Bellwether

Bellwether (pronounced bel-weth-er)

(1) A wether or other male sheep that leads the flock, usually bearing a bell.

(2) A person or thing that assumes the leadership or forefront, as of a profession or industry.

(3) Anything that indicates future trends (gauge, indicator, sign).

(4) As “bellwether state”, “bellwether seat” etc, an electoral division or constituency which, over a long period, has tended to predict the outcome in wider electoral contests (presidential, congressional, provincial, national etc).

(5) In finance, as “bellwether stock”, a stock or bond widely believed to be an indicator of the overall market's condition and future direction.

1400-1450: The construct was bell + wether.  The late thirteenth century word clearly existed in Anglo-Latin but in the late twelfth century it had been used as a surname.  The prevalent meaning became “lead sheep” (with a collar on which a bell was hung) of a domesticated flock, while the figurative sense (leader, chief) dates from the mid-fourteenth century.  Used in its original sense (a sheep with a bell attached to a collar), bellwether has no synonyms but they do exist when the term figuratively is applied (a person or thing that shows the existence or direction of a trend; index), including trendsetter, trailblazer, front runner, pacesetter, leader, omen, gauge, indicator, sign & harbinger.  Thus in fashion, historically, the bellwether has tended variously to be what was first seen on the catwalks in Milan, Paris or London while in the years immediately after World War II (1939-1945), it was the artistic movements in New York rather than Paris that became the bellwether of global directions in the visual arts.  The alternative forms were bell-wether and (the now archaic) belwether; bellweather was a misspelling.  Bellwether is a noun; the noun plural is bellwethers.

A model in a “strapless fuchsia top and pants covered in shimmering, sculpted rose embellishments” from Rahul Mishra’s (b 1979) Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2025/2026 collection (Becoming Love), Paris Fashion Week, 2025.  Paris remains the industry’s bellwether but not everything seen on the catwalk is a harbinger.

Bell, in the sense of the percussive, hollow instrument (usually of cast or forged metal), typically cup-shaped with a flaring mouth, suspended from the vertex and rung by the strokes of a clapper, hammer, or the like (resonating upon impact producing “the sound of the bell”), was a pre-1000 word, from the Middle English belle, from the Old English belle & bellan (to roar), from the from Proto-West Germanic bellā, from the Proto-Germanic bellǭ, from the primitive Indo-European bel-; it was cognate with the West Frisian belle, the Old High German bellan, the Low German Belle & Bel, the German bellen (to bark), the Middle Dutch bellen & belen, the Old Norse belja, the Danish bjælde, the Faroese bjølla, the Icelandic bjalla, the Norwegian bjelle and the Swedish bjällra. and the Dutch bel.

Wether (originally “a castrated male sheep” but later used generally of “male sheep”) dates from pre 900 and was from the Middle English wether, wethir & wedyr, from the Old English weðer (ram), from the Middle English wether, wethir, wedyr, from Old English weþer (“a wether, ram”), from the Proto-West Germanic weþru, from the Proto-Germanic wethruz (source also of the Old Saxon wethar, the Old Norse veðr, the Old High German widar, the German Widder and the Gothic wiþrus (lamb)), literally “yearling’, from the primitive Indo-European root wet- (year), (source also of the Sanskrit vatsah (calf), the Greek etalon (yearling) and the Latin vitulus (calf, literally “yearling”); it was cognate with the Old Saxon withar, the Old High German widar, the Old Norse vethr and the Gothic withrus.  The ultimate source was the primitive Indo-European wet- (year).  The word wether came to be used both of male sheep (rams) and male goats (busks) castrated at a young age.  Usually, it’s safe practice for wethers to share paddocks or be housed with female sheep or goats, but intact rams & bucks usually are kept separately.  “Wether wool” was wool from previously shorn sheep.  The now obsolete dialectal form was wedder and in historic documents, as late as the nineteenth century wether was a (now archaic) spelling of weather.  Used as a verb, “to wether” was to castrate a male sheep or goat, the victim said to have been “wethered”.

In idiomatic use, a “bellwether state” “bellwether district” or “bellwether seat” is an electoral division or constituency which, over a long period, has tended to align with the outcome in wider electoral contests (presidential, congressional, provincial, national etc).  The classic example is the bellwether state in US presidential elections that historically votes for the winning candidate in successive elections (ie sometimes returning a Democratic and sometimes a Republican majority).  It’s an accepted part of the jargon of political science but really doesn’t adhere to the etymology of the original idea of sheep “following a leader”.  In elections, one state, district or constituency generally doesn’t “follow another” because votes tend simultaneously to be cast and although there are examples (in countries with multiple time-zones) of early results in one place become available while polling is still happening in others, (1) those results are always from a very small proportion of the vote (2) most votes in places still voting have already been cast and (3) the time overlap usually is brief.

A Lindsay Lohan-themed weathervane.

In the political context, rather than bellwether, a better term might be “weather vane”.  A weather vane is a type of anemoscope (the construct being anemo- (from the Ancient Greek ᾰ̓́νεμος (ắnemos) (wind)) + scope (from the Ancient Greek σκοπέω (skopéō) (examine, inspect, look to or into, consider)) which is an elegant description of a simple, mechanical device rotating around one axis and attached to an elevated object such as a roof.  As a weather vane responds to the wind, it rotates to show the wind direction, the letters “N”, “S”, “E” & “W” displayed on static, extended prongs indicating respectively north, south, east & west.  The term is sometimes clipped to “vane” and they’re known also as “wind vanes” and “weathercocks”, the latter use dating from so many historically being formed in the silhouette of a rooster.  The reason “weather vane” works better than “bellwether” as a word indicating “current political climate” is that there’s no suggestion the wind “follows” the vane; instead, the position of the vane simply reflects the direction in which “the wind is blowing”.  That’s why it can be used to mean (1) an indicator; something that reflects what the current situation is and (2) a person or organization that changes their attitude and position based on the prevailing conditions rather than displaying any conviction.

So while a homophone, “weather” enjoys a different meaning from “wether”.  Weather was from the Middle English weder & wedir, from the Old English weder, from the Proto-West Germanic wedr, from the Proto-Germanic wedrą, from the primitive Indo-European wedrom (to blow).  The distinction between “the weather” and “the climate” is the former is the state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place (expressed via measures such as temperature, relative humidity, cloud cover, precipitation, wind strength etc) while the latter is the weather aggregated over periods (which can be a season, year, decade, century, epoch etc) or regions.  Such is the significance of the weather that the term “the weather” can refer explicitly to its more severe aspects.  That’s how Guadalcanal's Weather Coast in the Solomon Islands gained its name; unlike the island's northern coast (site of the capital Honiara), the southern Weather Coast faces the prevailing southeast trade winds and open ocean swells.  As a result, it experiences heavier rainfall, rougher seas, flooding, and generally harsher weather; it’s literally the island’s “weather-beaten coast”.

Vane was from the Middle English vane, a Southern Middle English variant of fane, from the Old English fana (cloth, banner, flag), from the Proto-West Germanic fanō, from the Proto-Germanic fanô, from the primitive Indo-European pehn- (something woven; weave; tissue; fabric; cloth).  It was cognate with the Saterland Frisian Foone (flag, banner), the Dutch vaan (banner, flag), the German Low German Fahn (flag) and the German Fahne.  In engineering, vanes typically exist in multiples and are relatively thin, rigid, flat, or sometimes curved surfaces radially mounted along an axis; they can be slow-moving (as on a windmill) or run at very high speeds (as in turbines).  In ornithology, the vane is the flattened, web-like part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft.

A captured German V2 rocket (1945, left) and a full-size clay mock up of a design proposal for 1961 Cadillac, General Motors Technical Center, Warren, Michigan, (1959, right).  When the V2 used as a weapon (1944-1945), the term used was "fins" but the rocket scientists of the 1950s popularized "vanes".  On the cars, it was always "fins" but the lower units (seen on Oldsmobiles in 1961 and Cadillacs in 1961-1962) informally were dubbed "skegs", a borrowing from nautical architecture.

