Regular contributor to our classic titles, Andrew Everett has stumbled on what could be the only surviving V8 manual factory prototype.
Recently rescued from a Warwickshire scrapyard, this could be the only remaining test bed prototype Getrag 265 manual gearbox fitted to a 4-litre AJ V8 engine. As you may know, Jaguar did toy with the idea of a manual V8 but decided against it.
The gearbox is the standard 3.6 XJS and XJ40 unit but has a number of oddball features. With just some very light alloy powdery external corrosion, there is no dust inside the bellhousing and the crossmember has never had gearbox mounts fitted. Differences from standard include:
The black painted steel gearchange support plate is much longer than standard, and has a yellow Jaguar Cars label. The plate mounting also differs from the standard set up.
The bellhousing has cut outs where a TDC sensor was mounted. This reads from a TDC speed reference disc that fits between the crank and the flywheel.
An adaptor plate machined from an iron casting is used to connect the AJ6 Getrag bellhousing. It has specially made threaded dowels pressed in and it’s a lovely piece of work which really doesn’t look home-made.
The flywheel is a one off and uses a standard 3.6 clutch - this is stamped ‘Laycock Sheffield’ which shows how old it is.
None of these special parts have part numbers stamped in apart from paint marks here and there.
“It’s obvious this was
