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We all know that our Dashboard shape was inspired by the spitfire wing, but did you know there is a better fit elsewhere on the car.....
The leading edge of the front intake is actually a closer profile to the Spitfire wing than the dashboard.
Our X100 grill shape is discretely different to the e-Type -which was elliptical and almost symmetrical in the horizontal plane. So the XK8 grill is not a copy of the e-type and the Spitfire wing does not fit in the e-type grill in any way. The X100 grill is a skewed ellipse and closer to the Spitfire wing. So the question to ask, Do you think this was intentional or coincidence?
Very interesting. Building model planes as a kid, the Spitfire was my favorite. Most kids liked the P-51 Mustang best but to me, the Spitfire was more elegant-looking....
How old are you Mr. Wise? The "Spitfire" was WWII....and a very "Nice" piece of work! But I don't see the Jaguar designers using the shape of its Wing for the shape of the XKR Grill Area.... But never ever say "Never"!
How old are you Mr. Wise? The "Spitfire" was WWII....and a very "Nice" piece of work! But I don't see the Jaguar designers using the shape of its Wing for the shape of the XKR Grill Area.... But never ever say "Never"!
Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch
I do see it. The X100 was built in the same building Spitfires were made during WWII. The Spitfire Easter Eggs in our cars are very real.
Hi Billy, I'm only 53 ! My apologies for not mentioning the original reference to the Spitfire connection. It was a term loosely given to the sixth iteration of the dash design in April 1992.
The Spitfire Dash in 1992 was Super Looking Mr. Wise!
[QUOTE=PKWise;2531754]Hi Billy, I'm only 53 ! My apologies for not mentioning the original reference to the Spitfire connection. It was a term loosely given to the sixth iteration of the dash design in April 1992. Mr, Wise and the Good Doctor from Puerto Rica,
The address of the Factory may be the same but it certainly isn't the same Factory, Glan! It appears that Mr. Wise has come up with this Drawing indicating that this shape should be called "The Spitfire" Dash back in 1992 and I agree with all those Guys that that is a Super looking Dash! I only wish Ford or Jaguar had used that Dash in our XKR's! The one we got is really OK but Man! The Drawing is really Something! Just think of how many more XK8-XKR's could have sold with that Dash.....I would say that "Daniel" did good back in 1992!
I read an article about all the changes and additions that Ford made to the Factory in Coventry...Is this the Plant where the "Spitfire" was made?
Billy,
The X100 was made at Browns Lane plant which was acquired by William Lyons in 1951. It was a wartime shadow factory but I don't know what parts of the Spitfire were made there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browns_Lane_plant
The above dash design is genuine and from Nigel Thorley's book about X100 development ISBN:9781787117747
As PKwise has said - the X100 was made at Browns Lane, Coventry and further research shows that during the Second World War that plant made 'various aircraft components' including engine parts for many different aircraft. The Spitfire aircraft themselves were assembled at the Castle Bromwich Factory in Birmingham (over 12,000 Spitfires by Vickers-Armstrong) - so perhaps the 'wing bit' connection is a bit of a shot. I have been to both factories and they are around 15 miles apart.
As PKwise has said - the X100 was made at Browns Lane, Coventry and further research shows that during the Second World War that plant made 'various aircraft components' including engine parts for many different aircraft. The Spitfire aircraft themselves were assembled at the Castle Bromwich Factory in Birmingham (over 12,000 Spitfires by Vickers-Armstrong) - so perhaps the 'wing bit' connection is a bit of a shot. I have been to both factories and they are around 15 miles apart.
Bluekg7657,
I watched a U-Tube Movie, which showed all the changes FORD made during their Jaguar Days! It turned out to be quite an operation that filled the area and turned it into a really nice Factory...I guess this is what the Guys from India bought? Haven't heard much about it since then! Do they still build Jaguars there on Brown's Lane today or what?
