was completed in March 1966 though the car did not run at Le Mans in June and, in the following month, came news that Jaguar was to merge with the British Motor Corporation. As for the car, it was not tested until March of the following year, when it lapped MIRA’s banked test track at Lindley, Warwickshire at 161mph (259kph) and achieved 175mph (282kph) down the straights, which suggests that the reality was that the XJ13 did not come up to expectation as far as its top speed was concerned.
The 5.3-litre V12 engine, as it appeared in the Series III E-type in 1971. The single overhead camshafts are readily apparent as are the long inlet manifolds. The wishbone and torsion bar independent front-suspension and rack and pinion steering can also be seen.
This performance was later confirmed by subversive runs at Silverstone, secrecy being essential as news of what would inevitably been interpreted as a V12 E-type could have resulted in a dramatic falling off in sales of the six-cylinder model. But, in August 1967, it was decided to sideline the project.
The reality was that by then the car was no longer competitive. This was confirmed in 1973 by F R W ‘Lofty’ England, Jaguar’s former competition manager, who had taken over from Sir William Lyons as chief executive on the latter’s retirement in the previous year. England told Autocar: ‘By this time [1967] it was about two years out of date, the modern trend of doubling the width of the tyres had come in, and to have got anywhere with it, we would have had to do a lot of re-designing and re-building. Quite frankly, we did not have the time or the people to go into all that, and so we put it on one side.’ The XJ13 was thereafter relegated to a corner of the Jaguar experimental department though, as will become apparent, this was far from the end of the story.
‘Lofty’ England, who took over as Jaguar’s chief executive from Sir William Lyons in 1972, had to make the inevitable decision that the E-type cease production in 1974.
Born in Finchley England was educated at the local Christ College and served his engineering apprenticeship, from 1927 until 1932, at Daimler’s Hendon depot. A great motoring racing enthusiast, England became mechanic to Sir Henry Birkin and later served Whitney Straight in a similar capacity. He subsequently joined ERA and also maintained these British single-seaters for two celebrated racing drivers of the 1930s: Richard Seaman and ‘B Bira’, the Siamese Prince Birabongse Bhanuban.
In 1938, England moved to Coventry to join Alvis as a service engineer and later became service department superintendant. After war service as a pilot in the RAF during the war, where he regularly piloted Lancaster bombers on daylight bombing raids, he returned to Alvis. Through a long standing friendship with Wally Hassan, cemented during Brooklands days, he heard of a job at Jaguar, joined as service manager in 1946 and was promoted to service director ten years later. These were the famous Le Mans years for Jaguar and the lanky figure of ‘Lofty’ England can be seen in many an historic racing photograph when, from 1951, he acted as its celebrated racing manager.
In 1961 England was promoted to assistant managing director, became deputy managing director in 1966 and, from the following year, shared the firm’s joint managing directorship. When Sir William Lyons stepped down in his seventieth year, in March 1972, ‘Lofty’ England became Jaguar’s chief executive though this could only be an interim appointment, for he was sixty at the time. Since 1968 Jaguar had been part of British Leyland and, in the autumn of 1973, Lord Stokes appointed thirty-four year old Geofferey Robinson as managing director. England retired in 1974 but not before he had ordered that the ageing E-type cease production at the end of the year. Robinson resigned after the publication of the government’s ill-fated Ryder Report in 1975.
With former Jaguar development engineer, Walter Hassan, established at Coventry Climax from 1950–1966, some aspects of the XK engine were reflected in the firm’s racing units, and, conversely, Hassan’s researches at Widdrington Road, strongly influenced the design of the Jaguar V12 engine.
The firm’s origins date back to 1903 when H Pelham Lee, who had moved to Coventry to join Daimler as an ‘improver’, first built a car, the Lee-Stroyer, but soon switched to producing proprietory Coventry Simplex engines. In 1917, Lee changed the firm’s name to Coventry Climax. In 1937, it diversified into the production of fire pumps which were greatly in demand during World War II. The arrival in 1950 of Walter Hassan and Harry Mundy resulted in the appearance, in April 1951, of the advanced l,022cc FW (for Featherweight) aluminium fire pump engine. Hassan’s involvement in the creation of the XK Jaguar engine was reflected in its use of an overhead camshaft, as was its employment of a similar method of achieving the valve clearances by tappet cups and shims, an arrangement used on all the FW’s racing derivatives.
When Hassan moved to Browns Lane in 1966 to work, with Mundy, on the V12 Jaguar engine, the former drew on his experiences at Coventry Climax, by advocating a combustion chamber in piston layout with a completely flat cylinder head. It was a layout that had been successfully used by Rover (1963) and Ford (1965). A FWM 750cc engine, a derivative of the original FW unit, had been converted to diesel operation.
Testing showed that a petrol engine performed better with a flat, rather than wedge head, and, with a given fuel consumption, would accept a compression ratio of one number higher and also developed slightly more power. On the debit side was a heavier piston, though the flat deck head was cheaper to manufacture than the customary combustion chamber-in-head variety. It was successfully tested on the V12 and introduced in the Series III E-type in 1971.
In the meantime, two outstanding engineers had joined the Jaguar company. As mentioned in Chapter 3, in 1963 the firm had taken over Coventry Climax Engines, which specialised in the manufacture of stationary engines, fork lift trucks and fire pumps. It was this purchase which had brought Walter Hassan back into the corporate fold. Hassan, who had worked for both Bentley and ERA in pre-war days, had joined Jaguar from the Bristol Aeroplane Company during the Second World War. He remained there until 1950, when he moved to Coventry Climax as chief engineer. There, with Harry Mundy, he was responsible for the design of an impressive line of single overhead camshaft fire pump engines, which, from 1954, evolved into a series of competition units. Those above all powered the Coopers and Lotus which won the Constructors’ Cup on no less than four occasions. There were those who quipped that Lyons had bought Coventry Climax to once again secure Hassan’s services!
In the following year of 1964, Harry Mundy, an old friend and collaborator of Hassan’s, who had been technical editor of Autocar, became Jaguar’s chief development engineer. Another ERA veteran, Mundy had worked for BRM, where he had been head of the design office prior to joining Coventry Climax as chief designer in 1950. It was these two distinguished engineers who would ultimately be responsible for making the V12 engine a production reality.
