Lost Coachbuilders

Three apparently unconnected things seemed to me to have a synergy. One is the supposed 75th anniversary of Jaguar, a date that both the company and most of the media have got wrong. Jaguar Cars Ltd. was registered in March, 1945, Jaguar had been the name of some models made by the company under the name SS, an acknowledgement of its roots in Swallow Sidecars. The SS1 was displayed at the London Motor Show in October, 1931, and even if you take the traditional motor manufacturer’s calendar and call that the 1932 model year, that is still not 75 years.

One reason why I find Jaguar fascinating is that it is one of the few car companies to have begun by being a coachbuilder, Jensen was another and I am sure that erudite readers can supply other names. Swallow first made sidecars and then branched into making car bodies, mainly for Austin Sevens.