Earlier this month I ended up with a day to kill in UK. I decided to take fast train to Birmingham and take a tour of Jaguar's Castle Bromwich factory where they make F-types. Once they found I have F-type, they assigned a dedicated tour guide to me. That gentlemen happened to be a retired production line engineer who was very knowledgeable about everything F-type. My only regret is that they didn't allow to take pictures.

Some interesting observations:

1. Lots of SVRs on the line, out of 60ish cars at least half were SVRs
2. Accidentally (?) seen a special SVR coming off the production line that I wasn't supposed to see, they asked me not to talk about it.
3. Seen a photo-masked F-type going for a test drive as we were passing factory gates.
4. They put all assembled F-types through 'shake' and 'water leak' tests. Interesting, but why they don't they also test for heat and expansion? Its quite cold and rainy there most of the time, very unlike what happens when a car sits in the sun somewhere warm, like California.
5. Aluminum chassis is adhesive bonded and riveted together. Had a closer look at a number of naked frames. Struts are bolted to massive cast aluminum chunks. Coupe had massive cast aluminum brackets where the rear 'door' hinges. I think this is where most of the excessive weight can be found.
6. Sometimes in 2018 they are switching production to all water-based painting method.

 

Thanks for posting. Would love to take a tour myself and hope to soon.

 

Maine is on the way to England Marko.

Thanks for posting that SinF. Sounds fascinating.

 

Sin, great write up, glad you enjoyed it. I have worked at or for a lot of Car companies, Jaguar, LR, Rolls, Bentley, BMW , Nissan, Ford etc. and I would encourage anyone to go and see how they are made. The Retirees who do the Tours are awesome aren't they?

The most fascinating part for me wherever I've worked is the Logistics side, although I'm a Tooling/Structural Engineer. It still amazes me how they get all those parts from all over the world in the same place at the same time.

Car manufacturing is very hard, very stressful, especially model changes and face lifts , what they don't show on a tour is the 16 hrs a day, 7 days a week that a lot of people put in to make a Car, it always looks easy to the visitor .

I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

 

This my number 1 to do my next trip to the UK. I tried to arrange a tour where they make the XJ's back in 2010 when I went to the UK. They were very accommodating on the phone but alas my scheduled time in Farnham coincided with the factory's summer holiday so I did not get to go.

 

I don't suppose you found mine in the production line somewhere did you lol

knowing my luck, it was probably the one being "tested" to destruction

 

At least you should get a decent discount!

When I was at BMW they would take different models, put some Dummies in the Car as passengers and run them on the roads until they failed, 24 hours a Day.

Unfortunately Uber wasn't around in those Days, the Drivers could have ditched the Dummies and made some extra Cash.

 

I was told Jaguar has various testing facilities (off-site), including for cold climates, where they run cars like that. While testing is always a good idea, I don't see this 'clean running' as very representative of real life wear and tear. At least they do test them on the track.

In InfoSec we always test edge conditions, for automotive testing I'd fill the engine with dirty engine oil, old coolant, old brake fluid, fill it with dirty gasoline then get test driver sit in traffic somewhere really cold and somewhere really hot to see what fails.

 

I realize this is an old post revived - but after ZERO support from the Castle Bromwich factory tour staff, we got lucky today and saw tours open for the day we wish to go. I've been trying for months to get their help, because it's not easy making last minute plans when you fly across the pond.. We gambled (since they wouldn't do squat) and crossed our fingers leaving our date open. I've been frequently checking the website; 4 of us are now booked for Sep. 4. We're also going to swing by the Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works Restoration facility on our way down to Heathrow from Castle Bromwich.

I'll let you know how it goes - but since 2024 is the last year who knows when production ends.

 

You're a decade out, there!

 

LOL - fixed

 

Here is a pretty good YouTube video filmed a few years ago

 

I wonder if any Canadian members can confirm if that is their car with the build sheet (about 6:49 in the video). It's a 2018 3.0 AWD LHD Convertible to be delivered to Canada...there's probably part of a vin listed on that build sheet somewhere.

Thanks for posting the youtube link. That was fun.

I toured the assembly plant in March 2019 and was bummed that we couldn't take pictures. I did like the history of the plant -- from Morris to Spitfires to Jaguars.

 

Just returned home after completing one of the last few factory tours where you can see the F-Type being assembled. Surprised to see the majority of assembly was by hand, with the robots limited to riveting the 3 chassis sections together and heavy assembly handling. Wonderful host (Graham), who had worked at the plant since 1968 was genuinely heartbroken that Jaguar are about to cease production of it's second iconic sportscar, which he admitted will not be replaced. Production volume is now down to 25 cars per day, with the final day of production being the 21 May. Vast majority of final builds are V8, but there were a few P300 on the line. Plenty of P75 evident and even a few ZP models, but still a lot of customer specific builds for the lucky few who managed to get orders in before the deadline last year. The future of the Castle Bromwich Factory is uncertain, as the range of electric Jaguars will be built at a new factory that shares the Land Rover site at Solihull. The pressing plant will stay in operation, but it's the end of car building at the historic Castle Bromwich site. Alas, in just 70 days time, it's also the end of the production chapter of the F-Type story. I for one intend to keep the story going for many more years yet, as the F-Type is not going to quietly fade away, indeed many would say the F-Type doesn't go anywhere quietly!

 

Was there in September for the final F-type tour and track. Met Graham, he was great as were the other hosts! A sad time indeed,