By this time Jaguar had thoughts of developing two versions of its V12. The four cam unit, as used in the XJ13, might have powered a production sports car, plus a cheaper variant with single rather than twin cams. The firm had decided that a new saloon, coded XJ4, then under development and which emerged as the superlative XJ6 in 1968, was to be offered in V12-engined form as well as with the customary six-cylinder power unit.
The rear of the Series III model was essentially similar to that of the Series II’s though the car was 2.5in (63.5mm) wider.
Once again it was the demands of Jaguar’s all-important American market that dictated the V12’s configuration, which in that country between the wars had been employed to power such illustrious makes as Packard, Lincoln and, above all, Cadillac. After the success of Jaguar’s innovative twin overhead camshaft six-cylinder XK engine perhaps the next logical stage was a V8, but this was the transatlantic norm. So Jaguar opted for the smoothness and refinement of 12 cylinders, to which was coupled the allure of the configuration which had been greatly enhanced by Ferrari, a mystique which would also be underlined by the arrival of the new Lamborghini marque in 1963. By 1965 the 5-litre four camshaft Jaguar V12 was already being tested under the bonnets of a quartet of Mark X saloons.
But the reality was that the performance of the four cam V12, in Hassan’s opinion, left something to be desired. For although this 5-litre unit developed 500bhp, this accounted for no less than 100bhp per litre. When he had been at Coventry Climax, Hassan had been accustomed to an output of at least 120bhp per litre, which would have resulted in a V12 of at least 600bhp. As Hassan recounts in his autobiography: ‘There were, in addition, other puzzles. Not only was there a lack of top end power, there was also a lack of low speed and mid-range torque.’ For Hassan there were echoes of the V12 Lagonda engine of the 1930s ‘… which looked and sounded splendid, but it suffered from the same characteristics as this Jaguar’. But by the time that Hassan became involved with the V12, the concept of the sports version had been down-graded so the requirement of top end power became less, to be replaced by the need for plenty of low- and mid-range torque. It thus became essential for the noisy, peaky racing engine to become a smoothly refined unit.
One of the reasons for the shortcomings of the four cam V12, Hassan believed, was its inlet ports. Because there was very little room between the V of the 60 degree twelve, Heynes and Baily had opted for vertical ports located between the camshafts, with carburetters, or injectors, placed directly above the head. The four cam V12 also had hemispherical combustion chambers, similar to those used in the XK engine. But while he had been at Coventry Climax, Hassan had gained considerable experience of using a cylinder-head with a completely flat surface and Jaguar began experiments with single cylinder engines with comparative heads. ‘A spy in our workshops in the mid-1960s might have thought we intended to break into the high performance motor cycle market, for he would have noticed several water cooled singles throbbing away, and very few V12s.’
Walter (Wally) Hassan who, with Harry Mundy, saw the V12 Jaguar engine into production. Hassan was a formidable advocate of the ‘flat head’ single, as opposed to the twin cam head, which was the layout subsequently adopted.
This work culminated in the conclusion that the flat-headed engine was more suitable for the touring car than the hemispherical one. This was initially found to be puzzling but the reason was, Hassan felt, ‘… that whereas the XK was a long stroke design in all its most famous forms, the oversquare 2.4 and the near square 2.8-litre were never as satisfactory. My interpretation is that a hemispherical head is better when allied to a long stroke unit, and not so good for a short stroke layout, unless sheer maximum power is required.’
With flat cylinder-heads, and single as opposed to four camshafts, the V12 could be relied upon to provide smooth, consistent power up to 6,500rpm, although this was a little high for the Borg-Warner automatic transmission on the touring version. By contrast, the four cam unit, capable of reaching 7,000 to 8,000rpm, would have been unusable in this context on a road car.
On the other hand William Heynes and Claude Baily were keen advocates of the twin cam layout which was, of course, instantly identifiable with the Jaguar marque. But an internal costing on the respective capital investment for the two engines, inevitably showed that the simpler single cam V12 unit was cheaper, requiring £420,000, compared with £491,000 for the twin. When parts and labour were taken into consideration, this worked out at £24 per engine for the single cam, as opposed to close on £42 for the more complex twin. In addition, the single cam layout was a better proposition as far as the increasingly important consideration of emissions requirements were concerned.
‘Sir William took a neutral and, in my view, absolutely correct view about this: at the end of the day he wanted an engine of which he could be proud … one which would perform well, be ultra-refined and one which by its appearance would maintain an aura of the Jaguar image he had spent so many years building up’, says Hassan. Lyons drove both cars fitted, respectively, with the four cam head and the flat head single one. At a technical board meeting in 1968, the vote was taken which went in favour of the single cam head. ‘By this time it became clear that we could not afford to produce two types of engine … and this led to the demise of the twin cam cylinder head.’
So the single cam/flat head V12 was chosen for the XJ6 saloon though in 1968, William Heynes recommended that it should first be used to power the E-type, and this is what happened. There was an excellent precedent for this course of action, in that the XK engine was first used in the XK120 sports car of 1948, prior to its fitment in the big Mark VII saloon of two years later. The introduction of the V12 engine would also give the E-type a necessary boost because it would be ten years old in 1971. Although the idea was originally to offer the V12 as an option to the six-cylinder engine the reality was that emissions equipment had so stifled its output that its original 265bhp had fallen back to a mere 171bhp with the attendant dropping off of performance. By 1970 the top speed of the 4.2-litre E-type had slumped to around the 130mph (274khp) mark. Eventually just three six-cylinder Series III E-type would be built though otherwise the model would be exclusively V12-powered. It was hoped to launch the model in the Geneva Motor Show which opened on 11 March 1971, which is where the XJ13 came in.
The mid-engined, V12-powered XJ13 was completed by Jaguar in 1966 as a Le Mans contender but was never to run there due to a crash in 1971. It was superbly rebuilt and completed in 1973. It is shown here in its rejuvenated form, the flares on the wheelarches being the give-away!
Wally Hassan is one of Britain’s outstanding automobile engineers, whose distinguished career included no less than three spells with Jaguar. The most significant periods were between 1943 and 1950 when he played a key role in the creation of the firm’s famous XK engine, and the 1965–1972 era, when with Harry Mundy, they made the firm’s V12 engine, first used in the E-type, a production reality.
