In 1934 the Swallow Coachbuilding Company changed their name to SS Cars Limited. At the London Motor Show that year the SS stand was no longer in the coachbuilder’s section but among the car manufacturers which was a huge leap in status. The good news was the SS1 was selling like hotcakes because of its incredibly sharp styling. The bad news was performance was not comparable to the dashing looks so the car was developing a reputation of more show than go.

The engine with its RAG carburettors as provided by Standard was the Achilles heel and William Lyons knew something had to be done. A radical rework was required to achieve the desired power output, so Lyons retained the services of Harry Weslake to do the surgery. Fortunately, relations with Standard were excellent and John Black agreed to supply SS exclusively with the redesigned engines. Lyons challenged Weslake to get 95 horsepower from the 55-horsepower engine. The boastful Weslake demanded a bonus for each additional horsepower above the target. When he finished working his magic the result was 102 horsepower!

The new powerful engine was to drive a four-door saloon, a new concept which became the focus of Lyons’ career from that point on. Lyons had to find a proper name for this new flagship model, and as luck would have it a list of animal names was prepared for him by the Nelson Advertising Agency. The name Jaguar leaped off the page. A more appropriate name for the new high performance luxury sedan was hardly imaginable. Interestingly after deciding to use the name, Lyons began to get cold feet and was considering going back on the idea. Nelson Advertising people thought the name was so correct they told Lyons a white lie, that the advertising campaign using the new name had already been launched. Thus, by a whisker thin margin, the SS Jaguar was born.

Throughout the late 1930s SS cars continued to improve their cars and their reputation. Then in 1940 automobile production ceased with the outbreak of war. Manufacture and repair of aircraft components, including the fuselage assembly of the Whitley bomber were the main tasks of SS Cars Limited. When automobile production resumed after the war the letters SS were no longer acceptable in the civilized world. The solution? They were simply dropped, and the name of that four-door saloon thus became the name of the marque, Jaguar.






Editor Note: Article previously published in British Boots and Bonnets newsletter, July 2022