Hi Jag-Lovers, I need your help
I own a XK140 cabriolet with the ChassisNo A815428, Body J6093, engine G7237 8, GEAR 43081.
If I search for the ChassisID, I get a result XK140 3.4 litre FHC which means, its no cabriolet?
So now I am confused, were there some “special” cars with wrong numbers, or why the heck is my car a FHC in the databases, whereas its a cabriolet in real.
Thanks Jag Lovers 
If you are getting the information from XKData then it has probably been incorrectly recorded. I ‘think’ you can correct it but happy to be corrected.
Hi Mischa, welcome to Jag-Lovers! I’ve been here about 20 years, it’s a great community full of knowledge.
Indeed, an 815 prefix is coming up as a 1956 LHD FHC. and 428 indicates a February build date if I’m reading Mr. Porter’s notes correctly.
Your car’s chassis # is also found stamped into the frame, adjacent to the rear-left engine mount (rear of the exhaust manifolds.
If you verify the 815428 with that number, something is rather strange. Your car as a LHD- OTS should have 810, 811, 812, or 813 depending on build date. Is it possible that it’s not a 5?
You can also find the body # riveted to the firewall toward the left side under the bonnet, quite easy to find. If that number matches the number on the bronze plate… quite a mystery indeed.
We have perhaps a few scenarios
Wrong tag fitted to car during its lifetime (verified by checking bronze tag vs chassis stamp, and body # plate, also check engine # and gearbox # for further evidence but body and chassis are primary)
OTS body put on FHC chassis sometime… Not sure if this is easily doable, someone may know more. your chassis and engine # match the brass plate, but the body tag is different then that would suggest this.
If all #'s match then either
The brass plate is a replica, these are available from known parts suppliers and it could simply have been stamped to make the car look “# matching” regardless if it is or not. Easy to do, and easy to verify. JDHT heritage trust can confirm correct numbers.
Someone has very carefully turned a FHC into an OTS. This seems rather absurd as it would be a lot of work when one could just buy the model they wanted to begin with for quite a bit less $ than making one.
data recording error of some sort 60 years ago…
It’s possible that someone has used the identity of a scrap car to register another with no papers of similar type. Hopefully not in this case, but this sort of thing was common in the UK. Don’t know about the US, but the first Healey 3000 I imported from the States had been given a ‘new’ ID in the scrapyard to enable it to be exported.
JDHT will only confirm or deny what you tell them you have, they will not give new information- but that would at least give you a lead.
Mischa,
Indeed the Chassis Number A815428 does indeed belong to a LHD XK140 Special Equipment FHC, indeed 815428 dates about March 1956. The BODY No J6063 also denotes a FHC, J prefix allocated to FHC (whereas OTS Body Numbers are all F prefix) and is consistent with March 1956. G7237-8 ENGINE NUMBER is consistent with an XK140SE as per A-prefix Chassis Number (thus standard A-type cylinder head, and not C-type cylinder head) and again consistent with March 1956. The ‘GEAR’ should be GEARBOX of course but the number 43081 is actually the number of an AUTOMATIC from again about this early 1956 period, and not a Manual GEARBOX Number that you would expect to be of the form JL34xxx or similar, but if this car had an Automatic Gearbox originally then chassis number should have had a BW suffix… (Note, with original ID Plates those used for AUTOMATIC cars are different from those used with manual GEARBOX cars)
I stronly suspect you may have a reproduction IDENTIFICATION PLATE stamped up and fitted - can you provide a photo, its easy to see if original or reproduction.
Now having said that, your original question… Your photo clearly shows a fully restored LHD XK140SE OTS (or Roadster), but your ID PLATE certainly appears most probably a reproduction stamped up with mostly FHC numbers, and an anomaly with the Gearbox/Auto number.
I can only speculate, albeit it would be esay to determine with a close examination of your car, but given a FHC chassis is almost identical to an OTS chassis, complicated of course if the FHC was originally an Automatic (never available to XK140 OTS). But there is a good chance your car has started life as an LHD XK140 FHC Automatic, and during its complete restoration had a Manual Gearbox fitted, and an OTS Body fitted. Its a big job, but in the scheme of a complete restoration if an OTS body was found/available it can be done, and indeed has been done many times…
But thats a guess, as I cannot be sure without seeing more detail of the car, as indeed there are many many other things that will reveal your cars original status, over an above just the current numbers…
But a good photo of the ID PLATE would be a good start…
Sorry to reveal this information - but you did ask - and I gather you had already suspected there was a major anomaly with your XK140s identity…
A photo of the chassis number stamping on the left engine mount bearer of the frame itself would be very interesting, too - if it’s still there…
Sorry, I can’t help with your question, but that is a beautiful example, Mischa. I would love one like that.
My info indicates A815428 started life as A815428BW, an automatic FHC. Chassis number stamped on top of front cross member and on drivers side rear motor mount area. Trans number 43081 is well out of the Borg Warner 1956 serial number range for that period.
beautiful car…welcome to this group…lots to be learned here, and about your fine car… Nick