London-born Hassan was educated at what he described as, ‘a succession of schools’, and received his technical education at the Northern Polytechnic in Lower Holloway and the Hackney Institute of Engineering. In 1920 Hassan joined Bentley Motors and his career with the firm lasted until the Rolls-Royce takeover of 1931. Between then and 1936, he worked for Bentley’s former chairman, Woolf Barnato, and his name will forever be associated with that celebrated Brooklands car, the Barnato-Hassan Special of 1934. Hassan then moved to the newly established ERA concern at Bourne, Lincolnshire and, after two years in the experimental and racing department, he returned to his beloved Brooklands and Thomson and Taylor, where he supervised the supply of components for the creation of John Cobb’s land speed record Napier Railton of 1938.
It was in that year that he moved to SS Cars as chief development engineer though, early in 1941, he transferred to Bristol Aero Engines and carburetter development but he was back with SS at Foleshill in 1943. Together with Heynes and Claude Baily, they conceived the XK twin overhead camshaft engine that would power every Jaguar car between 1951 and 1971. In 1950 Hassan departed for Coventry Climax where he was subsequently responsible for no less than thirty different types of engines of which the most celebrated was the World Championship winning V8 of 1958–1964. Hassan returned to Jaguar in 1966 as Group Chief Engineer, Power Plant, and stayed on beyond his retirement age to see the V12 into production and retired, aged sixty-seven in April 1972.
The idea was to take a party of motoring journalists for a meal at a suitably rural hostelry and the proceedings would be interrupted by the far away roar of a V12 engine, which would get progressively closer and the hitherto unseen XJ13 would then burst forth from the surrounding forest, so dramatically announcing the new V12 power unit.
An intrinsic part of the plan was a promotional film of the car and, on Wednesday 20 January 1971, the XJ13 was taken to the MIRA circuit where with Jaguar’s test driver Norman Dewis at the wheel, it was filmed at speed. When this had been completed, Dewis was making a final lap when something happened to a rear wheel or tyre. The car went over the banking and was sprung against the retaining fence, whereupon it rolled back down the track and came to rest in the ploughed field in the centre of the circuit. Fortunately Dewis suffered little less than a stiff neck but it looked as though the car was a write-off. It was returned to Browns Lane and there it remained for a further two years.
Sir William Lyons had retired in his seventieth year in 1972 and his place was taken by ‘Lofty’ England. He decided to initiate a rebuild of the XJ13 as, on investigation, it was found that its all important centre section had not been badly damaged in the accident. And as luck would have it, Jaguar still had the body formers, which by chance had been stored outside a storeroom for obsolete components at Jaguar’s Radford factory. Had they remained inside they would have been scrapped, making the rejuvenation prohibitively expensive. They were returned to Abbey Panels, which had made the original body, and the work was completed in time for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July 1973. There England drove the car – which was the first that the British public knew of its existence. However, Australian enthusiasts had known of the XJ13 a good eighteen months previously because Wheels magazine had published details and a photograph of the car in February 1972 though it was incorrectly described as the ‘Secret F-type’! But, in many respects, the XJ13 marked the ending of a chapter in the Jaguar story. It was the last competition car to be built by the factory. Thereafter such work would be assigned to an outside contractor.
A close-up of the V12’s combined rear-light and flasher unit.
This side view of the V12 roadster clearly shows that the space between the back of the seats and the bodywork was amply filled by the lowered hood.
The Series III was the only E-type to be fitted with a grille over the air intake, while there was additional ducting below.
A close-up of the V12’s Dunlop pressed steel wheels. Originally, the Series III was fitted with SP Sport radial ply tubeless tyres from the same manufacturer.
The development, with Wally Hassan, of the V12 Jaguar engine represented the culmination of Harry Mundy’s impressive and varied engineering career, which embraced road and racing engines and technical journalism.
Born in the city of Coventry, he was educated at King Henry VIII public school and, in 1930, joined the Alvis company in Holyhead Road, where he served his engineering apprenticeship though he left in 1936 for ERA. Mundy worked for the firm until it ran into financial difficulties in 1939 and moved on to be senior designer at Morris Engines at Coventry.
During the 1939–1945 war, Mundy was an engineering officer and an acting Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force and, after hostilities, joined BRM, the spiritual successor of ERA, as head of the design office. There he was in the eye of the storm surrounding Peter Berthon’s controversial V16 Formula 1 engine. Dissatisfied by the problems at Bourne, Mundy contemplated joining Jaguar but, in 1950, was recruited by his friend Hassan (they had both known the Gray brothers who built ERA bodies) to become chief designer of Coventry Climax Engines. Working in tandem, the pair produced the highly successful FWA competition engine of 1954, which was to dominate small sports car racing in its day.
Mundy stayed at Widdrington Road until 1955, when he left to join The Autocar and became the magazine’s first technical editor. It was while at Dorset House that Harry found time to create what was to become the Lotus Twin Cam engine (originally conceived for the Facel Vega Facellia) though, in view of its success, cursed himself for having undertaken the commission for a fee rather than a royalty.
After nine years with Autocar, in 1964 the peppery Mundy was eventually lured back to the motor industry to become Jaguar’s Executive Director (Power Unit Design). Once again working in harness with his old friend and colleague Hassan, Jaguar’s V12 entered production in 1971. Mundy remained at Jaguar until his retirement in 1980.
| 1915 | Packard Twin Six, 6.9-litre, sv (USA) |
| 1927 | Daimler Double Six, 7.1-litre, slv (UK) |
| 1929 | Maybach Zeppelin, 7.9-litre, ohv (G) |
| 1930 | Cadillac Twelve, 6-litre, ohv (USA) |
| 1931 | Hispano-Suiza Type 68, 9.4-litre, ohv (F) |
| 1932 | Lincoln KB, 7.2-litre, hz (USA) |
| 1932 | Auburn Twelve, 6.2-litre, hz (USA) |
| 1935 | Lincoln Zephyr, 4.3-litre, sv (USA) |
| 1935 | Rolls-Royce Phantom 111, 7.3-litre, ohv (UK) |
| 1937 | Lagonda V12, 4.5-litre, sohc (UK) |
| 1947 | Ferrari 125 Sport, 1.5-litre, sohc (I) |
| 1964 | Lamborghini 350 GT, 3.5-litre, tohc (I) |
| 1971 | Jaguar E-type, 5.3-litre, sohc (UK) |
Key:
hz – horizontal valves
sohc – single overhead camshaft
ohv – overhead valve
sv – side valve
slv – sleeve valve
tohc – twin overhead camshafts
F – France
G – Germany
I – Italy
UK – United Kingdom
USA – United States of America
Totals by country:
USA – 5
United Kingdom – 4
Italy – 2
France – 1
Germany – 1
In view of the XJ13 catastrophe, the launch of the Series III E-type was switched to Palm Beach, underlining the fact that America was to be the model’s principal market. The event, held on 25 March 1971, was attended by Sir William Lyons, on what was to be a farewell journey to the United States. He was accompanied by one of the architects of the V12 engine, Harry Mundy.
