Aug
6
What Car magazine voted the Jaguar XF car of the year 2008. The award was well deserved. Leasing and contract hire companies are experiencing strong demand for the XF. It somehow seems odd that the manufacturers of a car so expertly designed and advanced technologically, should have started out as a manufacturer of sidecars; the Swallow Sidecar Company. Started in 1922 by William Walmsley and William Lyons both very keen motorcyclists. However the real driving force behind the company was William Lyons.
At the time motorcycle sidecars were very much in demand, this continued until the ordinary man in the street could afford a car, which was when car sales really took off in the 1960’s. If someone could not afford a car, they would usually have a motorcycle, which was ideal for the single man but not so practical when they got married and had children. The answer was a sidecar. This would allow them to go out for the day as a family; the children would sit reasonably well protected in the sidecar and the wife would ride pillion. The Swallow Sidecar gained market share by having modern and very attractive designs.
During the late 20’s the company had started to build car bodies. The Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company became their new name, which they felt was more in keeping with the work they were doing and they built the body for the very popular Austin 7. Soon they moved from their premises in Blackpool to larger premises in Coventry, where many of the motor manufacturers were based. Other manufacturers started to ask them to also build their car bodies and the company was really starting to get off the ground.
The company then produced their own car in 1931, the SS1. The vehicle was long and with a low-slung body and wire wheels. The car was very stylish and looked far more expensive than 310, which is what it cost. It was exhibited at the 1931 London Motor Show and attracted a great deal of interest.
The name of the company changed again, to SS Cars Ltd in 1933 and the SS1 Tourer was introduced. Shortly after William Walmsley left the company. During the mid 1930’s the SS90 was launched; it was low to the ground and very sporty in appearance, the car was very reasonably priced, less than 400. It was followed by the SS100, this time with a 2,663 cc engine and twin carburettors. It was very fast although later an improved version was on show at the 1938 Motor Show with a 3,845 cc engine. This model never really got of the ground because the Second World War followed soon after its launch.
During the Second World War the company’s manufacturing was switched to military production, as were the car manufacturers in Germany. Just as the allied forces heavily targeted the German motor manufacturer’s factories during their bombing raids, Coventry became one of the most heavily bombed cities in Britain.
SS Cars had little choice but to change its name after the war, sales would not have been helped by having a name that was so closely associated with the recently defeated Nazi Germany. Jaguar Cars became the company’s new name in 1948. That year also saw the launch of the outstanding XK 120.
The Earls Court Motor Show in 1948 saw the unveiling of the XK 120; 120 being the top speed of the car. It may not sound very fast today but it was very fast in those days. It’s speed and road holding were unmatched. Also unmatched was its design it was quite staggeringly beautiful, both then and now. It was a drop head sports car that was so desirable because of it’s combination of speed and looks. Demand was strong and it now very much is a collector’s car.
The 1950’s were a wonderful time for Jaguar; the Mark V11 was launched, a large impressive saloon that proved very successful in motor racing. Mike Hawthorn Britain’s first Formula One world champion and Stirling Moss both raced in it. In 1956 the Mark V11 won the Monte Carlo rally. The XK140 was introduced during 1954; it had rack and pinion steering. It also had other new features including a seat at the rear that could accommodate small children. Although small children were probably far from the mind of the typical purchaser of the XK140, thinking perhaps more about speeding along the coast road of the Cote d’Azur. This was followed by the XK150, with disc brakes, and also Mark1, the Mark 11, the Mark V11 and the Mark 1X.
In the late 50’s and early 60’successful businessmen drove the Mark 11 but strangely it also became the mark of the successful villain. It was also targeted by car thieves, once stolen they would be used as getaway cars for Jewellery smash and grab and bank robberies. Police then bought the Mark 11 and to give themselves an edge, modified the engines. In a Florida auction in 2008 a Mark 11 was sold for $75,900.
The Mark X came out in 1961; it was originally aimed at the US market and was really a very big car for the UK. It was approaching 17 feet in length and very wide. The fuel consumption was 17 mpg, which was unacceptable to many British motorists. 1961 also saw the launch of the amazing E Type; first seen at the Geneva Motor Show it took the motoring world by storm. The design was far head of it’s time. It was probably the most desired car that has ever been produced, those that could afford the 2000 price tag, bought one. 2000 was a lot of money in 1961, but still less expensive than its rivals it was a very proud moment for Jaguar
In 1968 Jaguar launched the XJ6, between 68 and 73 they manufactured nearly 100,000. The series 11 was launched and in one form or another, the XJ continued in production for many years. It proved to be an ideal car for the owner to either drive him or herself or be chauffer driven, it was neither two large or too small for either option. William Lyons finally retired from the company in 1972.