A recent adoption of vane was to describe the guidance or stabilizing fins attached to the tail of bombs or missiles.  Fins had of course long been a feature of directional weapons (arrows the classic example) and they’d appeared on the earliest aerial bombs.  Had the convention been: “fins are static and vanes can move” that would have made sense to laypersons but that wasn’t the way the military-industrial complex used the labels which resulted in non-specialist writers sometimes using “fin” and “vane” interchangeably.  That was understandable because while in the terminology of aerodynamicists the words are not exactly synonymous, there’s enough overlap to encourage confusion.  As a general principle, the primary purpose of a fin is to act as a stabilizing surface enhancing stability, the tail fins on a bomb, artillery shell, rocket, or missile the classic examples; until relatively recently, almost always they were fixed.  By contrast, a vane is a thin blade-like aerodynamic surface that interacts with airflow; they may be static or movable and are used for stabilization, steering or control.  To engineers the distinction was significant and for others it made sense because the nerdier "vane" was for rocket scientists while fins were things Detroit was putting on Cadillacs.  That meant some vanes could move while others were fixed and were thus functionally equivalent to fins.  Except for historians of such things, any distinction probably isn’t important and the two are so entrenched in ordnance and aerospace nomenclature, they’re both here to stay; in modern use the only discernible definitional difference being some emphasis on the component’s shape rather than whether it moves.

Map of the US expressed as "Red", "Blue", "Bellwether" & "Swing" states.  The apparent red-blue dichotomy is a product of the voting system, the vote spread broadly similar to patterns in other two-party systems.

Electoral behaviour in the democracies of the English-speaking world is not as predictable as it was in the days of relatively stable two-party systems.  Even in the US where the Democratic and Republican party machines have ensured there’s something of an institutionalized duopoly, their internal fissiparousness of both (TEA (Taxed Enough Already) & MAGA (Make America Great Again) etc) has made the use of historic data less useful.  What does seem clear is among the “less useful” concepts in the US are the “bellwethers”, states or districts that historically were remarkably reliable in picking winners in national elections.  In presidential contests, some were striking in this: Nevada between 2012-2020 voted for the winner in every election (except 1976) and Missouri did the same between 1904- 2004 except in 1956.  Much maligned Ohio was once also a Bellwether; between choosing a loser in Barry Goldwater (1909–1998) in 1964 and crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947) in 2016, Ohioans otherwise got it right.

Map of the US expressed as "Purple" states.

Political scientists explain the change by pointing out the electorate, geographically, has become much more polarized, states now increasingly sorted by education level, urbanization, ethnicity, and partisan identity.  Once consequence of this was previously competitive states can drift permanently into one party's column, thus the growing number of “Red” (Republican) and “Blue” (Democrat) states and although psephologists have published district-by-district analyses showing all states really are “shades of purple”, because of the way the electoral system works in the US, the shades don’t matter because mostly the delegates in the Electoral College are determined on “winner takes all” basis.  Thus it’s correct to speak of “red” and “blue” states and the “winner takes all” approach does distort political perceptions; were a system of proportional representation (or even a preferential system) to be adopted, the electoral outcomes would be very different on the basis of the same patterns of voting.  What this shift in behaviour has meant is political scientists tend now to focus less on the historic bellwethers and more on the “tipping-point states” (the relative handful of "swing" states which have evolved to be the most competitive and thus likely to be decisive in provides the needed Electoral College votes).  In recent elections, the tipping point states have been Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Because there are more of them, in Congressional elections, the notion of “bellwether districts” remains more useful but even there it has become diluted.  Historically, there were literally dozens of House districts that routinely elected a representative from whichever party won the national House vote and in a real (ie statistically verifiable) sense such districts really did reflected “the median American voter”, a concept now less identifiable.  What has happened is that the forces of geographic polarization, partisan realignment, residential self-sorting and the decline of split-ticket voting means the number of genuine bellwether districts dramatically has shrunk, a stark change from the trend first identified in the late 1990s of the number of “safe seats” decreasing.  Concurrent with that has been the movement in the number of House districts carried by one presidential candidate but represented by the other party in Congress.  In the 1970s and 1980s there were hundreds of such mismatches while today there are but a handful with many congressional districts effectively “safe” for one party or the other; now it’s only “reprehensible or extraordinary circumstances” (they can be local or national) likely to shift things.  While it’s true there are a small number of competitive districts (in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan) that have in recent elections been reliable bellwethers, there seems among political scientists little confidence these can be guaranteed to maintain the pattern.  The bellwethers “happened” because there was for at least decades a large “middle ground” of persuadable “swing voters” distributed throughout the country but modern American (and this predates Donald Trump (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and since 2025) who does get blamed for much) politics increasingly is characterized by semi-stable partisan coalitions and fewer swing voters.  So, “bellwethers” are now quite likely to be temporary coincidences rather than a durable phenomenon so the predictive power of the concept is now much weaker.

1968 Holden HK Monaro GTS 327.

The In Australian federal elections, the seat most recently dubbed a “bellwether” was the NSW (New South Wales) division of Eden Monaro (established in 1900), its good burghers for four decades reliability voting for the party destined to take office.  Between 1972-2013, Eden-Monaro was won by the party winning the general election and in another quirk unusual over such a long period (and uniquely among Australia’s historic bellwethers), none of the sitting members retired, resigned or had the decency to drop dead; all were defeated on polling day.  The Monaro region lies in what was the traditional country of the Ngarigo people and “Monaro” was said to be was from the Aboriginal word maneroo, most often translated as meaning “treeless plain”, “high plain” or “high plateau” although the APH (Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia) lists the alternative etymology as an “Aboriginal word meaning 'the navel' or 'a woman's breasts'.”

Marlboro cigarette magazine advertisement, 1967.  There was a time when such imagery was thought "positive product association".

In the early years of colonial settlement, the word often was spelled “Manaro” but the pronunciation is believed always to have been me-nair-oh.  Despite that long history, when in 1968 GMH (General Motors Holdens, GM’s local operation) introduced the Monaro, the pronunciation used was mon-ah-ro and that was attributed to events far away.  The choice of name is attributed to one of GMH’s technical designers in 1967 driving through Cooma and seeing the sign “Monaro County Council”.  At the time, there had been no decision about a name for the new Holden coupé (the body style a first for the company) and what appealed to the designer was (1) the sign reminding him of the famous “Marlboro Country” cigarette advertisements (then much admired) and (2) the obvious similarity with “Camaro”, the “pony car” introduced that year by Chevrolet as a competitor for Ford’s wildly successful Mustang.  Apparently, when “Monaro” was suggested as a name, instead of a committee being formed in the usual corporate way, so things could be “discussed”, immediately the name was adopted.  Although the Camaro (pronounced kam-ah-ro) wasn’t then sold in the Australian market, it had been well-publicized so Holden taking advantage of the “linguistic association” was not surprising.

1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS-SS 396.

That was a decision more quickly made than the process at Chevrolet which produced Camaro which emerged from a committee after the alternatives had been considered and discarded.  These days, conjuring up novel words for products (as well as product differentiation it avoids any legal squabbles) is common but in the mid-1960s, GM must not have wanted to risk being accused of linguistic impurity so told the press there was an entry in a (very) old French-English dictionary defining camaro as “companion”. “comrade” or “friend”.  Mischievously, Ford retaliated with a more recent Spanish dictionary in which a camaro was listed as a “small shrimp-like creature”, provoking Chevrolet into responding that a camaro was “a small, vicious animal that eats Mustangs”.  In the same era, that carnivorous notion really was the basis of the name of the de Tomaso Mangusta (Mongoose, 1967-1971), chosen after Alejandro de Tomaso (1928-2003) and Carroll Shelby (1923–2012) had a falling out, explained by the mongoose being a beast famous for hunting and killing cobras.  Unfortunately, the legend about the origin of the Camaro’s name is thought a myth, Chevrolet just “making it up” at a time when the company was using model names starting with “C” (Corvair, Corvette, Chevelle, Caprice) and the story of a journalist unearthing yet another dictionary that disclosed the definition “loose bowels” wholly is a myth.

Tuft

Tuft (pronounced tuhft)

(1) A bunch or cluster of small, usually soft and flexible parts, as feathers or hairs, attached or fixed closely together at the base and loose at the upper ends.

(2) A cluster of short, fluffy threads, used to decorate cloth, as for a bedspread, robe, bath mat, or window curtain.

(3) A cluster of cut threads, used as a decorative finish attached to the tying or holding threads of mattresses, quilts, upholstery, etc.

(4) To furnish or decorate with a tuft or tufts; to arrange in a tuft or tufts.