Browns Lane, in the dark days of 1976. Pictured from left to right: Ronald Barker of Car Magazine, plant director Peter Craig, Harry Mundy, the author, Mrs George Lanchester and Rodney Walkerley, former sports editor of Motor.
As announced in Britain, the Series III V12-powered E-type was made in a single length of the 2 + 2’s 8ft 9in (2.67m) wheelbase and the open two-seater version was therefore discontinued. In roadster form the V12 cost £3,123 while the coupe sold for £3,369, which in both instances was £256 more than the equivalent Series III six-cylinder cars which were listed though, as already noted, not subsequently offered for public sale. The use of the 5.3-litre V12 pushed the car’s top speed up to 145mph (233kph) though the impedimenta of American de-toxing equipment meant that trans-Atlantic versions were only capable of about 135mph (217khp). In the case of the non-US cars, acceleration was a noticeable improvement on that of the six, with the latter capable of reaching that figure in 7.2 seconds while the V12 clipped this to 6.4 seconds though, once again, the Federalised version was actually slower at 7.4 seconds.
The layout of the Series III’s torsion bar independent front-suspension was essentially that of its predecessors though featured anti-dive geometry and ventilated discs. The inset shows the snail-type adjuster to vary the car’s ride height.
Externally, the V12 E-type was easily identifiable by its enlarged air intake, which was fitted with a chromed grille for the first time. New pressed steel painted wheels with chromed hub caps were fitted as standard though the more traditional wire wheels were also available at extra cost. They were also larger than hitherto, with 6in (152mm) rather than 5in (127mm) rims. Both the front and rear arches were flared to accommodate them.
All-important modifications were made to the E-type’s structure to accommodate the V12 though the basic monocoque tub/triangulated engine/suspension framework was perpetuated. In view of the fact that the new engine weighed 6801b (308kg), which was 801b (36kg) more than the six-cylinder XK unit, gusset plates were introduced to the framework at the junction of the upper tubes while a tubular tiebar was introduced beneath the engine. It was possible to reduce the turning circle of the steering from 42 to 36ft (13 to 11m).
The front track was also modestly increased, from 50 to 54.6in (1,270 to 1,387mm). Front-suspension was essentially unchanged, apart from the pivot line of the upper wishbone, which was realigned to create an anti-dive effect, and followed in the wheel tracks of the newly introduced XJ6 saloon. The upper wishbones received Slip-flex sealed for life bearings while snail cams replaced the vernier adjusters on the front torsion bars. At the rear of the car, the independent suspension remained essentially the same though the track was increased from 50 to 53in (1,270 to 1,346mm) with wishbones from the discontinued 420G fitted. More powerful brakes than hitherto were employed and were 11.18in (18mm) diameter ventilated discs and were a substantial 0.94in (2mm) thick. At the rear the inboard discs were enlarged to 10.38in (17mm) diameter. Jaguar also took the opportunity to introduce under body ductings to cool the differential; always an E-type bugbear. An enlarged petrol tank was fitted, which increased capacity from 14 (64) to 18 gallons (82 litres).
But the heart of the Series III E-type was of course, the 5.3-litre engine which was the only V12 of its day to be produced in volume and, in the first year, Jaguar planned to build 9,100 units. It was the first mass-produced V12 since the Lincoln Zephyr engine of the 1936–1948 era. Although in Italy both Ferrari and Lamborghini manufactured V12s these were relatively low production units. Jaguar spent £3 million on tooling-up its Radford factory to produce the new engine. No less than £850,000 were expended on three Archdale transfer machines for machining the alloy cylinder block while £700,000 went on a 42 station Huller transfer machines for equivalent head operations. Engine assembly was carried out on a 52 stage track and, after testing, they were then transferred to Browns Lane by lorry for installation into the E-type’s body. Unlike the six, which was introduced to the car from underneath, the V12 was fitted into the car from above.
The four cam 4,994cc racing engine had been limited to a capacity of 5 litres to permit it to run at Le Mans, but there were no such constraints for the road-going version and the bore size was accordingly upped from 87 to 90mm. The 70mm stroke was retained and this gave a capacity of 5,343cc. The massive crankcase was of LM25 manganese molybdenum with an open deck at the top with the cast-iron liners pushed, in the Italian manner, into deep spigots in the jacket floor. As will be recalled, Jaguar’s previous experience with aluminium XK blocks, as used on the lightweight cars, had not been particularly happy and the V12’s crankcase was extended 4in (102mm) below the centre line of the bearings to add to the rigidity on the case.
The substantial three plane crankshaft of EN 16T steel was unusual for a modern V12 in that it was a forging whereas in view of the relatively small numbers involved, its Ferrari and Laborghini contemporaries used shafts machined from a solid billet. It ran in seven main bearings and, while the engine was under development, there were fears that the engine would suffer from bearing rumble. So an alternative cast-iron crankcase was produced, which added 1161b (53kg) to the engine’s weight and, fortunately, such fears proved unfounded and it was not used. Each cylinder bank actuated its valves by a single overhead camshaft driven by a duplex chain, which was no less than 5.5ft (1.67m) long, running from a sprocket on the nose of the crankshaft. It also powered a jackshaft located in the middle of the V which, in turn, drove the distributor.
The Series III convertible with raised hood (top) or fitted with hard-top with the benefits of its large rear window readily apparent.
The Series III coupe (1972 model) in Moscow’s Red Square. The V12 E-type perpetuated the wheelbase of the earlier 2 + 2 model.
