Blackpool , the hometown of William Lyons , father ofJaguar , is prominently listed in most English change of location guides as a palmy coastal haunt . Among its attractive feature are the Pleasure Beach and the " Golden Mile " of hotel , eating place , arcades , and ballrooms , all under the fantasm of Blackpool Tower , a smaller version of that renowned alloy tower in Paris .
Jaguar Image Gallery
But the guides make no citation of the seaside town ’s automotive story , and that seems a ignominy ; two of England ’s best - known nameplate , Jaguar and TVR , were born there , far from the state ’s industrial heart .
TVR , which for a time was the large all - English carmaker – at least until BMW trade its interest in Rover to a UK - based consortium – remains in this joy city on the country ’s northwesterly glide . What conduce TVR father Trevor Wilkinson to prefer the space is unknown , and irrelevant to this story .
William Lyons ’s reasons for make a start there are known and are as bare as can be : He was born and raise in Blackpool , and when the fourth dimension come for him to come to out into business , opportunity await him near across the street from his parent ' plate .
Lyons ’s beginner owned a euphony fund which , though it allowed the family to live in fair quilt , seems to have held little attracter for young William . After completing his studies ( he later describe himself as an " undistinguished " pupil ) in 1918 , 17 - year - previous William was apprenticed to Crossley Motors , in Manchester .
He presently left Crossley and returned to Blackpool , where he worked for a time in his father ’s entrepot and gave serious mentation to entering the then - thriving gramophone occupation . In time , he landed a position as a salesman for the local Sunbeam dealer .
During those days , Lyons ’s own choice for transport was amotorcycle . He own several , including a Sunbeam , an Indian , and a Harley - Davidson . Brief ownership of four - wheeler – in the class of an obscure and unreliable light car called the Buckingham – get out him unsatisfied with what he could afford , and it was quickly back to bikes for the young salesman .
Sometime in 1921 , new neighbors move into a house down the street from the Lyons ’s digs . The Walmsleys were well - off thanks to the family coal business . Their son , William , had served B. B. King and commonwealth during World War I , and was spending the first few years thereafter refurbishing excess military motorcycles and selling them to his friends . Skilled with both metal and wood , he had recently completed a new sidecar for his own wheel , and this overtake William Lyons ’s eye soon after the Walmsleys settled in .
Lyon found that Walmsley , aided by his fiancée , sis , and the episodic friend , was work up copies of the bullet - shaped sidecar to sell to citizenry he knew . One of the replicas , which Walmsley dub " swallow , " was soon attached to Lyons ’s current motorcycle . The leverage , it must be said , was made for reason of both business and pleasure ; Lyons see the generally organized surgery as a his probability to establish a executable commercial enterprise .
Initially , Walmsley was unreceptive to Lyons ’s marriage proposal that they constitute a partnership . give their very unlike personalities – Lyon was aggressive and eager to bring home the bacon , while Walmsley was soft and unambitious – it was all too apparent that this could not be a marriage ceremony of peer .
Continue to the next Thomas Nelson Page to learn more about the Swallow Sidecar Company .
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Swallow Sidecar Company
The Swallow Sidecar Company " factory " was moved out of the shed behind the Walmsley home into more suitable premises . Since the firm was building only torso and was buying its frames from outside suppliers , the genuine move was surely accomplished quite chop-chop .
One larger edifice was lease , soon to be keep an eye on by two more . Lyons decided that Swallow should be turn out 10 sidecar per workweek to start ; Walmsley , who had think of ramp up perhaps one per week , at long last agreed , and took his place in the shop with the first fresh employee as Lyons began his selling efforts .
Swallow sidecars were stylish , well - made , and price aggressively . From the first Model 1 with its unusual but loose - to - fabricate octagonal cross - section eubstance ( which give it something of the appearing of a miniature Zeppelin ) to the more conventional Model 15 , they sold well , in part due to their innate just quality , but also because Lyons publicized them inexhaustibly . At this metre , both Lyons and Walmsley were still ridingmotorcycle / sidecar " combination ; " each had a Brough - Superior " SS100 . "
After four years , stage business was good enough to apologize yet another move , this time to a declamatory structure on the N side of town owned by Walmsley ’s father . First Council of Lyons , as was his wo nt , took out paper advertizing to publicize the variety of speech .
In them , he made his own dream decipherable : The name shown in the advert and painted on the new edifice was " Swallow Sidecar & Coach Building Co. " Services heel included repairs , house painting , upholstering , and the fabrication of peak and side curtains . It was a step , he felt , in the right direction .
One complete cable car body had already been built at Swallow , but Lyons had nothing to do with it . Walmsley had adopt an Austro - Daimler that had been hard damage in a fire , and he set a couple of Swallow employees to work rebodying it .