(5) In the upholstery trade, to draw together (a cushion or the like) by passing a thread through at regular intervals, the depressions thus produced being usually ornamented with tufts or buttons.  Tufts are not merely decorative because they secure and strengthen mattresses, quilts, cushions etc; they act to hinder the movement of the stuffing.

(6) In botany, a small clump of trees or bushes.

(7) A gold tassel on the cap once worn by titled undergraduates at English universities, one of the more blatant class identifiers if the UK’s class system; the word tuft was also applied to those entitled to wear such as tassel and from this use evolved the slang "toff".

1350-1400: From the Middle English toft & tofte (bunch of soft and flexible things fixed at the base with the upper ends loose), an alteration of earlier tuffe (which endures in the Modern English tuff), from the Old French touffe, tuffe, toffe & tofe (tuft of hair (and source of the modern French touffe)), from the Late Latin tufa (a crest on a helmet (also found in Late Greek toupha) and probably of Germanic origin (the Old High German was zopf and the Old Norse was toppr (tuft, summit).  The earlier European forms were the Old English þūf (tuft), the Old Norse þúfa (mound), the Swedish tuva (tussock; grassy hillock), from the Proto-Germanic þūbǭ (tube) & þūbaz.  It was akin to the Latin tūber (hump, swelling) and the Ancient Greek τῡ́φη (tū́phē) (cattail (used to stuff beds)).  The excrescent t (as in against) was an English addition and tuft was used as a verb from the 1530s.  In some contexts, bunch, cluster, collection, cowlick, group, knot, plumage, ruff, shock, topknot & tussock can impart a similar meaning but tuft is better for its specific purpose.  Tuft & tufting are nouns & verbs, tufted is a verb & adjective, tufter is a noun, tuftier & tuftiest are adjectives, tufty is a noun & adjective and tuftily is an adverb; the noun plural is tufts.

Little Miss Muffet in Hell (left) and with MWC's (Motor Wheel Corporation) Spyder wheel (right).  Because the use by European manufacturers lent the spelling "spyder with a y" a tinge of the exotic, it was used in US commerce, MWC of Lansing Michigan dubbing one of their "jellybean style" wheels thus.  The wheel, produced in the early 1970s, used the then popular technique of combining a styled aluminun center with a chromed steel rim.  MWC's wheels were highly regarded for quality and the Spyder was produced for use with disc or drum brakes.  Note the latter day Little Miss Muffet's strategic positioning of the tip of the tongue. 

The 1550s noun tuffet (little tuft) was from the Old French touffel (the diminutive suffix -et replacing the French -el) which was a diminutive of touffe.  In English the word is obsolete except for the use in the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet which seems first to have appeared in print in 1805 although it (and variations) may have been circulating much earlier.  Etymologists believe Little Miss Muffet’s tuffet was a grassy hillock or a small knoll in the ground (a variant spelling of an obsolete meaning of tuft).  The latter-day use to refer to a hassock or footstool is an example of how (usually obscure) words can acquire meanings if erroneous definitions are often repeated and come to serve some purpose.  Tuffet for example became a favorite of antique dealers who are apt to call both footstools and low seats “tuffets”, a handy practice perhaps when provenance is doubtful.

Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
There came a big spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Those whose fear of spiders (and other arachnids, such as scorpions and ticks) is so severe as to adversely affect normal life are said to be arachnophobic.  Although one of the most commonly described anxiety disorders, in the current edition (DSM-5-TR) of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), arachnophobia is not a diagnostic category but is classified as a sub-type of Specific Phobia, Animal Type, a clinical diagnosis typically described as “Specific Phobia, Animal Type (spiders)”.  The DSM’s criteria for a specific phobia include (1) marked fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation, (2) immediate fear response on exposure, (3) active avoidance or intense distress, (4) fear disproportionate to the actual danger, (5) persistence (typically 6+ months) and (6) and clinically significant impairment or distress.  So, one who merely is not fond of spiders would not meet the DSM’s criteria; the fear must be severe enough to impair functioning or cause substantial distress over at least six months.  The irony is that as well as most spiders being small, non-venomous and not at all anxious to attack humans, co-existing with them and their webs in most cases will improve quality of life by culling the insect population.  For those not convinced, arachnophobia can be treated by a number of therapies including (1) systematic desensitization (a gradual exposure to the source of the distress), (2) the adoption of “calming techniques” which can lower the distress response and (3) CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy), a structured, goal-oriented form of psychotherapy focusing on identifying and changing negative or dysfunctional thought patterns and behaviours.  The estimates vary but all research indicates well under 10% of the global population suffer arachnophobia to the extent a clinician would diagnose with women being significantly more affected.

Tufted furnishings aficionado Lindsay Lohan on tufted leather sofa (left) and in bed with tufted bedhead (right).

Critics of interior design tend not to approve of padded or tufted headboards and the shinier or more pillowy the effect, the greater will be the disparagement.  Such critics probably tend to prefer a minimalist aesthetic and condemn anything which doesn’t conform as outdated, excessive or just in poor taste but that aside, there are practical reasons to avoid the padding because the material can over time collect dust, dirt, and oils, something of concern to allergy sufferers.  The designs can also provide hiding places for the dreaded bed bugs.  Still, there are some who like the “generic luxury hotel room” look and argue they’re a kind of safety feature, banging one’s head on some tufted padding a less troubling event than an impact with one of Ikea’s hard, flat surfaces.  Like any bed, there are advantages and drawbacks, some thing made more comfortable, some close to impossible.

Nobleman in full dress at Cambridge (1815) with golden tuft.

The noun toff began as mid nineteenth century lower-class London slang for "a stylish dresser, a man of the smart set".  It was an alteration of tuft, which was a mid-eighteenth century English university (Oxford & Cambridge) term for students who were members of the aristocracy, a reference to the gold ornamental tassel (or tufts) worn on the academic caps (mortarboards) of undergraduates.  Throughout the “long eighteenth century” (a historian’s term which refers for the epoch running from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (the “long nineteenth” being 1815-1914 and the “long twentieth” 1914-2001 (ie 9/11))), undergraduates at both Oxford and Cambridge were differentiated into four classes: (1) noblemen, (2) gentlemen, (3) commoner-scholars (fellow-commoners at Cambridge) & (4) servitors (sometimes known at Cambridge as sizars and at Oxford as battelers).  Each of these classes of undergraduates was entitled to a different form of dress, noblemen since 1490 (further clarified in 1576) entitled to wear silk and brocaded gowns of bright colors. Such rich materials emphasized noble status, as did the costly dyes. The gowns had flap collars, Tudor bag sleeves with gold lace decorations (akin to the black lace decorations used today on Oxford gimp gowns) and a velvet round cap with a gold tassel (or tuft) was worn.  Noblemen were technically (if misleadingly) nobiles minorum gentium and included the sons of bishops, knights and baronets and, by resolution of Convocation, could include heirs of esquires.

The right to wear the golden tuft was briefly restricted to those with fathers entitled to sit in the House of Lords while those less blue-blooded were allowed only to a plain black tassel but things gradually became less exclusive until the practice was abandoned in the late nineteenth century but the transfer of sense was inevitable: wearers of golden tufts came to be known as tufts.  Those toadies or sycophants (and there were many) who were slavish followers of the tufts were tufthunters and their antics, tufthunting, such individuals and their habits quite identifiable to this day.  By the 1850s, under the influence of the cockney accent, the word had been transformed into toff (some dictionaries of slang noting toft co-existed in the 1850s but this may have been a mishearing) which endures to refer to anyone rich and powerful although the original sense was of someone apparently well-bred.

1912 Stutz Bear Cat (1912-1934); after 1913 they would be dubbed Bearcat (left) and 1915 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (Chassis 2BD, 40/50; 1906-1926) limousine by H.A. Hamshaw (right).

