Tales of the Mongrel
By Ralph Arata
“What is going on with Jaguar?”

I am an MGB kind-of-guy. I will always be an MGB guy too! The Mongrel (‘72 B) will always be my No #1 love (after Susan, my wife, course). However, off in the distance somewhere, far, far away was the name Jaguar. It’s a cool name.

My interest was sparked by a tour Mark Davenport gave me several years ago of his dad’s restoration operation in Cambridge England. His dad, David, is known as the Jaguar restoration guru by Jaguar car and his operation consists of 7 outbuildings and 5-6 full time employees. The tour that Mark gave me was absolutely awe inspiring as there were perhaps 40 or 50 vintage Jaguar cars either finished (and stored in plastic bubbles) or in the process of. See pic to left.

With tour came a bit of history. I didn’t know that Jaguar started out as a motorcycle side car manufacturer. In 1922, a William Lyons founded the Swallow Sidecar Company. Then in 1935, he introduced a breakthrough – the SS Jaguar – and a star was born. His company quickly became famous with the Jaguar line, which were both visually stunning and technically ground-breaking. The C-type, D-Type and E-Type Jaguars paved the way for the current models. Jaguar first appeared in September 1935 as a model name on an SS 2½-litre sports sedan. A matching open two-seater sports model with a 3½-litre engine was named SS Jaguar 100 (I bet you didn’t know the “SS” was short for Swallow Sidecar).

In 1948 Jaguar introduced the XK 120 followed by the XK 140 and then XK 150 models. These were groundbreaking beautiful cars. Jaguar also enjoyed success on the track winning LaMans several times. The E-Type Jaguar has been heralded to this day as the most beautiful sports car ever.

Over the years, Jaguar changed ownership hands several times and was even owned by Ford for a while. Current ownership is TaTa Company of India.

I bought a Jaguar in ’05. A Type X which was basically a glorified Taurus. It was BRG with a 5 speed and had the “leaper” on the hood. Orloff Jaguar in Chicago had several and was fire sailing them. I guess it’s tough to sell a manual transmission in the city. A deal is a deal ergo my first Jag! At parties there would be conversations and cars would come up. I was asked a few times what kind of car I drove. When I said “Jaguar” I would always get the raised eyes and the “OH, a Jaguar”. Hmmm, never got that kind of reaction with my Buicks! A few years later, I got the itch for a car with a little more power than my “B”. Had the Corvette fever for a while but then saw the F-Type Jaguar. Arguably one of the most beautiful cars out there. Trying to find a coupe with a manual trans and the right color took 18 months, but one appeared at Orloff (of all places) and the rest is history. Next, I needed a sedan and found an XE at a dealer in Cincinnati. My Jaguar fate was sealed and the motivation for this article!

What is the future for this marque? Apparently, Jaguar is changing. When the first Jaguar SUV came out, the F Pace, it was kind of weird. Somehow an SUV didn’t quite fit its sports car legacy. I see these cars on the road and somehow Jaguar and the soccer mom just do seem compatible. The company is now moving to all-electric. Apparently, Jaguar in Europe has converted a higher percentage of its new car fleet to electric than any other auto make bar none! In the US my local dealer tells me (sadly) they are set to go all-electric by 2025. An electric Jaguar?? The same power train as any other car in the world? Almost seems like sin against God and country.

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