yeah, this is a weird one. Not a car really, but a milestone in automotive development. I’d like to ask Roger, Wiggy, etc to refrain from answering, because I know they know what this is. How about the rest of you? This photo was taken in the sort of setting it looks to be… a Museum. That is how amazing this bit of engineering is. Once we have an answer our high-brow experts can fill us in on history, development, and impact.
Um…. It is an e-type rear end composed of dif, inboard brakes, half shafts adn external carriers
Cheers,
Shaun
Specifically it is a Jaguar Independent Rear Suspension. It was introduced with the E-type, but used in many other models. Now our resident boffins can tell us more.
I think it’s a IRS unit from a sedan: It’s wider and the reinforcing plates (the silvery triangular bits) give it away as such. In any case, the only real difference was the width of the unit.
The whole unit was WAY overkill for a street car and that’s its defining feature: Properly taken care of, it is a *tough* unit. It also was/is used in TONS of hot rods, due to that toughness and its ease of adaptation to a hot rod. It’s main advantage is that it locates the wheels precisely, a feat not many other independent rear suspensions did as well. the only one that truly rivalled it was that of the Rover 2000 series, which was also an inboard-brake design, but of the De Dion type.
All in all, one of the more unique rear ends ever put into a car! Wish mine was that pretty!!
Herre’s a link to a diagrammtic picture of how De Dions work…
http://www.sevenbuilder.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/dediontube.jpg
I think, in some ways, it’s almost my favorite part of the Jaguars that used it. Such an economical, sophisticated design. I suppose an engineer might argue that it would be more elegant to use the car’s own structure instead of the cage to hold the bits, but it’s this ease of installation/servicing that make it so great.
If you look at an exploded parts diagram it looks intimidating, but it really is easy to work on once it’s out of the car (and that is generally pretty easy to accomplish.
so do you pull the whole thing out of the car then to change the brake pads? I’d expect that from the Brits from some of the rubbish I’ve worked on over the years down here… 😉
Jerome
Chuck, would answering correctly by reviewing your previous posting of the same photograph and question be considered cheating in your book?
lol… no Mark, that is not cheating. 😉
jerome, on 2+2s, it’s arguably easier to drop it rather than do an in-car pad change. At least in the 2+2s there is an access cover, of sorts, once you remove the rear seat…”seat!”
On SWB cars, it’s not too bad.