One of the fastest and most admired American cars of the early era, the Stutz Bearcat assumed such a place in popular culture, it was was claimed that should anyone die (except by suicide) at the wheel of a Stutz Bearcat, they were granted an obituary in the New York Times (NYT).  Wholly apocryphal, the origin of the romantic myth is thought to be related to the Bearcat being a symbol of wealth, adventure, and daring, owned by the sort of chaps (such a lifestyle at the time was most associated with men although women adventurers were not unknown) who would likely anyway warrant an NYT obituary.  The Bear Cat's tufted leather upholstery was typical (though not universal) of the high priced automobiles of the time although already, elaborate fabrics were appearing in vehicles with enclosed passenger compartments which afforded protection from the elements.  The appointments of 1915 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost were opulent even by the coachbuilding standards of the day (the Edwardian traditions still maintained) but the chauffeur's compartment lacked a roof (the body style really a Sedanca de Ville as were many of the early English "limousines") so was still trimmed in tufted leather.  The more sheltered passengers enjoyed carved ivory door handles, beveled glass windows, cut crystal lamps, an inlaid wood folding table, two jump seats, and door pockets, communications to the chauffeur via a tubular intercom.  The lavish upholstery in the rear was tufted, beige West-of-England cloth with embroidered silk window pulls and trim-work, including rear compartment shades and sliding divider although what usually attracts most comment is the elegant, pleated, cloth rosette headliner with its cloudlike billows.   To make journeys more pleasant, a set of leather-wrapped flasks was mounted in the right rear armrest.

1908 Hotchkiss 16-20 hp Type T Roi des Belges (King of the Belgians) Touring Car with tufted red leather (right) and 1917 Packard Twin Six Touring Car with channel tufted black leather (left).  The term “touring car” was never exactly defined and use varied between UK & US manufacturers but typically it described a large, four-door, 4-6 seat open car, supplied with a folding top and (usually optional) temporary side curtains.  The style went extinct but did fork into the phaeton (no top or side-windows) and the four-door cabriolet (or convertible) (a folding top and retractable side windows).  However, even by the 1930s, the old coachwork terms from the days of horse-drawn vehicles had come to be used with such imprecision the descriptions were sometimes little more than vaguely indicative and in the post-war years they meant whatever manufacturers at the time wanted them to mean.

In the matter of upholstery, the word “tufted” has long been synonymous with “deep buttoned” but in the early days of the automobile. Coach-builders and upholsters would offer the option of “channel tufted” trim which essentially was “tufting without the buttons” although it seems almost always to have been executed only with parallel seams (ie nothing on the diagonal).  Probably because what would now be understood as a “pleated” style was more comfortable for sitting on in a moving object, it became popular in the 1920s.  Of course, what the machinists called the “straight tuck-roll” technique was less labour intensive and used smaller quantities of materials so interiors could be trimmed at lower cost so the incentive was there to make the switch.  The revival of button-tufting in the late twentieth century was not an exercise in mere nostalgia but an expression of conspicuous consumption, the “obviously expensive” look making tufting in the big US cars something of a Veblen good.   

1972 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency advertising.

Tufted leather upholstery was common in early automobiles, the seating often exactly the same as those used in horse-drawn carriages, houses or commercial buildings (and certainly gentlemen's clubs).  The practice faded as production volumes increased and as early as the late 1920s was coming to be restricted to only the most expensive models.  This exclusivity tended to prevail until 1972 when Oldsmobile introduced the Regency option for its full-sized Ninety-Eight (sometimes as "98") models, a package, the visual highlight of which was tufted "loose-pillow" velour upholstery (although unlike the use in furniture where the "pillows" were detachable for cleaning, in the Ninety-Eight they were fixed permanently to the seats.  Suddenly, solidly middle-class Oldsmobile (right in the middle of General Motors’ (GM) five-step (Chevrolet-Pontiac-Oldsmobile-Buick-Cadillac) hierarchy; the so-called "Slone ladder" designed to both facilitate and encourage "upward automotive mobility" conceived by Alfred P Sloan (1875–1966;  president of General Motors (GM) 1923-1937 and Chairman of the Board 1937-1946)) had brought both velour and loose-pillow seating to the masses.  The velour was at the time admired by most buyers (though derided by some critics of design) and as tufted upholstery began to proliferate in the industry it was usually offered as a cheaper alternative to leather.  In some climates the velour was probably the better choice and was welcomingly comfortable although in some of the more strident shades of red could recall the popular idea of how a bordello might be furnished.  Presumably, those who'd never enjoyed a visit to a bordello were more disconcerted than regular customers.

1974 Imperial LeBaron four-door hardtop (left) in chestnut tufted leather though not actually “rich Corinthian leather” which was (mostly) exclusive to the Cordoba (1975-1983) until late 1975 when not only did the Imperial's brochures mention "genuine Corinthian leather (available at extra cost)" but for the first time since 1954 the range was referred to as the "Chrysler Imperial", a harbinger the brand was about to be retired.  Imperial's advertising copy noted of the brochure photograph above: “...while the passenger restraint system with starter interlock is not shown, it is standard on all Imperials.”; the marketing types didn't like seat-belts messing up their photos, reminding people cars sometimes crash.  While all of the big three (GM, Ford & Chrysler) had tufted interiors in some lines, it was Chrysler which displayed the most commitment to the motif.

1977 Chrysler (Australia) Valiant Regal SE.

In the era, Chrysler's Australian outpost did cut a few corners when implementing the “pillowed look”, economies achieved by (1) using fewer buttons for the tufting of the fabric or optional leather and (2) attaching the tufted “feature sections” directly to the cushion squab rather than creating an emulated “pillowed” look which appeared to sit atop the structure.  Even by the time of the release of the CL range (1976-1978) the feeling was the writing was on the wall for the once popular Australian Valiant (1962-1981) and the top-of-the-line Regal SE was created in the time-honored Q&D (quick & dirty) way by including all the less Regal’s options as standard equipment; only the tufted upholstery and optional leather was unique to the model.  Sales were modest but there remained devoted following for the Valiant which was durable enough to endure the sometimes harsh environment and it was highly regarded for its towing capabilities, equipped either with the lusty locally-developed 265 cubic inch (4.3 litre) straight-6 or the imported 318 cubic inch (5.2 litre) V8.  Built on the US A-body platform, when production ended in 1981 it had lasted a half-decade longer than the Plymouth and Dodge versions sold in the home market and only in Mexico would use continue until 1988.

1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman.

Oldsmobile's move was as audacious and influential as Ford’s introduction in 1965 of the up-market LTD which, like the Regency package, had the effect of cannibalizing sales from other divisions within the same corporation.  Cadillac, although with a range priced considerably above Oldsmobile, offered nothing with such an ostentatious interior though when it did in 1974 respond with its Talisman package (1974-1976), it made sure it did so with more tufted extravagance still, in 1974 offering leather as well as velour.  The trend the Regency package started would last over twenty years and is remembered especially for the tufted fittings used in Imperials, Chryslers and Dodges, the hides used in the Cordoba range (1975-1983) said to be "rich Corinthian leather", an advertising agency creation which meant nothing in particular but sounded vaguely European and therefore expensive.

1985 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz (left), 1977 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham (centre) and 1989 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham d' Elegance (right).

Color choice made a big difference to the perception of the "tufted look", more subdued hues like green and blue less confronting than the "bordello red" which became emblematic of the industry's phase.  Cadillac called the fabric in the Fleetwood Talisman "Medici crushed velour" which had about the same relationship to historic truth as "fine Corinthian leather" but the package sold well over the three seasons it was offered, despite the option costing almost as much (and the leather significantly more) as some new cars.  Among collectors, the holy grail is a 1974 Fleetwood Talisman trimmed in blue leather; although it was on the option list, none has ever been sighted and the factory's records don't breakdown production between the blue and the alternative "medium saddle" (a medium tan), some of which have been verified.

Toggle

Toggle (pronounced tog-uhl)

(1) A pin, bolt or rod placed transversely through a chain, an eye or loop in a rope etc, as to bind it temporarily to another chain or rope similarly treated.

(2) In various types of machinery, a toggle joint, or a device having one.

(3) An ornamental, rod-shaped button for inserting into a large buttonhole, loop or frog, used especially on sports clothes.

(4) In theatre, a wooden batten across the width of a flat, for strengthening the frame (Also called the toggle rail).

(5) In engineering and construction, a metal device for fastening a toggle rail to a frame (also called a toggle iron); a horizontal piece of wood that is placed on a door, flat, or other wooden structure, but is not on one of the edges of the structure; an appliance for transmitting force at right angles to its direction.

(6) To furnish with a toggle or to bind or fasten with a toggle.

(7) In informal use, to turn, twist, or manipulate a toggle switch; dial or turn the switch of a device (often in the form “to toggle between” alternate states).

(8) A type of switch widely used in motor vehicles until outlawed by safety legislation in the 1960s.

(9) In admiralty jargon, a wooden or metal pin, short rod, crosspiece or similar, fixed transversely in the eye of a rope or chain to be secured to any other loop, ring, or bight.