1975 saw the introduction of the XJS; the motoring press gave it very good reviews but some Jaguar enthusiasts were disappointed with the design. Some twelve years later their faith in the Jaguar design team was restored when the XK8 was launched in 1997. A wonderfully designed car that had almost as much class and style as the E Type of some 36 years earlier.
In 1966 William Lyons who had by now become Sir William Lyons was in talks with BMC, who were keen to buy Jaguar. The fact that British Leyland had also expressed a strong interest in Jaguar, allowed Sir William to negotiate from a position of strength. BMC eventually bought Jaguar and BMH was formed. Sir William got the deal he wanted.
Jaguar became part the British Leyland Corporation in 1968; William Lyons retained a seat on the board and he continued to fight for Jaguar. British Leyland was a very large organisation, which was in turmoil and the situation took a turn for the worse for Jaguar when Sir William Lyons retired in 1972, the company seemed to lose its way. Jaguar Cars ltd became British Leyland Exports ltd. Morale amongst the workforce deteriorated and build quality started to suffer. In 1975 British Leyland became bankrupt and was nationalised by the then Labour government.
Jaguar was fortunate to then be run by Bob Knight a true Jaguar man who was convinced that things could be turned around. Jaguar had become known as a car that was unreliable and very expensive to sort out when it did go wrong. Whilst build quality was indeed poor Knight strongly believed that a lot of the problems were because components supplied by outside companies were not up to standard, which then reflected badly on Jaguar.
John Egan took over from Bob Knight in 1980, not joining at the best of times; he took over whilst the Jaguar workers were on strike. He didn’t really know what he could offer them, so he asked them to trust him and they agreed to go back to work. Michael Edwards head of what was now called BL, agreed to give Jaguar more independence. Egan carried on with Bob Knights fight to return the company to its earlier profitability. Morale improved but it was going to be long struggles in 1981 just over 13,000 Jaguars were sold.
The problem that was first recognised by Bob Knight; outside companies supplying poor quality components to Jaguar, was one of the first areas tackled by Egan; supplying Jaguar with components became conditional on the supplier taking responsibility for the reliability of their components and having to cover the cost of the replacement warranty work if they failed. Perhaps not surprisingly, quality improved very quickly.
The company and had survived and was secure once more, John Egan was chief executive. Jaguar was bought by Ford in 1989 paying $2.5 billion a very large investment indeed and in the following year invested many more billions into the two companies they had bought; Jaguar and Land Rover.
The company was renamed in 1982 and once again became Jaguar Cars ltd. The Thatcher government returned Jaguar to a private company in 1984 and it became Jaguar plc.
Ford sold Aston Martin in 2007; they had problems and wanted to get back to basics. This was followed by the sale of land Rover and Jaguar in 2008. The sale price was $2.3 billion, less than Ford had paid for Jaguar some nine years earlier. However both companies had a shortfall in their pension schemes, this had to be made up by Ford at the cost of $600 million. Tata the Indian conglomerate was the purchaser.
Ford had problems of its own and needed to concentrate on their own core business, Jaguar was eventually put up for sale along with Land Rover. Ford had sold most of its stake in Aston Martin in 2007 and in March 2008 both Jaguar and Land Rover were sold to Tata the Indian motor manufacturer for $2.3 billion. It must have been a bitter pill for Ford to swallow, made even more bitter, by having to find a further $600 million to make up the shortfall in the two companies’ pension funds. Furthermore Ford will miss out on the success of the new XF model.
There has been some comment that Jaguar, that represents everything that is British, has now fallen into foreign hands but Jaguar has been in foreign hands since 1989 and what is most important is that the company survives. It is very clear from the history of Jaguar, that it needs autonomy in order to succeed. Tata have made it clear that it does not intend to “meddle” with Jaguar and that it wants the Jaguar tradition to survive and prosper.
A poll was carried out in Germany in 2006, which quite surprisingly revealed that the majority of those polled considered Jaguar a better car than Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Jaguar has always been very strongly favoured by the American market too. The Jaguar XF is proving extremely popular and contract hire and leasing companies are receiving healthy orders for the car. And all this started from motorcycle sidecars some 86 years ago.
Article Tags: Hobby & Sport
Category: Hobby & Sport
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