E-type 4.2

Jaguar enlarged the E-type’s XK engine to 4.2 litres in 1964 while retaining the covered-headlamp form associated with the original Series 1. The revision brought more than displacement. A Jaguar-designed all-synchromesh four-speed gearbox replaced the earlier Moss unit, while seats and braking details evolved.

The 4,235 cc twin-cam inline-six retained three SU carburettors. Period material continued to quote 265 bhp SAE gross, represented as 198 kW and 269 PS, but torque rose to 283 lb-ft, or 384 Nm. The continued headline power figure should not imply an unchanged engine character. Greater displacement and torque alter the load response, while the fully synchronised gearbox changes shift technique and removes the Moss unit’s distinctive first-gear limitation.

This page centres on the original 1964–67 covered-headlamp specification. The term Series 1½ is an unofficial later convention, and market changeovers did not occur simultaneously, so a simple date can be misleading. Submissions need to document lamps, engine number range, induction, gearbox and market equipment. The image is an exact 4.2-litre Series 1 roadster photographed as a 1967 car, not proof that every displayed detail represents the 1964 launch specification.

Body configurations expanded to include the longer-wheelbase 2+2 alongside roadster and fixed-head coupe. RevAtlas keeps those within the same core mechanical page but requires the body style to be recorded because cabin volume and exhaust distance materially affect sound. Automatic 2+2 cars need explicit transmission disclosure; the technical headline here uses the defining four-speed manual rather than blending gearbox specifications.

The 4.2 E-type is valuable as an evolutionary reference rather than a replacement for the 3.8 page. Listening comparisons can isolate the effect of greater displacement and a different gearbox within the same broad XK architecture. Originality remains difficult on cars with long restoration histories, so carburettors, air cleaners, manifolds, silencers and gearbox must be evidenced component by component before a recording receives factory-stock status.

The unofficial Series 1½ transition, Series 2, 3.8 cars, competition cars and conversions are excluded. Similar badges can cover different engines, transmissions, bodies and production programmes. Preserving those distinctions prevents a familiar name from becoming a blended specification that no single production car carried.

The mechanical reference is the 4.2 L XK inline-six, a 4,235 cc naturally aspirated inline-6 represented at 198 kW, 269 PS and 384 Nm. It works through a jaguar 4-speed all-synchromesh manual with rear-wheel drive. Units and period rating conventions stay visible rather than being treated as directly interchangeable.

For sound documentation, the principal markers are 4.2-litre XK inline-six, triple-SU induction, all-synchromesh shifts, roadster or coupe resonance. A cold start must include uninterrupted cranking, first combustion and settling idle. Acceleration and fly-by submissions need gear, load, safe road or closed-course context, microphone position and weather. Factory-stock status requires evidence for intake, forced induction, catalysts, gearbox and silencers.

A photograph can establish useful visual context but cannot prove mechanical originality. Restoration, service replacement and reversible modification are common across performance cars. RevAtlas records configuration component by component, allowing modified survivors to remain useful without presenting them as untouched references. That method gives the E-type 4.2 a defensible page now and an exact home for future evidence.