A second body , mounted on a Talbot - Darracq chassis , was make out not long after Swallow occupy its new premises . This body was built under the supervising of Cyril Holland , one of those rarified journeyman able of handling every panorama of the body - building unconscious process , from making detailed drawing , to making the wooden understructure , to forming the metal panels .
While Holland was labour on the Talbot , Lyons was well aware of the popularity of the Austin Seven – the small car some were cry " England’sModel T " – and was certainly thinking about building a custom consistence for it .
While this was not an original estimate ( a few enterprising omnibus - constructor had already follow up on the notion that economy - given enthusiasts might trounce out a few extra quid for a snappier Seven ) , Lyons had the journeyman and the space require to make out up with one of his own . And he had Holland , who had been sketching ideas for a two - seat " sport " dead body without any particular end result in mind . Lyons saw the drawings and secern him to make up a full set scale to fit the dimension of the diminutive Seven .
To move this process from the drawing board to the road , a chassis would have to be corrupt , which presented a job : At that time , Austin frowned on its dealer selling bare chassis . Lyons convinced Parker ’s , a franchise suffice Bolton and Manchester , to sell him a chassis on the promise it would have the first dealer franchise for Swallow conversion . One punctually arrived – at a monetary value of £ 114.50 – and work begin in early 1927 , with the first public announcement made that May .
For more on the 1927 Austin - Swallow , continue to the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
1927 Austin-Swallow
To modern eyes , the first 1927 Austin - Swallow may look rather strange . It is grandiloquent and narrow ( as was the received Seven ) on its lank wheels . But it was unquestionably more sporting in show than Herbert Austin ’s original , and attracted immediate attending .
It had more than the body shape to recommend it : The seats were upholstered in leather , the legal instrument ( such as they were ) were mount in a polished mahogany fascia , and a choice of hard- or delicate - upper side was offer . A Swallow transition virtually doubled the price of a stripped Seven chassis , from £ 99 to £ 190 .
Despite the pauperism for a few changes ( the cycle fenders on the image and the other hinged hardtops broke out from their mounts and were substitute by more schematic fender - cum - running dining table and bolt - on fixings , respectively ) , the Austin - Swallow was a strike . In August 1927 , a Swallow dead body for the large Morris Cowley was announce .
The ship’s company did have one major trouble , however , and Lyons ’s publicity and trader - signing efforts were piss it worse : The Blackpool mill was only too small to let production to keep up with orders , and the location away from industrial centers made delivery of raw materials and chassis expensive .
matter came to a head when Lyons signed a contract to deliver 20 Austin - Swallows per week to Henly ’s of London , which ordered 500 chassis from Austin to get him started . Henly ’s also take for a two - room access sedan version of the automobile . William Walmsley must have been wonder what he had let himself in for , as he reportedly considered the Henly ’s muckle " quite mad . "
His reaction to Swallow ’s move to Coventry in November 1928 is unrecorded . But the move was made ( to a building formerly used to fill up artillery shells with explosives ) and product was increased to some 50 cars per hebdomad .
First Council of Lyons , unsure of Herbert Austin ’s retain willingness to make bare Seven build usable , began to see at other auto desirable for the Swallow treatment . The Morris connexion had not worked out , due in part to the emergence of the Morris - based MG , but First Council of Lyons arranged with the Glasgow Fiat dealer to rebody some obsolete and slow - selling Fiat 509As in 1929 . Perhaps as many as 100 of these were built .
A like act of Swift - Swallows were built in 1930 and perhaps 500 Wolseley - Swallows were produced the same class .
These output numbers , when added to the regular flow of Austin - Swallows and sidecar , show just how far Lyons and Swallow had fall in a relatively poor distich of years . And it should be noted that the various chassis being personify were sufficiently dissimilar in sizing and physical body to command alone panels . If there were inherited design features ( and there were ) , there was no interchangeability .
Style was not the only reason for Swallow ’s success ; price had much to do with it as well . There were , after all , dozens of companies offer usance coachwork in England at the clip , but the Swallow bodies were , thanks to amount production and Lyons ’s inclination to squeeze the upper limit out of every centime that came in , less expensive than most . At the same time , they were among the best in terms of body engineering and work up quality .
It was characteristic of Lyons that , despite his penurious direction , employees were paid well . They were treat well too , though Lyons was not the kind of human race who went through the factory slapping back and make pocket-sized - talk with his doer . Just the inverse , in fact ; the very formal boss tended to address all by their surnames and discourage inordinate familiarity . Walmsley was allege to be more personable . Nonetheless , a significant bit of employees enjoyed farseeing career with Lyons .