Since the early 1960s, racing engines had employed neoprene cogged belts to drive camshafts and ancillaries which were cheaper and quieter than traditional chains. In 1961, the German Glas company had introduced such a belt for the first time on an overhead camshaft engine of a road car. Fiat had followed in 1967 with its 124 Sport model, where such a belt was employed to drive the twin overhead camshafts on its four-cylinder engine. Jaguar, maybe sensing that it might be accused of being ultra con-versative by adopting chains on the V12, in the press pack it released with the engine’s announcement, posed the question: ‘Isn’t chain drive a little outdated?’ I can do no better than quote the reply, which mentioned that Jaguar had considerable experience of chain drive and pointed out that: ‘You can only use one side of a belt to drive most of your components whereas with a chain you can use both. Therefore, with a belt drive, you would need at least two belts to drive even the minimum number of components and, since quite a wide belt is needed to withstand the loads reliably, this form of drive would have increased the overall length of the engine by quite an amount. It’s long enough as it is!’
As far as the cylinder heads were concerned, these were aluminium with in-line valves though the inlet was larger at 1.625in (41mm) head diameter than the 1.375in (35mm) exhaust. Twin valves springs were fitted and the tappets and camshaft operated, in the Coventry Climax manner, in a separate tappet block. This permitted the shaft and tappet to be made from a material with good bearing properties and such a construction simplified the casting and machining of the heads themselves. Tappet clearances were by the usual Jaguar system of inserting shims between the valve stem and an inverted cup. The faces of the cylinder heads were completely flat, which greatly simplified and cheapened the production and machining processes. As a result the pistons contained the combustion chamber, which consisted of a shallow depression in the crown with a clearly defined periphery.
No less than four Zenith Stromberg 175 CD carburetters were fitted. It will be recalled that the racing four cam V12 had its carburetters mounted directly above the block. The single cam/flat head V12 was experimentally fitted with short inlet manifolds which conveniently fitted into the V but the engine would not produce enough low and medium torque with such an arrangement. Though the problem was resolved by the fitment of 11 in (279mm) long inlet tracts which provided a ram effect, less desirably, the side-mounted carburetters increased the width of the engine.
Initially a petrol injection system had been envisaged for the V12 and although a mechanical Lucas system, as used on some lightweight E-types, was tried this proved unable to meet all important emissions requirements. It was replaced by Brico Engineering’s electronic system, which seemed ideal and met the legislation. Unfortunately for Jaguar the Coventry company then decided not to put the system into production and conventional carburetters were fitted in its stead. This was particularly regrettable because the more efficient Brico system produced 30 to 40 more bhp than the carburetters that were eventually used. The V12 would be fuel injected, though not until 1975, when it was powering the XJ12 saloon but by that time the E-type had ceased production. A 9:1 compression ratio was employed, reduced from 10.6:1, for a cleaner exhaust.
When the four camshaft V12 engine was undergoing evaluation, problems were experienced with using two six-cylinder distributors and the V12 Jaguar engine was the first power unit to be fitted with Lucas’ new Oscillating Pick up System (OPUS) which had been initially developed for Formula 1 racing cars. This was a transistorised design which relied on magnetic impulses and, above all, dispensed with the hitherto conventional mechanical make and break arrangement. This once again helped the engine to meet American pollution legislation.
Those engines destined for the US market were fitted with an air injection system supplied by a pump, belt-driven off the nose of the crankshaft. The injector nozzles were located on the manifold side of the exhaust valves. To counter the problem of the rich mixture which could occur when the throttle was closed suddenly, an anti-backfire, or what the Americans called a gulp valve was employed, so called because it supplied a gulp of air to the inlet manifold which enabled the mixture in the combustion chambers to burn more completely.
Jaguar quoted a figure of 272bhp at 5,800rpm as the output for the 5.3-litre V12, which compared with 265bhp at 5,400rpm for the 4.2-litre XK engine. However, the V12’s figure related to the more stringent Deutsche Industry Norm (DIN) formula. If the earlier, and more lenient, SAE rating had been applied, the V12’s output would have been quoted at 317bhp at 6,200rpm.
Because of the 2 + 2’s longer wheelbase, it became possible to offer automatic transmission for the first time on an E-type roadster. This was a 12J Borg-Warner unit and essentially an uprated version of the gearbox offered on the XJ6 saloon. It was used in conjunction with higher ratios than the 3.31:1 norm, 3.07:1 on cars for the British market and 3.31 on the American one. The manual gearbox was the standard all-synchromesh unit used on the 4.2-litre six since 1964 and conceived at the time with the V12 in mind. However, the V12 has a 10.5in (266mm) diameter clutch rather than a 9.5in (241mm) unit.
In view of the fact that the V12 engine was somewhat heavier than the six-cylinder XK unit, power steering was employed as standard on the Series III, the Adwest system being fitted with the latest collapsible energy-absorbing steering column as demanded by American safety legislation. The use of power steering allowed a smaller steering-wheel than was hitherto possible, thereby increasing the driver’s leg room. So out went the traditional wood-rimmed wheel to be replaced by a leather-covered one with the usual satin-finished alloy spokes.
Inside, the coupe version was little changed from its Series II predecessor, though there were some detail changes mostly associated with improving the accommodation. The floor was redesigned and accordingly lowered, taking it to the level of the Series II footwells. On the coupe, changes to the seat mechanism resulted in more foot room for the rear passengers though this still meant children. The longer wheelbase of the roadster meant additional space behind the front seats, which permitted the introduction of a luggage platform behind the seats incorporating a luggage bin.
The concept of exposed headlamps, introduced on the Series I½ E-type, was continued on its V12-powered successor. Quartz halogen lamps were also available at extra cost.
| Make/model | Top speed | Price |
| AC 428 | 140mph (225kph) | £ 7,575 |
| Aston Martin DBS V8 | 145mph (233kph) | £ 5,501 |
| Bristol 411 | 135mph (217kph) | £ 7,872 |
| Chevrolet Corvette | 120mph (193kph) | £ 5,094 |
| Ferrari 365GT 2 + 2 | 150mph (241kph) | £ 9,141 |
| Jaguar Series III E-type open two-seater | 146mph (234kph) | £ 3,123 |
| Jaguar Series III E-type fixed-head coupe | 142mph (228kph) | £ 3,369 |
| Lamborghini Miura | 170mph (273kph) | £10,860 |
| Maserati Indy | 155mph (249kph) | £ 8,190 |
| Porsche 911 | 125mph (201kph) | £ 3,671 |
But how was the Series III E-type received by the motoring press of the day and how did it compare with its six-cylinder predecessor? In its issue of 27 November 1971 Motor published its findings on a V12-powered roadster, registration number VKV 881J, fitted with a factory hard-top.
| ROAD TEST Jaguar E-type V12 |
| Reproduced from Motor 27 November 1971 |
Our test car … managed 146 mph a shade slower all out than the original 3.8 XK. In terms of power/weight, though, the V12 is the quickest E-type yet, reaching 100 mph in just 15.4 sec compared with 17.2 of the 4.2 coupe…
Nor is the E-type now the sports car it used to be – other purpose-built machines can corner faster and handle more entertainingly though they are mostly more expensive. But if not beyond criticism it is still in a class of its own for sheer performance and value for money.
