Fellow Jaguar lover and owner Roger Los has donated his time, web server and high speed internet connection--along with the efforts of volunteer administrators--in hopes of creating the world’s most comprehensive E-Type register. It is available for enthusiasts the world over to use at any time, at any place, for free. The register was created in hopes of answering a question heard often over the years on the E-Type_lovers email list: just how many are left?

The register, XKEData, can be found at: http://xkedata.com.

Several sites have attempted to document Jaguars, but XKEData is unique in that its focus is to track E-Types by the car’s dataplate: the car (VIN), body, engine, and gearbox numbers recorded by the factory. The database can be searched by car number, or any of a number of other categories: color, year built, location, gearbox number, the last year it was seen—over 30 different aspects of the cars are tracked. Not every field will be filled out for every car in the database, but the car number (VIN) always will be--this allows an enthusiast to look up data on or near a VIN. For example, you can find the cars in the database that are within 100 car numbers of yours, or that were built in the same month, or that were Ascot Fawn with a Beige interior.

Images of E-Types are also stored on the site—over 5000 of them at last count! The picture database is also searchable. This can be handy when trying to research a specific detail; for instance, if you wonder what the various steering wheels look like you can search for detailed pictures of the interiors of any year, range of years, or model of E-Type you’re interested in. The cars and the pictures at XKEData are also searchable by body style, year, location of steering wheel, color, geographical location, production date and just about any other criteria you might find useful.

I get pretty excited when I see or hear about a car that could have been my car’s brother or sister as they rolled off the assembly line—I think we all do! Who knows what secrets they might have shared? We know that the timing of the rolling updates that rippled through the factory is a mystery. I know many of us immediately compare notes as soon as we’ve found a car that shared our car’s assembly line. And what about that detail change--did that occur before my car was built or after it had left Brown’s Lane? XKEData is a place to help us answer these questions by discovering what others record about their cars.

Well, you say, I don’t care… however, other advantages of registering your car have become apparent. One, for example, is owner and car protection. This is a place where your VIN and any other information you provide will be registered and readily accessible. In some classic circles, shady people actual create cars using false--or worse, someone else’s—car numbers. This is a huge problem with Corvettes and early Mustangs, not to mention exotics like C- and D-types. Put simply, the more cars that are registered the safer your own E-Type is. It is very unlikely that a scofflaw would steal or use numbers that have been publicly registered on XKEData --that would really be asking for trouble. Note that the car’s location or owner’s name need not be provided to have this protection.

Another potential benefit is buyer/seller/dealer protection. Also unlikely that a scofflaw will point buyers to a place like XKEData, just as a dealer selling a used car with problems would not likely refer a buyer to Carfax®. The problem is nothing like Carfax® is available for folks like us that love the old cars, as most collectable cars are way too old for Carfax®. It is our hope that legitimate buyers and sellers will find XKEData a tool to research a car they are buying or selling. Knowing that a car you’re looking to buy has a solid history—or has been sold six times in the past year—can be a valuable asset when looking at an eBay auction that ends in three days!

Registering a car on XKEData allows you to record as much about your car as you want to--pictures, JDHT information, personal notes-- or as little as you choose, even if it’s only the car number. The car data on XKEData is not “owned” by any one person, nor is the owner’s name recorded in the database. There is a “comments” section attached to every car, and if you want to leave your name or email address for others to get in touch, you can , but the main body of information is owned by the car itself, not the caretakers of it. Volunteer enthusiasts screen the data submitted for general accuracy—and for signs of tampering

Other resources, such as full size wiring diagrams, exploded views of the complex rear suspension, and a comprehensive guide to the car number combinations used throughout the production life of the E-Type are also available at XKEData. In addition, there is a “people finder” which can help you find like-minded enthusiasts in your area, and the links section will hook you up to other E-Type resources on the Net. You can even send an E-Postcard of any photo in the database!

As this article was being prepared there were nearly 3000 E-types registered and over 5000 pictures at XKEData.