Making the Marque: Jaguar

[Jaguar Owners Club]

 

Jaguar SS1                                                Clark Gable takes delivery of his Jaguar XK120 from William Lyons in 1949

 

                                       

The first XJS                                                            F-Type - not for the shy

 

Jaguar's founder described the car as “the closest thing we can create to something that is alive”. But when William Lyons formed the Swallow Sidecar Company (eventually to become Jaguar Cars Limited) in Blackpool in 1922, the company did not at first even make cars. However, after a good few years making add-ons for motorbikes, Lyons felt the pull of four wheels and diversified, fashioning fancy bodywork for Austin and Fiat.

No longer content with building new clothing for other people’s cars, Lyons moved to bigger premises in Coventry and commissioned a custom chassis and engine. Then, in 1931, he produced his first complete car, the SS1. The model’s success led to the company uncoupling itself from the sidecar completely and being renamed SS Cars.

In 1935, a larger-engine version of the car was the first to be called a Jaguar. The SS Jaguar 100 had a 3.5-litre engine which gave plenty of power to justify the jungle-cat epithet, with the number a boastful indication of the model's 100mph top speed, an incredible feat at the time.

During the war, car production was halted as the factory helped the war effort by producing jeep, motorcycle and aeroplane parts for the Allies. But although no cars were rolled out, much oily plotting was happening behind the scenes. Emerging from the bunker, they fled the Nazi connotations of the SS name and became Jaguar Cars. They produced a new XK engine with a then very experimental twin overhead camshaft, which, along with an all-new chassis, was intended for a new saloon.

When the saloon was not ready in time, Lyons decided to launch a limited-edition sports car to showcase the new engine’s capability. At the 1948 London Motor Show the XK120 was unveiled, with flowing feline lines that are still recognisably Jaguar today. The beautiful two-seater caused such a sensation that it went immediately into full production. Jaguar struggled to meet demand, especially from overseas. Around 60 per cent of cars were exported to the US, with one owner - the Hollywood star Clark Gable - saying that as soon as he saw it, he “wanted it like a child wants candy”.

It also led to success on the track. In 1951, the C-Type - based on the XK120 but with a lighter chassis and body - was driven to victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours. The car won again in 1953 and its successor, the awesome jet-fighter-on-wheels D-Type, went on to win in 1955, 1956 and 1957.

The beginning of the 1960s saw the introduction of two models that for many people are the ultimate Jaguars: the Mark II four-door saloon favoured by everyone from gangsters to TV detectives; and the E-Type, a car regularly voted the most beautiful ever made.

But by the 1970s, things started to go wrong. The departure of the by then knighted Sir William Lyons after 50 years; the Oil crisis; mergers and Leyland nationalisation; and plunging morale followed by strikes over pay and conditions all led to a bleak period in the marque’s history. That said, the decade is now looked at more rosily for producing two other well-loved models, the initially badly received XJ-S and the early XJ saloons.

In 1980, the company was taken over by industrialist John Egan and things started to turn around. He steered the company out of its slump, overseeing a successful stock market flotation, tackling productivity and quality issues and nursing the balance sheets back to health.  By the end of the decade there was even long-absent sporting success, with Jaguar-V12-engined TWRs winning at Le Mans in 1988 and 1990.

In 1990, Jaguar was bought by Ford, becoming part of the US giant's Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin, Volvo and - from 2000 - Land Rover. This brought improvements in reliability and notably a return to form for the XJ saloon which had turned gawkily square-eyed in the 1980s. But it also invited criticism for – among other things – the X-Type, which was derided by purists as a Ford Mondeo in Jag-drag.

In 2008, the company was bought, along with Land Rover, by Tata of India. Since then there have been several new models, including an all new XJ and, most recently, the F-Type, whose looks and performance have caused some sharp intakes of breath and even daring mentions in the same sentence as the hallowed E-Type.

There has been hardly a negative comment about the F-Type. The closest anyone gets is the occasional observation that the growl is a bit loud and that the car can be “a bit of an animal”. And looking at it from Sir William’s point of view, that’s exactly what a car should be.