The starter needs to turn the V12 over several times before sufficient petrol/air has found its way down the long induction pipes to fire; the choke can almost immediately be pushed from the full to the halfway position and it doesn’t need much time for the running temperature to be reached. The warm-up period is untemperamental and stammer-free.
With most V12s one is very conscious of the term ‘on song’ – both aurally and with reference to the camshaft. The Jaguar V12 unit needs no such euphemism. It develops over 250lb. ft. of torque from 1300–5700 rpm peaking at 304lb. ft. at 3600 rpm, so its top gear performance is really remarkable; it gives a steady surge of power all the way with no suggestion of getting on the cam – it never gets off it and will pull evenly from under 500 rpm with an almost automatic transmission quality. In fact a close inspection of the figures shows the best top gear pull from 40—80 mph where each 10 mph step takes 2.8 seconds; in third gear the best period is from 40.70 mph each 10 mph taking just 1.8 seconds. So there is some evidence of getting on the step but subjectively the pull feels even from 20 to 120 mph.
With such torque there is little need to wind the engine up in the gears but if you need to hang onto a gear during overtaking, the red line occurs at 6500 rpm – valve crash is apparent at 7850 rpm. From tickover to around 5000 rpm the engine is virtually inaudible – wind-rush around the hardtop drowns most of the top-end noise – but beyond 5000 rpm you can begin to hear a smooth purr, changing to a harsher more mechanical sound over 6000. It is very well insulated from the cockpit and the engine seems completely vibration free. Most of us would have liked a more obvious V12 sound from the four tail pipes.
This 1971 Series III V12-powered E-type is instantly identifiable by the combination of flared wheelarches and disc – as opposed to wire – wheels, though the latter were available at extra cost. This is the convertible fitted with the optional black glass fibre hard-top, and its own ventilation outlet.
Although the outright maximum speed is down on that of the old 4.2, the standing start accelerations are much better. The maximum varies as the cube root of power, while acceleration, until drag takes charge, is a straight function of power to weight, and in that the V12 is significantly superior. Leaving black trails on the start line, the V12 reaches 50 mph in 4.7 seconds, 100 mph in 15.4 and 120 mph in 25.8 compared with 4.8, 17.2 and 25.2sec for the old 4.2 showing where the extra drag begins to affect the V12. At 14.5 mpg the fuel consumption is heavy; it seemed to make little difference whether the car was driven at home or abroad.
Local driving and hard acceleration returned much the same 15 mpg as continuous 100 mph cruising on French autoroutes; it wasn’t till the maximum speed testing and faster return journey with 115 mph cruising that the consumption dropped to 13 mpg. With this sort of running the maximum range of the 18 gallon [81 litres] tank is only just over 200 miles or two hours’ worth. Although it suffered a little running-on with French Super fuel, the equivalent 4-star fuel in Britain produced no trouble.
With such massive torque on tap the gearbox is almost unnecessary for normal driving. Even in top gear the overtaking potential is enormous. Even so, a lower gear means less time on the wrong side of the road, so one can still finish up using the gearbox just like a Mini-dicer. It responds pretty well to such treatment. It is a quite firm change with powerful synchromesh and you have to concentrate to make gear swaps smooth. There is a lot of friction in a big V12 and as the ‘flywheel effect’ is pretty small, the revs drop quite quickly in neutral; guaranteed smoothness was achieved with a rapid double declutch on up changes but the change wasn’t that much slower if one deliberately feathered the throttle during a single clutch movement. At 45lb. the clutch is heavy but the angle of attack is not good so the effort required is not uncomfortably high.
The gear ratios themselves would do credit to any hot Mini; first is low enough for a contemptuous take-off on a 1 in 3 hill but still good for 55 mph. Second at 6500 rpm takes you to 84 mph and third was something of a luxury in this country, second to top or even first to top were frequent ratio paths without detracting from satisfaction or smoothness. Abroad third gear was a splendid overtaking ratio used frequently on motorways just for the pleasure of the instant surge of power.
Our test car was fitted with the optional 3.07 final drive ratio (the standard one is 3.3), sacrificing a little all-out acceleration for even more long-legged cruising on Continental motorways. A five-speed box would be nice though hardly necessary. Like the gearbox, the limited slip differential incorporated in the final drive was quiet.
The E-type used to be a classic sports car, but as the mid-engined sports racer has developed and certain specialist production cars have followed suit, the appeal of the E has changed; its character has softened. Wheels and tyres sizes have increased considerably too, so the steering effort is much greater than on the old 185–15 tyres; which explains why power steering is not only necessary but part of the car’s new character.
E-steering is heavier than XJ6-steering but in our view it is still much too light for a set-up which is so responsive. Making it heavier would not only allow some feel to sense changing adhesion at the front end but also make the car easier to place accurately when correcting any tail slide.
With its improved roadholding the E can still out corner an earlier model but it is difficult to get the ultimate from the chassis. Its characteristics are mostly rail-like cornering with understeer which can be overcome on tighter corners with power, although the limited slip differential keeps the back well under control. At high speeds it runs true but twitches a little at the front in strong side winds – not sufficiently to slow you down particularly, just keeps you alert. Bumps didn’t upset its directional stability.