In computer operating systems and applications, an expression indicating a switch of view, contest, feed, option etc.

(11) In sky-diving, a loop of webbing or a dowel affixed to the end of the steering & brake lines of a parachute providing a means of control.

(12) In whaling, as toggling harpoon, a pre-modern (believed to date from circa 5300 BC) harvesting tool used to impale a whale when thrown.

1769: The origin of toggle is murky and the best guess of most etymologists is it was in some way linked with "tug".  In the sense of a "pin passed through the eye of a rope, strap, or bolt to hold it in place" the origin is believed to be nautical (though not necessarily from the Royal Navy) thus the speculation that it’s a frequentative form of “tug” or “to tug” (in the sense of “to pull”), the evolution influenced by regional (or class-defined) pronunciations similar to tog.  The wall fastener was first sold in 1934 although the toggle bolt had been in use since 1994.  The term “toggle switch” was first used in 1938 although such devices had long been in use in the electrical industry and they were widely used in motor vehicles until outlawed by safety legislation in the 1960s.  In computing, toggle was first documented in 1979 when it referred to a keyboard combination which alternates the function between on & off (in the sense of switching between functions or states as opposed to on & off in the conventional sense).  The verb toggle dated from 1836 in the sense of “make secure with a toggle” and was a direct development from the noun.  In computing, the toggle function (“to toggle back and forth between different actions") was first described in 1982 when documenting the embryonic implementations of multi-tasking (then TSRs (terminate & stay resident programs).  Use of the mysterious togglability (the quality of being togglable) seems to be restricted to computer OSs (operating systems) to distinguish between that which can be switched between and that which is a stand-alone function which must separately be loaded & terminated.

The noun toggery (clothing; a clothing shop) is unrelated and was from tog.  It described (in slang), capes, cloaks & coats and (in New Zealand & Australia), swimwear (as a clipping of "swimming togs").  The origin of tog as various garments was as a shortened form of the earlier togemans & togeman (cloak, loose coat), from the Middle English tog, toge & togue, from the Old French togue, from the Latin toga (cloak, mantle).  Togeman(s) was criminal class cant for "cloak or coat" and in the shortened form "tog" it had spread to general use, by the early eighteenth century meaning "coat" and that also underwent mission keep, coming to be used generally of "clothing".  As a verb tog (as both "tog" & "tog up") emerged very quickly.  The special use of tog in fluid dynamics was as a unit of thermal resistance, being ten times the temperature difference (in °C) between the two surfaces of a material when the flow of heat is equal to one watt per m2.  The discipline in the 1940s appropriated the word from its commercial use as a material used in the thermal insulation of clothing.  Tog was also (as a clipping), slang for "a photographer".  Toggle is a noun & verb, toggled & toggling are verbs, toggler, toggery & togglability are nouns and togglable is an adjective; the noun plural is toggles.

The Jaguar E-Type (XKE) and the toggle switch

1964 Jaguar E-Type S1 OTS (Open Two Seater, as the factory at the time described the roadster body-style.

Jaguar’s E-Type (sometimes in North America (NA) informally called XK-E or XKE) deputed in 1961 at the now defunct Geneva Motor Show and it created quite a stir, at once recognized as one of the more seductive shapes ever rendered in metal, a view with which many today agree still.  The impact it made is undisputed but in industry folklore what is contested is whether Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988), attending the show, called it “the most beautiful car in the world”.  The origin of the tale is a recollection by Norman Dewis (1920–2019) who between 1952-1985 was a Jaguar test driver, the website Hemmings reporting him saying of that moment in Geneva: “I always remember Enzo Ferrari coming up to me.  He walked around the car. He said, ‘Norman, it’s the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen.  But there is one mistake on the car.  It hasn’t got a Ferrari badge.’’

1966 Jaguar E-Type OTS.  The cockpit of the "toggle switch E-Types" was one of the classic looks of the analogue era,  Unlike the Jaguar saloons in production at the time, from the start, the E-Type's dashboard had a padded top-rail.    

Il Commendatore seems never to have confirmed or denied expressing the sentiment and there’s no mention of it in Le mie gioie terribili (published in English as “My terrible joys: the Enzo Ferrari memoirs” (“My Terrible Joys” must be one of the finest titles for a memoir)).  So, in the absence of a denial the story stands and the E-Type clearly made an impression because after concluding the sleek shape was likely to confer great aerodynamic advantage, signor Ferrari returned to Modena and ordered the development of the 250 GTO, the three dozen-odd built now among the highest-priced collectables.  It’s not unknown for a statement of perhaps dubious provenance to gain an aura of authenticity if the subject decides it reflects well on them.  In the 1961 Australian general election, as the counting concluded, the government and opposition had won equal numbers with a single seat still to be called; on that one seat rested the fate of the election.  That one seat was held by the conservative Jim Killen (1925–2007) and ultimately he prevailed, ironically because of the “leakage” of a handful of preferences from the Communist Party candidate.  Elated, Killen told the press he’d received a congratulatory phone call from Robert Menzies (1894–1978; prime-minister of Australia 1939-1941 & 1949-1966) who’d said “Killen, you’re magnificent”.  The quip had come from Killen’s imagination and later, ruefully, he would reveal that at the first post-election meeting of Liberal Party members, Menzies “didn’t even offer me a drink.”  Still, Menzies never disowned the comment and one of his press secretaries confirmed he’d been happy for it circulate.

1961 Jaguar E-Type S1 roadster with toggle switches and aluminum trim panels.

Ergonomically, while an aesthetic delight, the layout was not wholly successful though toggle switches are thought more sexy than the later rockers (although, sardonically, in the E-Type community they are sometimes described a "suicide switches") which were adopted to comply with US safety regulations.  There are two different stamping patterns for the aluminum trim pieces and the one used on the very early cars is much prized; it has never been available as a re-production.  In 1963, as a running change (the factory bulletin indicating it was done to reduce glare), the panel's covering was changed to black vinyl.  The use of aluminum facia plates in a Jaguar was untypical and the designers later recalled it was done just to provide that "race car look" rather as some of today's manufacturers and tuning houses will use carbon fibre (real and fake).  The factory certainly was aware of the significance of the ambiance in cockpit design.  The earlier XK120 (1948-1954) had been available as a FCH (fixed head coupé), DHC (drop head coupé (ie a cabriolet)) and OTS but while the first two received the traditional burl walnut veneer, the "sportier" OTS's facia was covered in leather & leathercloth.  The latter was thought a more modern look which increasingly was used on the successor XK140 (1954-1957) & XK150 (1957-1961) with only the saloons using timber exclusively (which remained an option for the XK150).

Custom timber veneer fittings by Madera Concepts for Jaguar E-type in burl walnut (left) and Carpathian elm (right). 

Unlike the XK150, the timber fittings were never a factory option but some owners found the look irresistible and commissioned specialists to create the pieces.  Although the total area is not large, some disassembly and reassembly is required and with a few curves around which the veneer must be made to curl, it's a job which demands expertise.  The fine craftsmen at Madera Concepts in California report having done sets in both burled walnut and Carpathian elm, the results looking exactly as one imagines the factory might have produced had there ever been a Daimler version of the E-Type.  Of course, however much those commissioning the work might be delighted, the originality police are unlikely much to be impressed.  Views change and by 1985 timber had re-appeared in the cockpit of the E-Type’s nominal replacement (the XJ-S (1975-1996 and in 1991 named XJS during Jaguar's time as subsidiary of Ford) so walnut in the one-off “notchback” Daimler XJ-S prototype was not a novelty.

Erected soft-top on 1969 E-Type S2.

Jaguar devoted time and resources to testing the E-Type but one thing which slipped through the pre-production process (as well what must have been indifference to the glare from the dashboard) was a buffeting the OTS's fabric soft-top suffered at certain speeds.  It seems an obvious thing not to notice but, like the HST's (Hubble Space Telescope) mis-shaped mirror, it was just one of those things.  With the E-Type's release date locked-in, it was too late to redesign the components and it was a hint at the machine's intrinsic unsuitability for mass-production.  The factory had not expected demand to exist in anything close to what instantly emerged (they'd expected to sell at most a few thousand but not some 72,000 over 14 years; the world was however seduced and to this day the E-Type remains the definitive Jaguar).  The consensus among the cognoscenti seems to be if Jaguar had anticipated what a huge seller the E-Type would become they might have (1) devoted a few more months to the development and (2) on the production line spent maybe another £40 per car, meaning many of the E-Type's inherent problems might have been solved and adding £40 to the price would likely not much have affected demand.    

