What decides the model year of a car?

I have a Jaguar XKE that the original sales documents (dated 2 September 1966) refer to as a model year of 1967.

The Jaguar Heritage Trust documents confirm a Date of Manufacture of 31 December 1965 and a Date of Dispatch (to the dealer) on 25 January 1966.

So, do I have a 1965, 1966, or 1967?

Where can I find the definite answer?

Kelly
Jaguar XKE (always called a '67, but now I wonder...)

 

Depending on the state and its DMV, the year of the car could be the year it was sold. Could be the year it first arrived from England and could be the year the first owner registered it. You can provide photos here, as there are some obvious features that differentiate the different PRODUCTION years. An example might be the "eyebrows" that are narrower on what some refer to as a 1.5 VS the wider eyebrows on a series 2. My E was built in Aug of 1969, arrived here in 69 and was titled/registered in 69. Your car was built on the last day of 1965, so it could possibly be a 1966 model, but not a 1967
https://www.jaguarheritage.com/archi.../certificates/
You can also check the Clausager E book and Thomas Haddocks E book for excellent descriptions of the car features for the model years, and approximate VINs when changeovers took place.

 

Valerie -

thanks - I do have the info from the Heritage Trust and it doesn’t clear much up.

It was built 31 Dec 1965, Dispatched on 20 Jan 1966.

I just sent an email to them to see how they would answer the question.

Your idea of checking VIN numbers for changeover is a good idea. I’ll check the sources you mentioned. Thanks!

 

I feel the correct year is the year it was built.
Jaguar would deliver cars to dealers, but they wouldn't be registered until they were purchased, which could be a long time!
My car is a '69 series 2; the heritage certificate shows it as '69 and it was delivered to the dealer in '69 (June)
However, it then sat there and wasn't sold until 1970 when it received an "H" letter on it's registration, which is 1970.
At Goodwood, I parked my car next to another WE. My reg is DAB 26H, the other E was DAB 28H!! It was delivered to the same dealer in July '69.
Point is, the car may be registered with an "H" for 1970, but it was a year old nearly by then.

 

It'll be interesting to hear the answer but I suspect they'll say what has already been mentioned here: it "depends" on the practices in use by xxx-state at the time.

It would be interesting to know if your car has the additional "J" tag next to the main ID plate. This small tag would say J63, J64, J65 as a model year identifier. These have been discussed many times with the consensus (as far as I call tell) being that only west coast cars had them, presumably to satisfy California requirements.....although some of these cars naturally migrated to other western states before being sold. If I understand correctly these tags were installed by the distributor, not by Jaguar itself, making the distributor the decision-maker of which cars were "1966" versus "1965" or whatever. This was before Jaguar set-up a central "Jaguar USA" presence; Jaguar sold cars to USA distributors who then "distributed" them to the various dealers.

Just bear in mind that a lot of Jaguar info is formatted according to calendar year, not model year

Cheers
DD

 

I’d call it a ‘66. Mine was completed on 10/31/69 and was registered as a ‘70 in the US. People always ask “What year is your Jaguar?”, my reply is usually “Built in 1969, registered as a 1970”. Yours was actually completed in 1965 and will have things in common with both the ‘65 and ‘66 production years. Jaguar used various parts until they ran out and switched to the new ones which makes a moot point of identifying exact “model year”. You’ll see a lot of parts listed by VIN number as Valerie said.

 

Jaguar records are by no means exact to VIN, even Phillip Porter says in his books that the changeovers could be plus or minus a few VINs on either side. My 69 by VIN was supposed to have a mercury cell battery for its clock, but it does not.. still runs off car battery. "Whatever was in the bin" at the time is sometimes how the cars got built. For my interior, there was a piece of upholstery behind the seat,.. didn't really show, but when I redid the interior from Cinnamon to Biscuit.. that piece was Biscuit, so they must have run out of the Cinnamon there and stuffed in Biscuit.


Here are the two books that are informative reads!

Clausager


This is the most recent Haddock:


This is the older version... less expensive, but you still may be able to glean something... plus all just great books to have on hand.

 

"Model Year" is a very American concept. One that the rest of the auto industry has grudgingly accepted. The laws around what a manufacturer can call a given model are a bit odd in my opinion, its whatever is on sale on January 1st. So if I introduce a new model on January 2nd 2025, it can be a 2026 model year and remain on sale as such until December 31st 2026. None of the British manufacturers really did this in the same way the US ones did. They weren't constantly changing trim and color options to lure you into replacing your two year old car with something that's basically the same but has the turn signal below the headlights instead of beside them.

But with this particular car? I think '66 is the most right answer. The only reason it might be classed as a '67 was that it was sold in September '66, which is about the time the American manufacturers would be introducing their '67 models. If its always been registered as a '67, then you may as well stick with that. I suspect it would be difficult to get that legally changed. I'm sure its possible, just probably more trouble than its worth.

 

Depending on the state, you may be able to bring the heritage certificate to help prove its actual year. Again, depends on how much effort you want to put into this to correct it to your satisfaction. I had to make a correction on my title for the VIN, instead of IR (capital letter I) the correction was 1R (number one R). I don't think a year correction is a serious as other titling issues.

 

Here's a great resource

https://www.jaguarheritage.com/jdht/...25-01-2023.pdf

HTH, Dave

 

Yes, just used this yesterday when I went to look at a Barn Find 2+2 E. Current property owner needed assistance in how to dispose of the car.. sell? how much? etc. I believe she has it listed on Facebook marketplace. Wisconsin. If you do find that listing and want further info, please PM me as I spent about 2 hours with the car and parts.

 

So this is the response I got from the Heritage Trust:


Production year is the usual 12 months January to December.
Model year runs from august or just before to July the following year, therefore you car is a 1966 model year but was produced in 1965.

so, 1966 is the answer.

Thanks for all the input!

Also, thanks for the tips on the Clausager E book and Thomas Haddocks book. Purchased them both - excellent resources.