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This build date vs model year causes all sorts of mayhem on the MBWorld forum. These days we just say VIN please. Benz ties everything including your build & options listing to VIN.
It's like my "65" S Type. Everybody swears blind that S Type production did not start at CDA until January 66. All the scribes, David on the Register on the CKD cars etc. etc
I know from VIN that my car was No 4 built at CDA. Somehow it was first registered Dec 65 which no amount of research has managed to reconcile. I don't see how you could register a car before it was built but maybe a mechanism existed at the time for demonstrators etc. It's not an import & has the CDA plate under the bonnet & signature local build content. It was first delivered to the major Jaguar Dealership in Johannesburg.
Anyway I call it a 1965 car when many say it has to be a 1966.
Glyn on the register for your car there is a UK car 56636 manufactured 24th November 1965 yours 56966 then another CKD car 57041 which is manufactured 14th January 1966 so the numbers play out to your being December 1965.
Glyn on the register for your car there is a UK car 56636 manufactured 24th November 1965 yours 56966 then another CKD car 57041 which is manufactured 14th January 1966 so the numbers play out to your being December 1965.
Yes. I think the CDA only started building S cars Jan 66 is an approximation that has been taken as gospel & repeated by many & become entrenched. Sadly the old chap that ran the little Jag museum at the large Mercedes state of the art plant that now occupies the old CDA site has passed on. His knowledge of CDA activity as a multibrand plant was considerable.
This is the beginning of Dave Reilly's record.
Pic of CDA. Sorry I don't have one of S Types. Only have Blackheath shots. They also built Studerbakers & a number of other brands over time & of course Benz.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; Sep 29, 2021 at 09:06 PM.
Your car was likely built '65 & registered '66 or maybe there was a muddled crossover period knowing Jaguar.
Things are never quite straightforward when dealing with running changes in Jaguars, so a definitive statement such as Taylor/Whyte made is likely to be wrong or at least misleading. My 1965 S-Type AND my 1966 manufacture date Mk 2 are fitted with the Borg Warner DG 250.
All the major changes as we understand it occurred to Jaguar models when the money saving changes were made after the merger with BMC in 1966. British Leyland took over in 1968 and this coincided with the end of production of the 240, 340, S Type and 420..
The changes were highlighted in the Mk2 Jaguar when it changed from the Mk2 to the 240 and 340 which was in September 1967. At this time the 240 and 340 were both fitted with the BW35 so one assumes that at the same time the S Type was also fitted with the BW35 gearbox. This would tie in with the information we have on the S Type register but contradicts Taylor and Whyte. (what do we know or should that be what do they know?)
As Sgt Joe Friday said "We only want to know the facts Mam!"
Things are never quite straightforward when dealing with running changes in Jaguars, so a definitive statement such as Taylor/Whyte made is likely to be wrong or at least misleading. My 1965 S-Type AND my 1966 manufacture date Mk 2 are fitted with the Borg Warner DG 250.
Indeed. Even Jaguar historian Paul Skilleter got it wrong.
And Nigel Thorley's wonderful Jaguar Mark 1 & 2 also has a misleading statement: "In June 1965 automatic transmissions were improved to provide smoother gear changes...Another major improvement came with the revised Borg-Warner automatic transmissions, now using the Type 35...For 1966 the Type 35 Plus automatic had an increased servo action...". Sounds good but my 1966 Mk 2 (built January 4, 1966) has the DG 250 (presently at an original 27,500 miles). Some of the confusion may be due to the fact that certain "improvements" were fitted to cars for different markets at different starting dates/VIN numbers, the domestic UK RHD market typically getting the changes first.
A lot of this might be that they had the idea to change in a certain year but by the time they had redesigned the car, used up the old stock and the production line allowed them to use the new box it was a year further down the line. BMC possibly announced all these changes when they took over in 1966 with a big "this is how we are going to upgrade Jaguar parts" but did not actually make the changes on the production line until 1967. It does take time to redesign the gear change mechanism and integrate it all into production.
Anyone who is a writer rather than a mechanic has possibly taken the announcement as an indication that it has already been done and put it in their book. The chassis numbers and manufacture dates show different although there might be a pre production, "Lets try it out first" with the BW35 gearbox out there dated 1966. More likely be a pre production 240 or 340 than an S type.
I find it amazing that so many respected authors got it wrong. Lesson ~ Don't believe everything just because it's printed in black & white. It's little wonder that people have so much trouble sorting the wheat from the chaff on the internet. As I used to say to my wonderful staff.~ "Always question conventional wisdom".
. As I used to say to my wonderful staff.~ "Always question conventional wisdom".
When I was the the patent business we said the biggest barriers to innovation were "We've always done it this way" and "We've never done it that way before".
