When sales of the cars and sidecars continued to increase the company moved to Coventry, the traditional car-manufacturing centre of England. The Swallow Company had now been in existence 9 years, the young company was very successful, but Lyons was not impressed he wanted to expand the company further.

At the London Motor Show of 1931, the SS class was launched, the public were stunned, and especially that such a beautiful car could be bought for considerably less than £350. William Walmsley was less enthusiastic and began to lose interest in his partner’s ambitions; he left the company in 1934. In 1935 Lyons was persuaded to change the company name to Jaguar, subsequently SS became the SS Jaguar. Jaguar entered a team of three factory SS Jaguars in the prestigious RAC Rally of 1937, unfortunately, a privateer won the race, in an SS100

At the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show, Jaguar introduced the fastest motorcar to date, the XK 120 Roadster with a top speed of 120 mph, superb road holding and styling plus a smooth ride.

In Britain just after the war, it is little wonder this car caused such a sensation; initially it was meant to be a limited volume production car. However the car went on to be a big money earner for Jaguar, most cars were destined for America, the car went on to become one of the greatest classics of all time.

During the 1950’s Jaguar had reached a point in its history of selling only luxury and sports cars. The company also sold a great deal of its cars abroad.

This put Jaguar in a risky position, Jaguar needed to build a car that could be sold at home and to a larger market. To address this, the Jaguar Mk I was launched in 1955. The Jaguar MK II evolved as an instant success in 1959 with a much larger glass area and a redesigned dash. Leather seats were fitted as standard until 1967 when leather became optional to keep the standard cost down. Another Jaguar classic, its fog / spot lights, also became an optional extra.

The MK II was loved by all, including bank robbers; this was hardly surprising, because this was another record for Jaguar, the fastest saloon in standard production. The 3.8 versions well over 200bhp, and 125mph

The Jaguar E-Type was an instant classic, launched in 1961. The car was in huge demand from 1961-75, to begin with the company struggled to meet orders. In all, 74000 cars were sold. Some say the best Jag ever made, and the old XK engine now 13 years old, was still used in the early E-Types. The 4.2 Series 1 are generally considered the best.

Sir William Lyons died in 1985.

Source: Auto E Club

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