 A Thumbnail History of Jaguar William Walmsley was a 29-year-old Blackpool sidecar builder when he partnered up with young Billy Lyons, nine years his junior, to found the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922. Within four years, they began producing cars, starting with the Austin Swallow, a two-seater. Their expanding business forced them to abandon Blackpool and move to Coventry in 1928, where they soon began production of the landmark SS series. The popular cars delivered on their promise to provide a “£1,000 look” for only £310. In 1935, hoping to sell a Bentley-type auto at a cheaper price, the then SS Cars Company introduced the Jaguar. After WWII, SS Cars changed its name to Jaguar, wishing to avoid the connotations that had become attached to the initials.
The postwar era was a good one for Jaguar. Its cars won Le Mans five times in the 1950s. The company made perhaps its greatest design and production move ever in 1961 when it introduced the E-type, a sports car that became an instant classic and icon of the good life during the Swinging Sixties. In 1988, Ford Motor Co. acquired Jaguar. Ford astutely funded new technology and marketing approaches while keeping a hands-off approach to Jaguar’s legendary designers. As a result, worldwide production will surpass 100,000 this year. ■
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Winter,
2002
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