An authoritative connection was made when the first Standard - Swallow , a four - cylinder car , was displayed at London ’s Olympia Motor Show in 1929 . Initially , the new consistence was not to Lyons ’s liking , as the shape of the cowl – high and thin to meet the figure of the Standard radiator – was awkward .
By the time yield began , the cowl was redesigned and a Swallow - designed radiator shell was attached . In this form it caught the oculus of Standard ’s chairwoman , Captain John Black , whose own in - house architect quickly arrive up with a similar radiator for their own car . Come 1931 , Swallow would also be produce its distinctive bodies for the six - cylinder Standard Ensign .
Swallow in the 1930s
occupation was smash for Swallow in the 1930s . The busy factory , now stocked with experienced workers producing Austin- , Wolseley- , and Standard - Swallows andsidecars , was about to get even busier , as Lyons pushed for yet another design .
He had been making sketch and the most hopeful of these were turned over to an extraneous creative person who worked with Cyril Holland to develop a paradigm . Its form was honestly root on to a meaning degree by the longsighted hood and low roof of the L-29 Cord .
Some via media were made in roof height at the time , though this was not enough to befit everyone : While Lyons was at home recuperate from an surgical process , Walmsley had the prototype car ’s ceiling elevate by several inches , a move that please Lyons not at all .
Captain Black show most conjunct . He agreed that Standard would provide arrant current - production physical body units for Standard - Swallows , as well as a much - modified six - cylinder chassis for the fresh motorcar . Changes to the latter include newenginemounts that carried the railway locomotive far back in the frame .
The agreement was amended to give Swallow exclusive use of the change build after a modest sum was pay to Standard hide the cost of unequaled tooling call for to bring out the unexampled physical body .
No longer a Standard - Swallow , the new car introduce at the 1931 Olympia show was simply called SS1 . Over the long time , there has been much speculation about the name ; did it place upright for Standard Swallow , Super Sports , or something else ? No one be intimate for sure .
For 1933 , there was a " second - serial " SS1 . Its frame had been lengthened slightly and was under - slung at the prat . These modification , plus a few elusive modification to the fenders , improved the SS1 ’s visual aspect .
In the first year of production , only the coupe – power by either a 2.1- or 2.6 - liter inline - six railway locomotive – was offered , at £ 310 and £ 320 , severally . It was fall in in 1933 by a four - seat sport holidaymaker ( priced £ 15 more than the first - year cars ) . A two - threshold sedan – fundamentally a coupe with rearward side windows – was introduced in 1934 .
Three extra variations , the drophead coupe ( convertible ) , " Airline " sedan chair , and short - wheelbase SS90 two - seat roadster , were bring about during the 1935 - 1936 period . Lyons consider the fastback " Airline " a failure in intention terms ( it was slightly awkward - looking from the rear ) but it sold fairly well .
A 2nd line , the SS2 , was also discover in 1931 . Smaller and less potent – it had a 1.0 - liter inline four under its scant lens hood – the SS2 was considerably less expensive ( £ 210 at introduction ) than the SS1 . Only three model ( a coupe , four - seat sedan , and four - nates open tourer ) were produced at times during the SS2 ’s five - year animation yoke , with the more convenient versions arrive only after the SS2 ’s chassis was lengthened for 1934 . A four - speed transmission was append in 1932 and the foresightful " serial 2 " cable car had a option of 1.3- and 1.6 - l L - head quadruplet .
While the mill was still turning out Swallow sidecar , the Austin - Swallow had been drop in 1932 . The Standard - and Wolseley - Swallows kick the bucket out of production the next year . In late 1934 , William Walmsley , heavily involved with his framework railroad avocation and tired of conflicts with Lyons , had had enough ; he resigned from the company on amicable terminus . Lyons then proceeded to take the company public in January 1935 .
As one William allow for , another come . The entrant was Bill Heynes , constitute by Lyons to the raw mail of Chief Engineer . One of his first tasks was ontogeny of yet another young car for the company that now sate all four building in the industrial closure where it had start with one . This time , Lyons ’s slew were arrange on making his way into the lower close of the Rolls - Royce / Bentley grocery with a sleek four - threshold sedan .
The new car caused an immediate sensation among members of the jam and the buying public when break at the 1935 Olympia Show . As well it should ; Lyons was no longer interested in rebodying other makers ' chassis and so commission Heynes to design a new frame progress exclusively for SS .
Even the powerfulness - flora was modified . Brilliant engine - psyche designer Harry Weslake came up with an ohv conversion for Standard ’s 2.7 - liter engine , which Captain Black cheerfully produce for Lyons ’s exclusive use of goods and services . Only the base 1.5 - liter version would have side valve under the hood .
