Hi,
What date were the first XK8s produced? I know its roughly October 1996. My coupe is listed by JLR as having a build date of 10/10/96 so I am wondering how early it actually was.
If anyone is good at decoding VIN numbers that might help. It ends AR005074 and from what I can find the 4th from last digit is a model identifier, so I wonder if it could be #74 off the production line as those are the only other numbers in the last bit?
Any help appreciated. I think it would be quite cool to know it was one of the first 100 ever built!

 

The FIRST XK8 VIN was 001001.

 

My 97 xk8 coupe is vin 001363, I think the door sticker says august of 96 but I could be mistaken

 

You really do have an early one. My '97 coupe is vin 002693 completed on August 22 1996 and delivered to the PO on Oct 2 1996.

 

If you want to know the story of the development of X100 in detail, JAGUAR XK8 - The Authorised Biography by Phillip Porter published by Bay View books in 1996 ( ISBN 1 870 979 75 3) is one of the best sources. Porter lists all the Mechanical, Evaluation and Verification Prototypes culminating in "Job 1", the first true production vehicle on 4th June 1996.

Section 6.6 of my VIN DECODE - Jaguar lookup tables thread in General Tech Help will help decode the VIN:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/g...tables-145996/

Please follow this link New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the New Member Area - Intro a MUST forum and post some information about yourself and your vehicle for all members to see. In return you'll get a proper welcome and some useful advice about posting to the forum.

Graham