As far as the "Spitfire" goes: ... I was only 5 when WWII started, therefore it was not until I was 22 before I actually got to fly a Spitfire....My Cousin rebuilt WWII Planes after He got out of the Air Force...Mustangs, Spitfires and P-38's.....He did well for a while but there was a lot of competition and not much Money, after the Korean War! ...He wound up with a Radiator Shop after that and I finished College and moved on to Sales and Insurance...
Thanks for the information about the Brown Road Plant!
Many thanks for your information about you and your cousins flying experiences Billy - interesting and very envious flying history! As for Brown's Lane Coventry, sadly the factory closed in 2008 and the area is now predominantly a housing estate. I did manage to photograph my X100 at its birth place after manufacturing had ceased but before the bulldozers moved in. Cheers
Parts for the spitfire were made all over Coventry/Birmingham and brought together for assembly. This avoided stopping production after an air raid. My grandfather supervised Magneto production and was taken blindfolded to an air base when the Americans started sending us 100 octane fuel in secret for the spitfire and the timing needed to be adjusted for the new fuel. The magnetos for new planes were then adjusted to his specification. Pilots could not work out why it was so much better in climb !
Of course it could be the other way around ..someone said "that's like a spitfire wing" and the idea stuck.
I fought WWII as a Child! Long after you Guys in England started getting Bombed with those Rockets and Bombs! It was scary enough over here, just listening to all the things that were going on over in England and France! I remember our first practice "Air Raid" while in Arkansas! My Fater built "High Octane Gasoline" Plants during WWII, there and in, Texas, New Mexico and California....There were no Bombs, Thank Heaven! But an Airplane flew over one Night during a practice Raid and I was really scared! It's hard to imagine how you Guys over in England and Europe coped with all that!
It's good to remember Places like "The Brown Road Plant" and lots of other Places that went to "Bat" during the War to provide all types of Weapons that ivincally brought all that to an end...We have a few Places over here that since remain sort of intact as a reminder of all that. Although most of them, such as the old Air Force Base out in Pyote, Texas, have been left sitting there deteriorating ever since! It was a shame that we had to build them to start with but now I wish we had cared enough to have kept them up! "Gone but not completely forgotten!"
Sorry but this doesn't have much to do with XK8's and XKR"s but then it does matter that I own and drive my 4th XKR almost every Day! It makes me remember back a long time ago when I saw my first Jaguar XK Coupe.....Now!, "I've got one!"
I fought WWII as a Child! Long after you Guys in England started getting Bombed with those Rockets and Bombs! It was scary enough over here, just listening to all the things that were going on over in England and France! I remember our first practice "Air Raid" while in Arkansas! My Fater built "High Octane Gasoline" Plants during WWII, there and in, Texas, New Mexico and California....There were no Bombs, Thank Heaven! But an Airplane flew over one Night during a practice Raid and I was really scared! It's hard to imagine how you Guys over in England and Europe coped with all that!
It's good to remember Places like "The Brown Road Plant" and lots of other Places that went to "Bat" during the War to provide all types of Weapons that ivincally brought all that to an end...We have a few Places over here that since remain sort of intact as a reminder of all that. Although most of them, such as the old Air Force Base out in Pyote, Texas, have been left sitting there deteriorating ever since! It was a shame that we had to build them to start with but now I wish we had cared enough to have kept them up! "Gone but not completely forgotten!"
Sorry but this doesn't have much to do with XK8's and XKR"s but then it does matter that I own and drive my 4th XKR almost every Day! It makes me remember back a long time ago when I saw my first Jaguar XK Coupe.....Now!, "I've got one!"
When I was a boy in Ponca City, Oklahoma, I trained to shoot with the NRA in a building near the airport there. It turned out that that building was a part of the Darr School which was built as a training facility for young British pilots in World War II. They trained there to get away from the dangerous skies of England. All in all about 400 went through the training there, as well as other small bases throughout the US, They lived with families in the town who took them in.
06-03-2022, 04:03 PM
The Spitfire Wing
Happiness is an XKR........
