New Zealand XJ Colour Guide 1974

Interested to know if all these colours are standard across the world or, as New Zealand had it’s own Jaguar assembly plant, are any of these colours unique?

i would say wholly and solely NZ.
I would love to get a copy of this brochure
terry

Opps .
Was actually intended to be posted on the XJ forum.

My US delivery '74 XJ12L color Fern Grey (looks like a green olive) with Moss Green interior is not on there.

That looks familiar Graham :slight_smile:

Ha. Yes. I bet it does. A nice surprise for me was the reference to Jaguar New Plymouth on the back.
I had a NZ assembled XJ6 when I lived there. Definitely had some different construction than the English version. I took the engine out, as it used more oil than fuel, and replaced it with Series 3 V12HE running gear. I believe that car is now in Whanganui.
Regards, Graham.

The NZ assembled XJs were imported CKD kits from UK, but were trimmed and painted locally in NZ using local materials and paints.
The colour range was unique NZ, and although a couple of predictable names - such as WHITE and BRG, they owed nothing more to the factory colours, and indeed certain colours were shared by other Leyland brands also CKD assembled in NZ - Triumph, Rover etc.

See below, a slightly later NZ Colour Guide booklet, a considerably more elaborate effort than the 1974 issue, adopting the clear/look through XJ profile concept, that overlays the different colour chip sheets to better show the colour effect on an actual car… the one pictured below is called ARCTIC WHITE, and is quite different to the factory WHITE used for Series 2 XJ.


My booklet is Paint Colours only, no leather pieces, so I expect maybe a separate booklet.

There is active interest in NZ CKD Assembled XJs within NZ, and indeed rumours that a batch were exported new to Australia, but I have never been able to verify that, albeit we do have second hand examples in Australia now, as well as South African CKD assembled XJs.

Roger

Some nice series 1s seen during my visit to NZ, they e\get to choose their registration as well, he’s one I particularly liked.

The town of Nelson where I am at present has a car museum which ued to be the assembly plant for cars supplied in CKD form to avoid import duties. It continued till the 1990s .

Ian

Talking S1 cars, one of out club members has the very first S1 to be imported into Australasia (NZ to be correct)

Hi Robin. I came across a very early car in New Plymouth years ago. It was Sable (brown) and was deteriorating rapidly in a lean-to shed as the owner had died some years earlier.
I think it was car 225? Not the earliest in NZ at the time I recall but must have been close. Cant imagine it survived much longer and is probably scrapped by now.
Here is my NZ XJ6 with it’s HE running gear and my other genuine S1 XJ12. Both I sold when I migrated to Australia.
And yes Ian. Both sporting personalised plates

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My plate came with the car.

Also seen in NZ this week, anyone fancy rebuilding the Herald, probably needs work on the floor pan but triumph%20tree firewood comes free I guess.

Ian

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My research into history of the Mark V model has revealed that some were CKD cars to New Zealand, and can be identified by their non-standard body numbers. I would be glad to hear any more from you New Zealanders if you know anything about the Mark V, as to how they were shipped, where and how much work was done in NZ vs Coventry.

XJ content:
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Hi Rob.
I’m making some enquiries regarding this and will get back to you if I find anything further.
Regards, Graham.

“LEAPER” plate is perfect!