With the Series 3 came anti-dive braking and ventilated front discs. Powerful assistance means that only 60lb. is needed for a lg stop and we were quite happy with their general feel – we don’t cane brakes in normal motoring although engine braking with a high geared slippery-bodied E-type is not very strong. Our fade tests with 20½g stops from 93 mph at one-minute intervals produced some smell and occasional smoke as the car came to rest but didn’t require increased pedal pressure. We got the impression that a rapid Alpine descent might fade them but for normal quick motoring they are quite adequate. The handbrake needed adjustment to hold the car both up and down on a 1 in 3 but it still gave 0.34g from 30 mph.
Over the years it has frequently been cars with sporting pretensions that have set new ride standards thanks largely to a full understanding of independent suspension systems.
This 1974 V12 is fitted with a manual gearbox, as opposed to the automatic transmission which was a popular option on the Series III.
The E-type has always taken wavy surfaces very smoothly – and still does. With little potential weight variation, spring and damper settings don’t have to be the compromise that they are in saloons so the E-type can be set fairly taut without getting wallowy when laden with passenger and luggage. On broken surfaces it is a bit rattly although much of this on our car came from the hood folded up behind the front seats. When it is pressed to its limit on corners some roll is evident from the outside but it isn’t noticeable inside.
Head-restraints were often fitted as standard on export V12s, though they were an optional extra on British-sold examples.
To use high cornering power you need very good seat location, otherwise you finish up by hanging onto the steering wheel. This is particularly true of a car with power steering which offers little bracing resistance. The comfortable seats provide some sideways location but they could do with still more which could be provided without upsetting access. Leather upholstery doesn’t assist grip very much either. Unfortunately there isn’t room for a clutch footrest so you tend to dip your foot underneath the pedal. A hypercritical observation, perhaps, but we feel a decent rest would make fast driving that much easier.
The longer wheelbase has allowed a much greater range of useful seat adjustment; our tame 6ft. 5in. road-tester found there was plenty of room for him to sit comfortably with enough headroom even though the seat is set quite high to allow lesser mortals to see over the bonnet. The steering column is adjustable through a useful range, although it still leaves the indicator/flasher stalk behind and sometimes out of fingertip reach. Apart from the proximity of the clutch pedal to the tunnel the other two pedals are well spaced for conventional heel-and-toe use.
The convertible is understandably noisier at speed than the quiet coupe. At 80 mph there is a little wind noise round the hardtop, more with the soft-top, but as speed increases to the comfortable autoroute cruising gait of 110–115 mph, wind rush begins to drown the radio. By sports car standards it is average.
In 1972 the E-type acquired a much needed fresh air ventilation system. Ducting was introduced on both sides of the car, the facility being regulated by pull/push controls.
At most speeds the engine in top gear is quite inaudible and it isn’t until you get over the 100 mph mark that you begin to notice it, which all adds to the deceptive quality of E-type progress. One never hears the exhaust note unfortunately, unless you have the hood down and are driving between walls.
Jaguar heating/ventilation was never good until the XJ6 came along; only some of this knowledge has been passed on to the Series 3 E-type. There’s still no face-level ventilation but the two in/out controls for temperature and air volume and the two separate direction controls for passenger and driver can provide a pleasant atmosphere whatever the ambient conditions without too much fiddly adjustment though the levers themselves are extremely small and difficult to manipulate. The hardtop incorporates its own outlet vents which boosts the throughput against previous E-type.
A full wraparound screen at the rear of the hardtop gives very good over-the-shoulder visibility and slim front pillars add to the general feeling of airiness. With the soft top the clear panel isn’t quite as large but the hood doesn’t get in the way at angled junctions.
With its origins in pre-war Jaguars, the facia is still as open to criticism as before. The smaller dials are scattered away to the left and only get the occasional glance while the fuel gauge is hidden by the left hand. A battery of four switches on each side of the side/head pair in the centre look impressive but are hard to find without looking. You need to remember the order of switches from the centre to grope accurately. A right-hand facia dipswitch is another inconvenience. Driving along a wet twisty road on a misty night smoking a cigarette, the ash gets everywhere but in the awkwardly placed ashtray at the rear of the central console. You need the right hand for dipping the impressive lights to their indifferent dip and for holding the cigarette every now and then while the left hand changes gear, stabs for the wiper switch for an occasional flick while the adjacent finger prods the washer switch. British Leyland’s own Marina is far better in this respect.
The optional hardtop is held on by three overcentre clips across the screen top and a bolt behind each seat, so it is a two-man job to remove it. The soft top is permanently in place and folds down, enclosed in a neat hoodbag into the well behind. You can still get some luggage underneath this, but if you ever need to transport, say, a carry-cot you need the soft top up when there is quite a useful platform behind; we even carried a third adult on that shelf with the passenger’s seat forward. The boot itself is fairly shallow, as the spare wheel is in a well underneath, together with tool kit and wheelchanging equipment. We managed to get 3.8 cu.ft. of our luggage inside which is just about enough for an economical grand tour if you use the space behind the seats. A glove locker and a parcel shelf (useful on the passenger side only) supplement the spaces.