The fix.

Jaguar's Q&D (quick and dirty) solution for the buffeting was to weigh-down the affected area with a chain of lead-shot, sewed into the fabric in effectively the same way weighted hems are used in fashion.  Just over a half inch (14 mm) in diameter, the lead-shot bag was wrapped in a sisal cord with two 12 inch (300 mm) draw-cords to permit it easily to be pulled through the pocket in the top.  It was such a rush-job Jaguar never allocated a part-number and it’s only ever been part of hood cloth assembly (#BD20582 for the Series 1; 159.854 for the Series 2).  Both the S1 (1961-1968) and S2 (1968-1971) E-Types had the lead-shot bag, even though the soft-top’s frame was re-designed for the later cars (the S1 with three bows, the S2 two and the clamps securing the mechanism to the windscreen header rail were strengthened) and for the S2, the size of the shot-bag was reduced slightly to accommodate a change in placement, now beneath the centre strap between the bows.  Interestingly, despite presumably having at least slightly different aerodynamic properties, there seems to have been no difference in the buffeting suffered by the early cars with mohair fabric and the later which used Everflex (a tough, high quality synthetic used by Rolls-Royce during it's unfortunate "vinyl roof phase" in the 1970s (Rolls-Royce never used the word "vinyl", always insisting it was "an Evereflex covering").  For the S3 E-Type (1971-1974), the soft-top was again re-designed, this time in a way which rendered the lead-shot chains unnecessary.  

 

On the E-Type, the toggle switches were fitted only to the S1 & S1.25 cars built between 1961-1967 and they're admired both for the "vintage" appearance and their delightful tactility, the centrally-located array controlling functions such as lighting and the windscreen wipers.  Even by the slight standards of 1960s ergonomics the arrangement wasn’t ideal but, sitting beneath the gauges, it was an elegant and impressive layout the factory would retain for more than a decade, the E-type using the arrangement until production ended in 1974 and it endured on the low-volume Daimler DS420 limousine until 1992.  However, while the layout for a while survived, the toggle switches did not, the hard-edged protuberances deemed dangerous by the US NHSB (National Highway Safety Bureau (which in 1970 became the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) under the newly created DOT (Department of Transportation), established by an act of Congress on 15 October, 1966 and beginning operation on 1 April, 1967) which, since the publication of Ralph Nader’s (b 1934) book Unsafe at any Speed (1965) had begun to write legislation which stipulated standards for automobile safety, this in parallel with the growing body of law designed to reduce toxic exhaust emissions.  The world into which the E-Type had been born was in its twilight.

1973 Jaguar E-Type S3 roadster with rocker switches.

On the later roadsters, the far-right rocker switch was un-labeled because it was functional only on the coupés, activating the rear-window demister; on the XJ sedans (which used the same switch apparatus), it swapped the flow between the dual gas (petrol) tanks.  When the S2 XJ was released in 1973, the whole dashboard was revised, greatly improving the ergonomics but lacking the visual appeal of a look dating from 1959 when the Mark II saloon (1959-1969) was released although the most extravagant implemental was on the Mark X (1961-1966) which used a full width assembly in timber veneer.  While impressive, airbags were decades away from mass use and seatbelts were uncommon so when the model was revised and released as the 420G (1966-1970), the top rail received a padded vinyl covering (with a central clock).  It didn't look as good but may have reduced the severity of a few head injuries.

In 1968, the new wave of legislation came mostly from the DOT so applied almost exclusively to vehicles sold in the US but such was the importance of that market it made little sense for Jaguar to continue to produce a separate line with toggle switches for sale in the rest of the word (RoW) so the decision was taken to standardize on the flatter rocker switches with their safer, rounded edges.  At much the same time, other changes were made to ensure the E-Type on sale in 1968 would conform also to other new rules, the most obvious being the replacement of the lovely covered headlights, replaced by units in a scalloped housing, mounted slightly higher (there was also a minimum headlight-height stipulation).  Given the extent of change, it was decided to designate the updated cars as the S2 (Series 2).  Despite the perceptions of some (fuelled by internet posts and re-posts), by 1967, Jaguar, while not a mass-production operation along the lines of a computerized Detroit assembly line, had long since ceased to be a cottage industry and as a change was made in a model’s specification, except for specified batches, it was applied to all production after a certain date.  Although the factory’s records document this, urban myths continue to circulate, stimulated by so-called “unicorns” such as the handful of 3.8 litre Mark 2 saloons built after 1967 when the line was rationalized (as the 240 & 340) and restricted to the 2.4 & 3.4 litre XK-Six; those 3.8s were official “special orders” and not ad-hoc aberrations.  However, nothing in the era has resulted in as much misinformation as the specification of what came (unofficially) to be called the S1.25 & S1.5 E-Types, the most common myth being that before S2 production began, some cars left the factory with a sometimes unpredictable mix of S1 & S2 parts, this haphazardness accounted for by the expedient of “using up stock”.  In the industry, (even in computerized Detroit) the practice was not unknown but there’s no evidence of the practice among 1967 E-Types.  What seems especially to attract speculation is the phenomenon of “overlap”, a word describing a Jaguar found to include some “later” or “earlier” features than the build date and VIN (vehicle identification number) suggest should be fitted.  It's part of the charm of the breed and was usually the result of the recorded “build date” reflecting when a car passed the final quality control checks; apparent discrepancies did happen if a car with an earlier chassis number had been returned for rectification of some fault, thus picking up what appears to be an “out-of-sequence” date.

1967 Jaguar E-Type S1 OTS (left) and 1976 Jensen Interceptor III (J Series) Convertible (right).

With the end of E-Type production, no Jaguar subsequently used the classic dashboard layout although it did endure on the Daimler DS40 limousine, built on the platform of the old Mark X.  Although over 4,000 DS420s (including two built by Vanden Plas as landaulets) were built (plus an additional 900-odd supplied as “commercial chassis” to coachbuilders who would fabricate custom aft-sections, configured mostly as hearses), the model was never sold in the US, the costs of the engineering required to make it compliant with the NHTSA’s ever-evolving rules to high to make the low-volume model viable.  Jensen however adopted the layout for the Interceptor (1966-1976) when in 1969 the Mark II was released although it too was compelled to replace the toggle switches with rockers and they went above and beyond the regulator’s dictates, installing them in a recessed, padded housing.  Even on the Interceptor Mark III (1971-1976), although there were a number of detail changes to the dashboard over the life of the model (there were “G”, “H” & ”J” series, “I” skipped to avoid confusion with the numeric “1” (one), a convention followed by many including bra manufacturers and Boeing when updating the B-52H Stratofortress), the Jaguaresque layout (an array of gauges in the centre with a line of toggles below) remained to the end.  Again, the ergonomics were not state of the art but, like the Jaguars, the Interceptor had other charms.

2006 Spyker C8 Laviolette Widebody: Dashboard layout with four-spoke “propeller” steering wheel (left) and toggle switches with nerf-bars (right).

Pleasingly, although thought extinct on the road, the toggle switches did make a comeback with several small-scale manufacturers unable to resist the look.  The way that look was kept while remaining compliant with the rules was to add rounded nerf-bars on each side of the switch, a trick borrowed from racing cars where the fittings were used to ensure a driver didn’t inadvertently “flick to wrong one”, always a risk because of the thick gloves usually worn in competition.  Spyker, a boutique operation from the Netherlands, began operation in 1999, the name coming from a Dutch coach-builder that between 1880-1926 would branch out from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles and even aircraft.  Since 2000, between various local difficulties (including bouts of bankruptcy), Spyker has produced a number of high-performance models and while the mechanical specification has always been impressive, what has also drawn attention are the exquisitely finished interiors, the intricacies (typified by the nerf-bars around the toggle switches) a delight for those who fetishize such things.  Unfortunately the four-spoke “propeller” steering wheel (a style last seen in volume on the Jaguar XK150 (1957-1961) was eventually judged just too potentially lethal to be granted an exemption from compliance and was replaced with something more accommodating from the Lamborghini parts-bin.

Engineering as art: Gear-shift mechanism, 2006 Spyker C8 Laviolette Widebody (left) and 2007 Spyker C8 Laviolette Targa with, softer, gentler steering wheel (right).

