Текст 43

JAGUAR

Strictly speaking, the Jaguar marque, on its own, did not come into existence until 1945, for the original cars of 1931 were called " SS", and a new range of car introduced in 1935 was badged as " SS-Jaguar", but there was always strict continuity of design, and for more than 50 years the guiding genius behind the company, and its designs was Mr. (later Sir) William Lyons.

Sir William joined forces with William Walmsley in Blackpool to build sidecars for motorcycles in 1922. The young Lyons, however, had a real flair for styling, and one result was that the little company began building special bodies for Austin Sevens in 1927. In 1928 the company was moved down to Foleshill, Coventry, and several other cars, from Wolseley, Standard, and Fiat, were given special coachwork before Lyons took the plunge and announced the SS1 in 1931.

Like other early SS models, the SS1 used a special chassis frame, side — valve six-cylinder Standard engines, transmissions and suspension components, and coachwork styled personally by William Lyons himself. There were 16 h.p. and 20 h.p. models, and the cars gave remarkable value for money. In due course, the SSII, with smaller four-cylinder Standard engines and running gear, was announced.

The first major change came in 1935 when the company took a major step towards becoming a complete maker of cars. William Heynes was hired to design a new chassis frame and suspensions, while Harry Weslake produced an overhead-valve conver­sion of the six-cylinder Standard engine. The whole was clothed in a truly elegant, four-door saloon body style, and sold at the remarkable price of f385. There was also a slightly cheaper side — valve 1.5-litre model. All were badged as SS-Jaguar.

In the next four years many improvements were made to the range. In 1937 the company produced an overhead valve 1.5-litre engine (four-cylinder) and a larger 3.5-litre overhead — valve " six", while at the same time converting the saloon car's coach-work to all-steel construction. Much more exciting, however, was the short-chassis car, with a two-seater sports body. This was the SS100, available with 2.5-litre or 3.5-litre six-cylinder engines. The prices of all SS — Jaguars were right, and the looks attractive, so it was no wonder that sales rushed up to more than 5000 cars a year in 1939.

After the war, in which the factories produced important items like aircraft wings and fuselages, the company dropped the " SS" part of its title, and became, simply, Jaguar cars. At first, only the prewar models (except for the SS100, which was never revived) were available, and there were no new models until 1948. In the meantime Jaguar, still with Heynes as its technical chief, was working on a brand-new series of twin-cam engines, one of which remained in production until the Eighties In 1948, Jaguar astonished the world by showing its new XK120 sports car which not only had the new engines (a 3.5-litre " six", and a 2-litre " four" (which never went into production), but a new independent — suspension chassis, and startlingly attractive body lines. The same basic chassis design, but in long — wheelbase form, was also to be found under the skin of the new Mk V saloons and drophead coupes.

It was not until 1950 that Jaguar revealed the Mk VII saloon, for which the new chassis and engine had originally been intended, and it was these saloons, and the XK family of super — sports cars, which were the company's mainstay until the mid-Fifties.

Jaguar's post-war successes were even more obvious in export rather than in home-market territories, for the XK-engined cars soon built up a formidable reputation. It was not only the sheer performance of the cars, which was so remarkable, but the amazingly low prices at which the cars could be sold profitably. The company's spectacular rise upset the balance of the specialist car market and hastened the demise of several such concerns.

During the Fifties Jaguar became involved in world-class sports car endurance racing, building limited numbers of C-Type, D-Type and XKSS two — seater models, and the factory team was victorious at Le Mans on no fewer than five occasions (1951-53-55-56-57).

By the end of the 1970s, Jaguar (and Daimler, for such cars were being assembled alongside the Jaguar at the Browns Lane factory) had survived shock after shock. Not only had there been two oil price shocks, which tipped the balance against thirsty, large-engined cars, but the market for large cars in North America (one of Jaguar's traditionally strong sales territories) had also dropped alarmingly.

By 1983, Jaguar was not only building and selling more cars in a year than for the past decade but demand in North America was at a new peak. In spite of all the predictions, the VI2 engine was still in production as one of the most refined, technically advanced, and powerful engines in the world, and the company's morale had completely been restored. With new models and new engines known to be on the way the mid — Eighties looked like being an exciting period for Jaguar.