The facia is padded top and bottom and the cover is attractive non reflecting PVC; a rubber strip is stitched to the carpet for passenger and driver heels…
JAGUAR E-TYPE SERIES III SPECIFICATION
PRODUCTION 1971–1973 (Fixed-Head Coupe), 1971–1975 (Roadster)
ENGINE
| Block material | Aluminium alloy |
| Head material | Aluminium alloy |
| Cylinders | 60 degree V12 |
| Cooling | Water |
| Bore and stroke | 90×70mm |
| Capacity | 5,343cc |
| Main bearings | 7 |
| Valves | 2 per cylinder; sohc per cylinder bank |
| Compression ratio | 9:1 |
| Carburetters | 4 Zenith 175 CD SE |
| Max power (net) | 272bhp @ 5,850rpm |
| Max torque | 3041b ft 3,600rpm |
TRANSMISSION
| Clutch: | Single dry plate, hydraulically operated. |
| Type: | Four speed synchromesh (optional Borg-Warner 12J three speed automatic). |
| OVERALL GEAR RATIOS | AUTOMATIC | |
| Top | 3.07 | 3.1 |
| 3rd | 4.27 | |
| 2nd | 5.86 | 4.80 |
| 1st | 9.00 | 7.93 |
| Reverse | 10.37 | |
| Final drive | Salisbury hypoid, Powr-Lok limited slip differential 3.31:1 (automatic 3.07:1). | |
SUSPENSION AND STEERING
| Front: | Independent, double wishbones incorporating anti-dive geometry longitudinal torsion bars, telescopic dampers, anti-roll bar. |
| Rear: | Independent, with lower tubular links and fixed length drive shafts for transverse location, longitudinal location by radius arms. Two coil springs and telescopic dampers each side, anti-roll bar. |
| Steering: | Adwest power assisted rack and pinion. |
| Tyres: | Dunlop SP Sport. |
| Wheels: | Dunlop pressed steel. |
| Rim Size: | 6in. |
BRAKES
| Type: | Girling discs front and rear with Lockheed vacuum servo assistance. |
| Size: | Front ventilated 11.18in; Rear 10.38in. |
DIMENSIONS (in/mm)
| Track Front: |
54.3/1,379 |
| Rear: | 53.3/1,353 |
| Wheelbase: | 105/2,667 |
| Overall length: | 184.4/4,785 |
| Overall width: | 66.1/1,678 |
| Overall height: | 51.4/1,305 |
| Ground clearance: | 5.4/137 |
| Unladen weight: | 28.8cwt/1,454kg |
| Front/Rear weight | |
| distribution: | 52/48 |
| MAXIMUM SPEEDS | ||
| mph | kph | |
| Mean of opposite runs | 146 | 235 |
| Best one-way kilometre | 149 | 240 |
| 3rd gear | 116 | 187 |
| 2nd gear | 84 | 135 |
| 1st gear | 55 | 89 |
| ACCELERATION TIMES | ||
| mph | Sec | |
| 0–30 | 2.7 | |
| 0–40 | 3.5 | |
| 0–50 | 4.7 | |
| 0–60 | 6.4 | |
| 0–70 | 8.0 | |
| 0–80 | 9.9 | |
| 0–90 | 12.7 | |
| 0–100 | 15.4 | |
| 0–110 | 19.3 | |
| 0–120 | 25.8 | |
| Standing quarter mile | 14.2 | |
| Standing kilometre | 26.1 | |
Motor’s criticism of the V12 heating and ventilation system were to some extent answered at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show, when a supplementary fresh air ventilation system was introduced to the Series III. Air was fed from two small intakes introduced either side of the radiator grille. It passed up rectangular tubing in the engine compartment and then transferred to a flexible duct alongside each footwell and entered the car via a mushroom nozzle. A pull/push knob under the facia regulated the flow.
Simultaneously Kangol inertia reel seat belts were standardised on the coupe and concealed behind the rear trim. This dispensed with the earlier sill mounted units and made the tailgate release somewhat easier to operate.
The only mass-produced V12 engine of its day being assembled at Jaguar’s Radford factory. The former Daimler works had been extensively re-equipped to cater for the manufacture of the new engine.
The V12’s cockpit. Note the final departure of the wood-rimmed steering-wheel. The all-important plaque signed by Sir William Lyons – indicating the car’s special status as one of the last fifty roadsters – can be seen on the lid of the glove compartment.
So how did the V12 E-type sell during its three and a half year production life? In 1972, the first full year of output, just 3,705 cars, 1,711 roadsters and 1,994 coupes were built. This compared with 9,948 six-cylinder cars made in 1969. Inevitably the vast majority of cars were sent to America, with 2,321 Series III E-types exported in 1972, which adversely contrasted with no less than 7,456 six-cylinder cars sent across the Atlantic in the heady days of 1969.
Although 4,686 Series IIIs left Browns Lane in 1973, the sands were running out for the V12. There were more stringent American safety regulations pending for 1976, for its boot mounted petrol tank would not have have met a 30mph (48kph) rearward barrier crash test. Also, by 1973, the reality was that transatlantic demand for the model had virtually ceased. An undoubted factor was that, although the US designated cars were offered with the option of air conditioning, there was insufficient space under the V12’s bonnet to fit a really efficient system. The 2 + 2 ceased production in October 1973, the knock-out blow having been dealt by yet more American legislation, which required that from 1974, coupes be fitted with an internal roll-over bar. But the roadster, which continued, also suffered because the 1974 American designated cars had to be fitted with ungainly rubber bumper overriders to meet increasingly safety orientated laws. These extremities, and their associated metalwork, also added undesirably to the car’s weight and immediately detracted from the E-type’s ageing but still impressive lines.
When the E-type was due to be discontinued, the model was removed from the main production line to a small track at Browns Lane. This is the last car, a Series III roadster, body number 4S 8989. Note that at this stage it was fitted with spoked wheels at the front.
If this was not enough, the Arab/Israeli war had broken out in October 1973 and with it came a downturn in the world economy and a spiralling of oil prices. In 1974 E-type output slumped to a mere 2,759 cars and one of ‘Lofty’ England’s last decisions, before his retirement as Jaguar’s chairman in January 1974, was to cancel the by then outdated and unfashionably thirsty model. The roadster therefore ceased production in the week ending 14 September 1974, making a total of 14,983 V12s built, almost evenly split between 7,975 roadsters and 7,008 coupes. This brought the total of all E-types manufactured to 72,233, produced over a thirteen year production span.
The E-type bows out. The last car receives its engine, number 7S 17201 SA. There are rear disc wheels and these were subsequently fitted all round, as the photograph of the completed car, on page 26, shows.
In view of the fact that there was still a considerable number of E-types in dealers’ showrooms, news of the model’s impending demise was not made public until February 1975. The last fifty right-hand drive cars, from chassis number IS 2823, appropriately black finished, (though the last but one had dark green bodywork to the special order of American Jaguar enthusiast Robert Danny) and sported chromium plated spoked wheels. They were offered at £3,812, which was only £69 more than the production roadster. Each had a dashboard plaque, bearing its number and a facsimile signature of the by then retired Sir William Lyons. Although many went abroad, the reality was that in Britain the shadow of the depression meant that those cars retained for home sale were to linger in the showrooms for many months and were even on offer for the knock down price of £3,500, showing that the firm’s decision to cancel the thirteen-year-old car had been a correct one. However, Jaguar retained the very last car, chassis number IS 2872, for its own collection of historic vehicles.
Seven months later, in September 1975, the Coventry company unveiled its new V12-powered XJ-S Grand Touring coupe, which at £8,900 was the most expensive Jaguar ever and over twice the price of the E-type. But was it the right car and should the firm have replaced the E with the much anticipated F-type sports car?