What did however survive was the wonderfully crafted shift mechanism for the rear-mounted ZF transaxle and although the exposed shafts of stainless steel might seem an affectation, it's pure functionalism; being a direct mechanical linkage, they provide precise gear-shifting, always a challenge with such a layout (the Porsche 914 (1969-1976) community coined “broomstick in a jar of mayonnaise” to describe the experience of the earlier "tail-shift" models, the post 1972 "side-shift" build a great improvement from "bad" the "satisfactory").  The shape of the shifter’s knob reflects the modern practice, dating from analysed data derived in the late 1960s from the Swedish government's mandatory post mortems (autopsies) of road-accident fatalities (under Swedish law, such corpses were for 48 hours the property of the state).  What the pathologists' findings revealed was lives could be saved if engineers could devise as a shift lever handle too large to penetrate the eye socket.  One of the first knobs to reflect this design imperative appeared in 1971 on the Mercedes-Benz 350 SL (R107, 1971-1989) although, there being an element of the macabre in the research, the origin of the shape wasn't something the factory choose widely to publicize.  The small innovation was a classic example of what's called “passive safety”.  Spyker’s engineering is thorough and although pure-steel from transaxle to knob, heat-soak along the shaft is said to be minor so there was no need to resort to a timber knob as Porsche did in the late 1960s on some of its race cars; to this day the urban myth persists that Porsche used balsawood to reduce weight by a few grams.  

The pure lines of the S1 E-Type (top) were diluted, front and rear, by the need to comply with US safety legislation, the later S2's head & taillights more clunky.  The collector market slang for the later headlight treatment is "sugar scoop".

The process by which S1 evolved into S2 was in a sense transitional which is why the designations S1.25 & S1.5 became accepted in the jargon.  Not used by the factory, the terms are said to have been “invented” by JCNA (Jaguar Clubs of North America), the S1.25 run beginning on 11 January 1967 after production resumed following the Christmas holiday while the first 1.5s were built mid-year.  Although within the collector community much is made of the defining differences between the “pure” S1 and the “transitional” S1.25 & S1.5, that “purity” is nuanced because like many others, the E-Type was subject to constant product development with changes appearing from time to time and "S1" is a concept rather than a static specification.  Early in the model run, there were some obvious changes such as (1) the modification to the “flat floors” to provide more leg-room, (2) the integration of the hood (bonnet) louvers into the pressing, (3) the external hood (really a “clamshell”) release (there were two types) being replaced by an internal mechanism, (4) internal trim changes including the dashboard materials, console and seats, (5) the replacement of the Moss gearbox with an all-synchromesh unit and (6) the 4.2 litre engine replacing the original 3.8.  Beyond those well-known landmarks, between 1965 and early 1967 there was also a wealth of barely detectable (except to experts of which there are quite a few) cosmetic changes and mechanical updates including: (1) the glass windshield washer bottle being replaced by a plastic container (March 1965), (2) the addition of an alternator shield (October 1965), (3) an enclosed brake and clutch pedal box (October 1965), (4) a hazard warning (4-way) flasher included for US market cars (November 1965), (5) sun-visors added to the OTS (February 1966), (6) instrument lighting changed from blue to green (March 1966), (7) the rubber boot at the base of the gear lever being replaced by a black Ambla gaiter (October 1966), (8) detail changes to the gearbox cover and prop shift tunnel finisher (October 1966), (9) the material used for the under-dash panels switched from Rexine-skinned aluminum to fiberboard (October 1966) and (10) a Girling clutch master cylinder replaced the Dunlop unit (December 1966).  One quirky part of the evolution was that although, from their introduction in 1966, the 2+2 cars included a door for the glove-box, one wasn't fitted to the OTS & FHC until  the S1.5 run.

Jaguar E-Type: S1 with covered headlight (left), S1.25 with early "sugar scoop" (centre) and S2 with later "sugar scoop" (right). 

After the lovely headlight covers were legislated to extinction by the DOT bureaucrats, the replacement (uncovered) apparatus came to be called the “sugar scoop”, a term earlier used for the Volkswagens & Porsches sold in the NA market which had to be fitted with sealed-beam headlights because of protectionist rules designed for the benefit of US manufacturers.  The use of “sugar scoop” for the E-Type was appropriate because the visual link with the utensil was much more obvious than on the Volkswagens & Porsches.  There were three different designs of sugar scoops, one for the 1.25 & 1.5, one for the S2 and one for the S3.

Straight six by Emily Abay (b 1986).

UUA 368 is an Australian-registered 1968 (S2) Jaguar E-Type available for hire at a daily rate of Aus$990.00 (including 200 km (124 miles)); the hire company dubbed her (the car) "Penelope" (unfortunately, the company does not expand on how the names were chosen).  Not all jurisdictions allow the registration plate to be painted on the hood, a practice made famous in 1961 by photographs of 9600 HP, a pre-production E-Type used as one of the factory’s original press-cars.  It was 9600 HP which The Autocar magazine took to Belgium, successfully verifying the then astonishing claim of a top speed of 150 mph (241 km/h) although, years later, it was revealed there had been a few subtle tweaks and an E-Type off the showroom floor wouldn’t quite have hit the magic number, no matter how long and straight the road.  Painting the registration on the hood avoided disfiguring the lovely lines with a plate (no flat surfaces on the front of an E-Type) and many followed the lead, some places allowing it, some not.  A S2 E-Type, UUA 368 has the one of the more elevated of the sugar scoops but, being delivered in Australia, it retains the triple SU carburettors by then denied to customers in NA so response will be lively, especially above 100 mph (160 km/h).

A US market 1977 Porsche 911 (1964-1989), fitted with the front bumper assembly of a later 911 (964 (1989-1994)):  The original “sugar scoops” are seen on the left and the replacement Hella H4 lights are to the right (in RoW cars both H2 & H4 units were fitted).  The (non-figurative) sugar scoop (centre) is Japanese, circa 1970s.  Sugar scoops are used to scoop sugar from a “sugar scuttle” whereas if one’s sugar is in a “sugar bowl”, a “sugar spoon” is used.  The difference between a “sugar spoon” and a “tea spoon” is the former has a deeper and usually more rounded bowl and most are supplied as part of a “tea set” or “tea service”, often with the same decorative elements.

1966 Jaguar E-Type FHC: undeniably, the headlight covers were a sexy shape.

Despite that myriad of modifications, all E-Types prior to the S2 are S1s but the running changes can be of significance to restorers if the object is exactly to emulate the state in which a vehicle rolled off the production line; in events such as a concours d'élegancé, judges can deduct points for even minor infractions.  Things became more distinct when on 11 January 1967 the first E-Type destined for the US market was built without the covered headlights and this marked the beginning of the run of what would come to be known as the 1.25 although it wouldn’t be until mid-year the open headlights became a universal fitting.  Unlike some cars where changes can be determined from the sequential VINs, the only way accurately to determine whether a 1967 E-Type built between January and July was fitted with covered or uncovered headlights work out the market for which it was built, those for NA using the uncovered fittings.  That's because an analysis of successive VINs will reveal on a given day there might have been a mix of cars going down the production line with different headlight assemblies.  Curiously, there were some 1968 E-Types built for Canada which included the triple SUs and while these included the interior changes mandated by US federal law, the door mirror on the driver’s side wasn't fitted and the tail and side lights were a different specification.  From 1969, Canada aligned its regulations with those of the US so from that point on, the NA specification was standardized but the history of S1 production does illustrate why things be so challenging for restorers wishing exactly to replicate what the factory did.

Between August-October 1967, the 1.5 run was built with twin Zenith-Stromberg carburetors (in a specification designed to reduce emissions) replacing the triple SUs (on NA cars), the substitution of ribbed camshaft covers, a higher mounting of the headlights (to meet minimum height requirements) and the adoption of rocker switches; at this point, the teardrop tail lights remained, the other most obvious external marker of the S2 being the chunky lights below the rear bumper bar.  In the usual manner, updates continued, such as twin cooling fans (a good idea) and 1000-odd run of the so-called "R2" cars, almost all of which were registered as 1971 models although many left the factory in 1970.  The R2 S2 E-Types gained a pair of "leaper" badges on the flanks, just behind the front wheel arches.  Unlike the steel leapers centrally mounted on the hoods of other models, the badges required two part numbers, one each for the left & right.  It seemed a pointless addition and just an addition of more clutter, as they were on the S1 (1968-1973) & S2 (1973-1979) XJs.

