History of British Jaguar
William Lyons founded Swallow Sidecars in Blackpool in 1922 to make sidecars for motorcycles.
The business expanded into making special car bodies for Austin Sevens and other small cars on 1927.
The first car of his own design was introduced in 1931.
It was a two door car using parts from the Standard Motor Company and was known as SS 1.
The letters represented Swallow Sidecars but after the war Lyons did not want to use the Swallow name anymore and he named his cars after one of his pre-war models – the Jaguar.
Lyons success lay in building superb cars at a low cost. The SS 1 was a case in point. It was a marvelous sporting coupe with a long bonnet with a small 2 liter side valve engine.
Even the XK120 one of the prettiest cars of the 1940s and 1950s, was reasonably priced and cost about half the price of comparable cars at that time.
William Lyons took an XK120 to the London Motor show to attract attention to the new MkV salon being launched but the public only had eyes for the beautiful sports car.
Many British car makers have recruited the help of Italian designers for the bodies of their cars but Jaguar did not so.
In his time, Lyons himself kept his personal finger on the pulse and led by example.
History of British Jaguar
William Lyons founded Swallow Sidecars in Blackpool in 1922 to make sidecars for motorcycles.
The business expanded into making special car bodies for Austin Sevens and other small cars on 1927.
The first car of his own design was introduced in 1931.
It was a two door car using parts from the Standard Motor Company and was known as SS 1.
The letters represented Swallow Sidecars but after the war Lyons did not want to use the Swallow name anymore and he named his cars after one of his pre-war models – the Jaguar.
Lyons success lay in building superb cars at a low cost. The SS 1 was a case in point. It was a marvelous sporting coupe with a long bonnet with a small 2 liter side valve engine.
Even the XK120 one of the prettiest cars of the 1940s and 1950s, was reasonably priced and cost about half the price of comparable cars at that time.
William Lyons took an XK120 to the London Motor show to attract attention to the new MkV salon being launched but the public only had eyes for the beautiful sports car.
Many British car makers have recruited the help of Italian designers for the bodies of their cars but Jaguar did not so.
In his time, Lyons himself kept his personal finger on the pulse and led by example.
History of British Jaguar
