Now that Jaguar is an Indian brand…hehe…lets learn a little bit about it shall we.
Swallow Sidecar company was founded by William Lyons and William Walmsley, in 1922. As the name tells they made motorcycle sidecars from their factory at Blackpool. Lyons started making cars in 1927, powered by 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 liter engines. They later moved to Browns Lane, Coventry when the Austin Swallow proved to be a great success and demand exceed the production capacity. In 1931 came out the SS1.
In 1935 came the first model with the Jaguar name, the SS Jaguar. After the WW II the whole company was named Jaguar, since any resemblance to Germany’s finest would have been frowned upon. The first post war model was the Mark V. Later that year came the XK120 with a 160 bhp output. The 120 signified the top speed in miles. This was the norm for quite some time. The model was followed by the XK140 and the XK150.
The company came out with the Mark VII saloon in the summer of 1951. Five years later the car won the Monte Carlo Rally. This was followed by the Mark VIII and the Mark IX. The Mark X was a completely new design which came out in 1961.
As far as the sports cars are concerned, a variant of the XK120 was developed for racing, giving birth to the XK120C, more popularly known as the C-type. This was in 1951. The C-type was followed by the D-type, garnering in all five wins at the LeMans in ’51 and ’53 with the C-type and in ’55 to ’57 with the D-type.
This was followed by the most beautiful Jaguar ever, the E-type. Seventy thousand, yes seventy thousand of these luscious beauties were produced over a time period of thirteen years. The design rivals other greats like the Miura.
The company meanwhile had changed hands and had its fair share of acquisitions and mergers since the 60’s right through to the late 80’s when Ford took over. In between this period, the company merged with British Motor Corporation and Austin Morris to form the British Motor Holdings. Later combining with Leyland the company changed to British Leyland Motor Corporation and later British Leyland. Daimler was still a part of Jaguar.
In ’84 the company was floated separately as a result of the nationalization drive of Margaret Thatcher’s government. By 1990 Jaguar ended up with Ford.
While all this was going on, Jaguar notched up two more LeMans victories in ’88 and ’90. Jaguar was also a part of the Formula One till the 2004 season, although it didn’t have much success. If you remember though, it was with Jaguar that Narain Karthikeyan had his first Formula One test.
In 1935 came the first model with the Jaguar name, the SS Jaguar. After the WW II the whole company was named Jaguar, since any resemblance to Germany’s finest would have been frowned upon. The first post war model was the Mark V. Later that year came the XK120 with a 160 bhp output. The 120 signified the top speed in miles. This was the norm for quite some time. The model was followed by the XK140 and the XK150.
The company came out with the Mark VII saloon in the summer of 1951. Five years later the car won the Monte Carlo Rally. This was followed by the Mark VIII and the Mark IX. The Mark X was a completely new design which came out in 1961.
As far as the sports cars are concerned, a variant of the XK120 was developed for racing, giving birth to the XK120C, more popularly known as the C-type. This was in 1951. The C-type was followed by the D-type, garnering in all five wins at the LeMans in ’51 and ’53 with the C-type and in ’55 to ’57 with the D-type.
This was followed by the most beautiful Jaguar ever, the E-type. Seventy thousand, yes seventy thousand of these luscious beauties were produced over a time period of thirteen years. The design rivals other greats like the Miura.
The company meanwhile had changed hands and had its fair share of acquisitions and mergers since the 60’s right through to the late 80’s when Ford took over. In between this period, the company merged with British Motor Corporation and Austin Morris to form the British Motor Holdings. Later combining with Leyland the company changed to British Leyland Motor Corporation and later British Leyland. Daimler was still a part of Jaguar.
In ’84 the company was floated separately as a result of the nationalization drive of Margaret Thatcher’s government. By 1990 Jaguar ended up with Ford.
While all this was going on, Jaguar notched up two more LeMans victories in ’88 and ’90. Jaguar was also a part of the Formula One till the 2004 season, although it didn’t have much success. If you remember though, it was with Jaguar that Narain Karthikeyan had his first Formula One test.
Jaguar also had for a little while the fastest production car in the world in their lineup, the XJ220.
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