1936 Jaguar SS 100. Click image to enlarge

Article and photo by Bill Vance

The British Jaguar has a long and storied past that included such outstanding models as the SS 100, XK120 and E-Type sports cars, C- and D-Type Le Mans winning racers, and the beautiful Mark II and later sedans. It was an independent company until the 1960s when it merged with the British Motor Corporation to become British Motor Holdings, then in 1968 British Leyland Motor Corp. which was nationalized in 1975.

It finally broke away from the bureaucratic morass to become independent again in 1984. Its ownership journey was not yet complete, however, and Jaguar was purchased by the Ford Motor Company in 1989 and made part of Ford’s Premium Automotive Group.

But that wasn’t the end of it. In 2008 in an ironic twist of British Empire fate, Jaguar was purchased by India’s Tata Motors. Thankfully Chairman Ratan Tata has promised that Tata will not interfere with the mystique of this grand British marque.

The Jaguar company grew from humble roots. In 1922 a couple of young motorcycle enthusiasts named William Walmsley and William Lyons formed the Swallow Sidecar Company. Its product was an aluminum-clad, zeppelin-shaped motorcycle sidecar built in a small shop in Blackpool, England.

The Swallow sidecar proved to be a good product, and by the late 1920s they had progressed to fabricating stylish open and closed bodies for the tiny Austin Seven, and later for Standards, Swifts, Fiats, Morrises and Wolseleys. They relocated to Coventry in 1928, becoming the Swallow Coachbuilding Company, and then S.S. Cars
Ltd. in 1934.

In the early 1930s, Swallow Coachbuilding Company started building its own SS cars using Standard Motor Company chassis and engines. They were very stylish, emphasizing low-slung lines. The first SS I, introduced in 1931, was based on the Standard 16 model and was a signal that they were on their way as automobile manufacturers. It was powered by Standard’s 2.0-litre, side-valve six, the beginning of the company’s preference for six-cylinder engines.

The SS I made a dramatic styling statement with its long louvred hood, front cycle fenders, Rudge-Whitworth centre-lock wire wheels, no running boards, and rear-mounted continental spare tire. What we would now call a two-plus-two, it accommodated two adults in front and two children in the rear.

Its low profile 1,422 mm (56 in.) height was achieved by lowering the chassis and mounting the springs outside the frame rails. The engine was moved back in the chassis and the wheelbase was a little longer than the Standard model from which it was derived. A smaller SS II was also built with a four-cylinder engine.

The SS I soon became available with a larger 2.5-litre Standard six which improved performance considerably, raising top speed from 113 km/h (70 mph) to 129 km/h (80 mph).

The first car to bear the Jaguar name was the SS Jaguar produced for 1936. It came as a 1.5 or 2.5-litre (although displacements were actually 1.6 and 2.6 litres), and the 2.6-litre was Jaguar’s first venture into engine design, although it was still built by the Standard Motor Company.

The new six was based on Standard’s side-valve engine but was converted to overhead valves. It produced 102 horsepower, enough to push top speed to beyond 145 km/h (90 mph). It had a seven-bearing crankshaft, light alloy connecting rods and aluminum pistons, and breathed through two S carburetors.

With its vertical bar grille and long, flowing fenders the SS Jaguar was a very handsome car. It was a classic 1930s design, one so aesthetically pure that it would always have its special appeal. Following the Second World War it was replaced by modern envelope type bodies of which the 1949 Jaguar XK 120 was the first stunning
example.

The most famous of the 1930s Jaguars was the SS 100 roadster, which came initially with the 2.5-litre six, but in 1938 was fitted with a 3.5-litre. The rakish styling was complemented by the robust, overhead valve six-cylinder engine rated at 125 horsepower. It gave the SS 100 excellent performance, with contemporary road tests listing top speed as over 161 km/h (100 mph). And one report in The Autocar gave an outstanding zero to 96 km/h (60 mph) time of 10.4 seconds.

Although the SS 100 had good acceleration and top speed, its handling left something to be desired thanks to semi-elliptic leaf springs all around. In spite of this, enthusiastic drivers were able to show good results in competition.

Those pre-Second World Two Jaguars and SS cars were style leaders that always looked more expensive than they were. Their bold, imaginative lines launched the mighty Jaguar name with verve and panache.