XK Chassis question

[steve-V8s]

Hello You Jag lot

Does the XK have a chassis or is it just a one piece body pressing ? Also do the front and rear wings bolt on or are they welded and part of the structure ?

[a8hex]

This depends on who you ask, to me XKs have a separate chassis, but then I think of XKs as being derived from the XK120. The Mk9 was the last Jaguar to be introduced with a separate chassis. The small saloon (Mk1) introduced the monocoque construction to Jaguars in the mid 50s. The E-Type is a bit mixed. But from then on everything is a monocoque, including the X100 XK8 and XKR.

[steve-V8s]

Thanks for the reply, yes I was thinking of the modern XK. Have been puzzling over what relatively current rear wheel drive front engine production sports car I could use as the basis of a speed hill climb project. The car must have been produced in quantities of more than 1000 a year so that excludes the obvious choices. If the car has a proper chassis or at least the wings are not part of the unitary construction the rules are a lot easier to deal with. Saw a sad old XK8 sat on a forecourt and thought I would ask.

[a8hex]

Hopefully XKRacer will be along soon and can be rather more helpful in that case.

[NormanD]

Rear wings are part of the chassis, front wings bolt on

Here is a picture of a bare Coupe chassis

[XKRacer]

I think Norm basically answered your question.


The engine and front suspension are on a seperate subframe, just a few bolts and the whole lot comes off in one hit, the rear does basically the same.

[steve-V8s]

Excellent thanks for that, so the front wings are not part of the unitary structure which means they can be replaced with plastic along with the bonnet, tailgate and doors.

Roughly what does the car weigh without all the trim spare seats and clutter ?

One more question, what sort of quanties was the supercharged one made in ? presumably it was more than 1000 units a year.

[Triple7]

FYI from my visit to the factory the newer aluminium XK's are of similar construction as Norms steel XK.

[XKRacer]

Take a look HERE

I think I am the only one producing GRP wings and bonnets ?

Edited by XKRacer on Tuesday 12th October 13:15