Jaguar SS

GB, 1931 to date

(1) Swallow Coachbuilding Co Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1931 – 1934

(2) S.S. Cars Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1934 – 1945

(3) Jaguars Cars Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire, 1945 to date

William Lyons and William Walmsley started the manufacture of sidecars in Blackpool in 1922, following this up in 1927 with a line of handsome open and closed sporting bodies on popular chassis such as Austin, Morris, Fiat, Swift and Standard. The company moved to Coventry in 1928, and from the Swallow saloon version of the 16hp Standard came the first SS I of 1931. This used Standard mechanical components throughout, but a special underslung frame was made for the Swallow through the 2.054cc 6-cylinder sv engine was left untuned. The long bonnet, diminutive coupé body and helmet-type front wings gave it a distinctive look, which suggested a price in the region of £1.000 – the SS I car, in fact, cost £310. A 2½-litre 20hp engine was available, and there was a companion SS II car based on the 1.052cc Standard Little Nine. A sale of 776 SS machines the first season was remarkable for a new make at the depths of the Depression. The 1933 6-cylinder SS car models with full-flow wings were better proportioned, and a sports tourer by SS was available for the first time. 1934 SS cars had X-braced frames, synchromesh gearboxes, and larger and more powerful engines – the 2.7-litre SS Twenty gave 68bhp. Twin carburetors and a higher-lift camshaft featured on SS cars in 1935, in which year the SS car company’s first sports car made its appearance: this SS 90 was sold only with the 20hp engine, and had a short chassis and slab-tank two-seater bodywork.

The Jaguar name first appeared in 1936, on a handsome 4-door Jaguar sports saloon, with a 2.7-litre ohv 104bhp engine, still made by Standard, but redesigned by Harry Welake and W.M. Heynes. These Jaguar cars were good for 85 – 90mph and the Jaguar car sold for only £385. The sv SS I and SS II models were continued for one more season with Standard engines, a Standard unit also being used in the 1.6-litre version of the Jaguar car, but much more exciting was the short-chassis ohv Jaguar SS 100 two-seater. Its handling was tricky, but it proved hard to beat in British rallies of the later 1930s. In 1938 the 2½-litre was continued, but the small sv four had given way to a 1.8-litre unit, used after the war by Standard in their versions of the Triumph. A new 125bhp 3½-litre was listed not only in saloon and drophead coupé forms, but also as a SS 100 two-seater, offering a genuine 100mph for only £445. Over 5.000 SS cars were sold in a year interrupted by war. The 1940 SS models were available with heaters.

In 1945 the SS name of the company was changed to Jaguar Cars Ltd, and the sidecar interests were sold. Under idderent ownership the Swallow company was responsible for the Swallow Doretti in 1954.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Morgan

GB, 1905 – 1906

Morgan and Co Ltd, Leighton Buzzard, Beds.

Made by a well-known firm of coachbuilders, the Morgan car was a conventional shaft-driven car with 5.8-litre T-head 4-cylinder Mutel engine, distinguished only by the Sparks-Boothby hydraulic clutch on the Morgan car, soon abandoned in favour of an ordinary leather cone. Only about five Morgan cars were made and their lack of success resulted in Morgan cars becoming Adler concessionaires in 1907, and abandoning motor manufacture.

GB, 1910 to date

Morgan Motor Co Ltd, Malvern Link, Worcs.

This Morgan car was the best-known, and best, of the British 3-wheelers that were popular while the horsepower tax gave the Morgan cars an advantage. H.F.S. Morgan’s tricycle was also the first of its type, this Morgan car going into production in 1910. At the front of a tubular chassis frame was an sv, air-cooled V-twin motor-cycle engine of 1.100cc by JAP, transversely mounted. Transmission of the Morgan car was by dog clutches and chains, providing two forward speeds. The steering was direct. The front wheels of the Morgan car, had independent front suspension, by sliding pillars and coil springs. There were two seats. A reasonable amount of power plus light weight meant an excellent performance of the Morgan cars. The Morgan car was safer than most 3-wheelers because its road-holding was above average. This recipe made the Morgan car popular with sportsmen, for whom the Morgan Grand Prix model was produced in 1914: the first catalogued competition Morgan car. Soon afterwards, an exiguous four-seater Morgan car, the forerunner of the Morgan Family model of the 1920s, was listed.

After World War 1, Morgan carscontinued to cater for all markets. Names changed, but the Morgan Sports or Morgan Standard model was the normal two-seater, also available in De Luxe form; the Morgan Family model was the more capacious type Morgan car, and the long-tailed Morgan Aero, later the Morgan Super Sports, was the Morgan car intended for serious speed work. Engines of Morgan cars were water- or air-cooled to choice, most being supplied by JAP, or by Blackburne in the case of the competition Morgan cars. From 1925 all the latter’s power units had overhead valves. By 1927 the Super Sports Morgan car could attain 80mph in standard trim, while the less sporting Morgan cars now had internal expanding front wheel brakes and electric starting. Geared-down steering and (if required) three forward speeds followed on Morgan cars in 1929. Even so, Morgan cars were losing customers to new, cheap sports cars such as the M-type MG. Three speeds and reverse in a normal gearbox (though still with chain final drive) were available from 1931 and standard on the Morgan car after 1932, and a modified 8hp Ford 4-cylinder engine could later be had in the Morgan car instead of the twin. Four years later the first 4-wheeled Morgan car was introduced, the excellent little Morgan 4/4. This Morgan car used an 1.122cc 4-cylinder Coventry-Climax engine with overhead inlet valves, developing 34bhp. The Morgan car was still light in weight, and retained the Morgan independent front suspension, so the performance and handling qualities of Morgan cars were well up to form. The Morgan car could attain 75mph. The twins were last catalogued in 1939.

Just before World War 2, a 1.267cc Standard 10hp engine with ohv head was substituted in the Morgan 4/4. When this was no longer available, from 1950, Morgan fitted a tuned Standard Vanguard unit in the Morgan car giving 70bhp. In this Morgan Plus Four, as the Morgan car was renamed, performance became still more lively, and when the 90bhp Triumph TR2 engine became available in 1954, maximum speed of the Morgan car rose to 100mph for the first time. With the advent of the Morgan Plus Four, there was no longer a small Morgan car, but this gap was made good in 1955, when the Morgan Series 2 4/4 arrived. This Morgan car used the very hard-wearing 1.172cc sv Ford Ten engine which had powered F4 Morgan. (The latter was the last 3-wheeler Morgan car, which had been made until 1950.) The result was a cheap, pleasant and reliable sports Morgan car of the old school. Later, the ohv Ford 105E engine was substituted. The latest version Morgan car had a 1.599cc 98bhp engine, a 4-speed all-synchromesh gearbox, front disc brakes, and the traditional Morgan suspension. The Morgan Plus Four kept pace with Triumph’s TR engine development, also acquiring disc brakes and, eventually, the 2.138cc 105bhp TR4 unit. A streamlined coupé, the Morgan Plus Four Plus of 1964, was a brief deviation from the classical Morgan car line which met with little approval and was discontinued after only 50 of these Morgan cars had been sold. When Triumph changed to a six during 1968, Morgan cars adopted a new engine for their bigger Morgan cars, and the Morgan Plus Four became the Morgan Plus Eight, powered by Rover’s 3 ½-litre 160bhp V8 and capable of 125mph. The 1973 versions of the Morgan car use the 4-speed all-synchromesh Rover gearbox in place of the Moss box previously fitted.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS, TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com