Production of the SS1 , SS2 , and SS90 ( the last not amounting to more than two 12 cars anyway ) was wound down to make manner for the new sedans . The ohv Weslake / Standard engine also found its way of life into a pair of open cars . One was an updated version of the four - behind tourer mounted on the new Heynes - designed physique . The other was a truesports carthat was specify to be a milepost in William Lyons ’s carmaking career : the SS100 .
Essentially the SS90 with the raw engine , largerbrakes , hydraulic shock absorber , and revisedsteering , the SS100 could flash from zero to 60 mph in 12.8 seconds and hit a top fastness in excess of 90 mph .
For more on the 1935 - 1940 Jaguar , continue on to the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
1935-1940 Jaguar
For the newcars , a new name : Jaguar . Lyons had want something more redolent than SS ( in 1935 , the letters had not yet acquired their other offensive intension ) for the 1935 - 1940 Jaguar , and had asked for a list from the Nelson Advertising Agency . Nelson reply with a list of bird , Pisces , and mammalian ; Lyons ’s straightaway choice was Jaguar .
Curiously , the novel name was incorporated into the existing winged SS badge ( officially , the cars were " SS Jaguars " at this detail ) which bore some resemblance to the laterFord Thunderbirdnameplates . The cat’s - head badge and celebrated pouncing - cat radiator mascot – the latter designed by creative person F. Gordon Crosby and bear on to as the " leaper " by English Jaguarphiles – came later .
If the SS Jaguars ' appearance , performance ( with the possible exception of the 1.5 - liter framework ) , and name were n’t enough to pull customers , the prices were the determining factor . From a simple £ 285 for the " 1 1/2 - liter " sedan , to £ 385 for the 2.7 - liter sedan chair ( always advertised as a " 2 1/2 - liter " exemplar ) , to £ 395 for the SS100 , the SS Jaguars were far less expensive than their competition – sometimes by half – and adequate to most in quality . Sales were brisk , pretend 1935 the company ’s most profitable year yet .
Lyons stream much of the income back into the product , making the necessary – but ab initio costly – variety from the old coachbuilt convention of steel venire over wooden frames to all - sword construction for the 1937 framework . This move , which would at last edit out production toll dramatically , nearly drive SS Jaguar into bankruptcy .
Stamped body control board were leave by several companies , and when the early piece were set up on jigs to be welded into units , they did n’t line up . The workplace necessary to salve the board – and corrective measures take by suppliers – slowed product to a crawl , and sent profits plump .
But customer were still eager to buy when the problems were at last corrected . The 1938 - 1939 season was very good for SS Jaguar ; the entry - level 1 1/2 - liter , now with an ohvengine , was the top marketer , but sedan and SS100s with 2 1/2 - cubic decimeter and 3 1/2 - cubic decimeter engines were turned out in substantial numbers as well . ( The undefendable four - seater was withdraw after 1937 , but newconvertiblecoupes with any of the three engines choke were offered . )
The new - for-1938 3 1/2 - liter locomotive put out 125 bhp . With it , SS100s could give 60 mph in 10.4 irregular with a top swiftness that now cope with the car ’s name .
Everything was looking up for Lyons ’s company and no one would have thought it odd if the proprietor had decided to facilitate up a morsel . But 1939 was not a good year for relaxing . Even before Germany ’s encroachment of Poland triggered World War II that September , the British government activity had bring forth SS Jaguar into war body of work .
Although a few hundred civilian car were completed for 1940 , the firm get hold of up declaration to service a mixture of aircraft and manufacture trailers , hand truck canopy , and parts for novel aircraft . Among SS Jaguar ’s most successful wartime products weremotorcyclesidecars .
William Lyons made several moves in expectancy of war ’s end . Top anteriority was given to a name change : SS Cars , Ltd. , became Jaguar Cars , Ltd. , in 1945 . He had already sell off the Swallow sidecar business the year before ; it was expect on by others for a time , though the heyday of motorcycle " compounding " for civilian and military use had passed .
Neither funding nor materials for tooling up new designs were available in 1945 , so when auto output resumed , the prewar sedan card was continue , followed in 1947 by convertibles power by a choice of the two largest engine . Lyons had sagely purchased the tooling for the ohv sixes from Standard ’s Captain Black during the warfare ; this finally lead to a small rift between the two humans , but assure Jaguar a steady supply of powerplants .
Just over the purview in 1948 lie a new locomotive engine , first contemplate by Lyons and his technologist during their wartime flame watches at the Coventry run , but not actually designed by Bill Heynes , Wally Hassan , and Claude Bailey until 1946 . With its arrival , and the subsequent debut of the XK120 , the transformation from sidecar constructor and coachbuilder to one of England ’s major machine manufacturers was consummate .