1971 S2 Jaguar E-Type (centre) from the "R2" run of 1000-odd with the leaper badges on the flanks.

So much did the clutter created by bigger bumpers, protuberant headlight assemblies, badges and side-marker lights detract from the lovely, sleek lines of the Series 1 cars, bolting a luggage rack to the trunk (boot) probably seemed no longer the disfigurement it would once have been.  The left-hand (left) and right-hand (right) badges, being directional, were different part numbers (BD35865 & BD35866 respectively) and those used on E-Types were silver on black.  There were also variants used on the XJs which were gold on black and some had the leaping feline at a slight slope, both matters of note for those wishing to restore to the exacting "factory original" standard.  

So, without a flow chart, it can be hard to follow and, because of some overlaps in the production process, the S1-to-S1.25-to-S1.5 transition wasn’t entirely lineal but none of this is mysterious because the JFSBs have documented and explained these “inconsistencies”.  Still, there are enough quirks to enrage some and delight others.  For example, there were a certain 32 specific NA market vehicles fitted with the headlight covers which were built with serial numbers later than the first of the open headlight cars.  Not all E-Types built for NA in 1967 thus had the open headlights and a not insignificant number of those 1.25 spec vehicles have been retro-fitted with the covers.  Such is the appeal of the covered headlights that although the E-Type market is monitored by the originality police (the “matching numbers” crowd with their extraordinary knowledge of things like “correct” hose clamps or screw heads), there is some untypical forgiveness for “back-dating” headlights to the sleeker look and they're not unknown even on the later, and much different, S3 cars.  Also, although US market S2 cars were from very early in the build fitted with the side-marker light assemblies, it wasn't until late in 1969 bulbs and wiring were fitted (the relevant law taking effect on 1 January 1970); prior to that they'd functioned merely as “side-reflectors”, meaning latter day purchasers need to inspect non-illuminating examples to work out if they're defective or just reflectors.  Opinion seems divided on the matter of fitting the triple SU carburetor assembly to cars delivered with the twin Zenith-Strombergs and many have been converted.  It's not difficult to make a 1.25 visually indistinguishable from a S1 and to do the same to a 1.5 is a matter just of more parts, time and money, the ethics of both ventures being transparency; once modifications are disclosed to a potential purchaser, it's up to them to decide if originality is critical.  Armed with lists of VINs, JFSBs and encyclopaedic knowledge, the JCNA's originality police will not be fooled. 

The lure of the headlight covers: 1973 E-Type S3 with headlight covers subsequently added (left) and with the standard "sugar scoops" (left).

These are US market cars with the additional "dagmars" appended to the bumperettes.  Even by 1973, thin whitewall tyres were still a popular option on US Jaguars and they remained available until the last were sold in 1975 but the wide whitewalls often supplied in the early 1960s had long fallen from favor.  Although the judges in the JCNA confederation are usually uncompromising, they make a rare exception in not deducting points from late-build E-Types (the so-called 1.25 & 1.5) which have been fitted with the headlight covers.  The covers never appeared on the S3 E-Types but their unexpected presence clearly doesn't dissuade buyers because the S3 pictured above (left) in February, 2021 sold at auction for US$230,000.  It was an exceptionally low-mileage example (8000-odd miles (13,000 km)) but even given that it represented an impressive premium for what was a "modified" vehicle.  The S3 cars also had a number of year-to-year variations but compared with the constantly evolving S1 the specification tended to the static.  One quirk was that as well as offering the new 5.3 litre (326 cubic inch) V12, it had been intended also to make available a version with the 4.2 litre XK-Six with brochures and promotional materials printed before the decision was taken only to fit the V12.  However, four six cylinder pre-production prototypes were built and one is known to survive; curiously, despite the rarity (indeed, it may genuinely be a unique, historic E-Type footnote), at auction it achieved a price little different from a 1971 V12 model in equivalent condition.

Jaguar E-Type production breakdown, 1961-1974.  

While the loss of the toggle switches, teardrop taillights and headlight covers caused many to lament that the world was shifting from elegance ungainliness, some other changes also induced pangs of regret.  The switch from triple to dual carburetors was necessitated by the emission control regulations; the claimed HP (horsepower) dropped from 265 to 246 and while not many took the original rating too seriously, there was a drop in performance, especially in the upper speed ranges.  One often less noticed change mandated by the DOT was the replacement of the “eared” knock-off hubs for the wire wheels (the E-Types only ever using a two-eared version although third-party items with three ears are available) with a more “pedestrian friendly” type which, bewilderingly, are now referred to as the “non-eared”, “curly”, “octagonal”, “smooth”, “federal” “safety” and “continental” knock offs.  Take your pick.  Buyers could also take their pick of whether their “improved” wire wheels (now incorporating a forged centre hub) were painted in matte silver or chromed although the JFSB did caution that because of the altered configuration of the spokes, the wheels were not interchangeable with the earlier type except as a complete set (ie five per car).  Available from 1 January, 1968 (the effective date for many of DOT’s new rules), this was Jaguar’s last update of the wire wheels which, in a variety of forms, the company had been using since being founded in 1922 as the Swallow Sidecar Company.  Never offered on the biggest and heaviest of the post-war cars (the Mark VII, VIII, IX and X/420G) or the new XJ range, they were last used on the “overlap” Daimler saloons (250 & Sovereign) in 1969 although they remained an option for the E-Type until the last was built in 1974.  

Wire wheels and associated components for the E-Type by Martin Robey; note the two designs of spinner saver (eared & non-eared).

Although a handful of small-scale producers (the last hold-outs from the days of cottage industries) continued to offer wire wheels, their final appearance on the option lists of the UK industry’s volume models came in 1980 when the last of MG's Midgets and MGBs were sold.  The term "knock-off" sometimes confuses because in slang it can mean a "fake or reproduction item" but in the context of wheels the original meaning described the centre-locking hubs (known also as "spinners") which were tightened or loosened by being "knocked" on the ears with the (often lead-faced) mallet (sometimes described as a hammer) included in the tool kit.  In racing, pit crews would strike the ears directly but tool-kits usually included a (typically timber) "spinner saver" to minimise damage to both hub and mallet; when non-eared hubs appeared, the shape of the spinner saver was also changed.  So the term can confuse: The famous Italian manufacturer Borrani produced many wheels with centre-lock hubs so the phrase "Borrani knock-offs" is standard industry jargon and by convention "knock off Borranis" is used of replica locking nuts (also called "spinners"), the presence of which can be a concern because they might be of lower quality, not manufactured to the safety and performance standards of the genuine product.  

Norway’s Motorhistorisk Klubb Drammen (Historic Car Club of Drammen) from Buskerud county reported on an exhibition hosted on 2 July, 2014 by the Norsk motorhistorisk museu (Norwegian Motor Historic Museum) in the village of Brund, the event honoring Lindsay Lohan’s (b 1986) 28^th birthday.  The red S2 Jaguar E-Type had received a recent restoration but a detailed examination would have to be undertaken to determine the degree to which it remains in its original specification.  Given the visible clues and its presence in Norway, this may have been a RoW (which the triple SU carburetors would suggest though they are a popular swap on twin-carb models) car but there’s a lively two-way trans-Atlantic trade in E-Types (many now expertly restored in Poland) so it may originally have been sold in the US or Canada.

The “Shaguar” used in the three Austin Powers movies (1997, 1999 & 2002).

The Shaguar was a 1967 S1.5 E-Type which featured the combination of teardrop taillights, twin carburetors, sugar scoop headlights, a glove-box door, rocker switches and, being right-hand drive (RHD), it wasn't built for NA.  When the auction house published the photographs, the vibrant on-line originality police did their analysis and concluded it was built in December 1967 as a 1968 model but was in far from original condition (beyond the obvious paint and Shaguar badge).  The dashboard included the earlier manual choke and the heater and vent controls appeared to be missing and while the side & turn lights were NA specification, the taillights were those used on RoW cars.  The tachometer was the one one fitted to S2 models and it was suspected this may have been swapped when the later, non-original engine with the twin Zenith-Stromberg carburetors was installed.  Over the decades, many E-Types have for one reason and another drifted far from their original build and usually this limits their appeal to collectors but at Mecum Auctions in January 2025, the Shaguar realized US$880,000 (including 10% buyers premium), several times the typical sale price of a non-original S1.5 RoW E-Type in the same condition, its history as a cinema prop clearly an attraction.