SS and JAGUAR Cars Continuation Page 2 keywords = Jaguar SS history car auto Standard Swallow Sidecar Coventry XK XJ Supermarine S6b saloon drophead Earl's Court one off
Updated: 05 Jul 2006, 02:00 ET
{Missing image restored 28 Sep 03}
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S. Berliner, III's

SS and Jaguar Cars

Continuation Page 2

Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher

Wild '34 SS One Custom Classic Cat has just come available:

34SSOneOff
(photo courtesy of present owner - all rights reserved)

SS and JAGUAR - Continued

1935 SS1 CMA 490 badge
(cropped from 1935 SS1 CMA 490 photo from Japan by permission - all rights reserved to source)

SS100 FHC Badge
(photo by and © 1961 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)

Jag Mk IV DHC Gilmore
(cropped and silhouetted from Aug 2004 photo by K. Parker - all rights reserved)

JagCat1Mascot JagCat2Badge
(18 Feb 04 photos by and © 2004 S. Berliner, III - all right reserved)

This site has now been visited times since the counter was installed.

NOTE: Page size is limited by HTML to some 30kB; thus, I've been forced to add this Continuation Page.
You may also wish to visit the preceding SS and Jaguar Cars and Continuation Page 1 and succeeding Continuation Page 3 pages, as well.

INDEX

{truncated - see full index on main page}

SS and Jaguar Cars Page:

Nomenclature - S.S. vs. SS, Mark IV, etc.

SS and Jaguar Miscellany.

Preceding Page:

SS and Jaguar Museums (moved here 29 Apr 02).

Jaguar Cars, Limited - the Company (moved here 29 Apr 02).

Brief History of the SS1 (moved here 29 Apr 02).

SS and Jaguar Miscellany - continued.

Old Photos.

This Continuation Page 2:

More SS and Jaguar Apocrypha.

SS and Jaguar Bibliography.

SS & JAG NEWS.

Continuation Page 3:

Original SS Alpine Tourer.

More SS and Jaguar Material.

Dick Strever's SS and Jaguar Cars.

HELP!

SS and Jaguar Cars Continuation Page 4:

The SS One "Alpine" Controversy.

Jaguar Page:

XK-120 and Mk. VII and later Jaguar (not SS) cars.

Here's a beautiful oddity; an image from the WEB which I received with no attribution or provenance! It is of a 1939 Jaguar SS 100 DHC by Newsome/Avon, owned by Dick Strever, and painted by Toby Nippel of Road & Track fame:

Click here for far more on this and Dick's other cars.

Jaguar Cars, Limited - the Company.

On my return from my trip to Old Blighty in October of 1998, I located, by accident, the site of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Limited*, with a wealth of info. and it's parent page, JagWeb, "the web-site for companies specialising in all aspects of Jaguar cars", with Jag books. They are now affiliated with Jaguar Cars, whose two jaguar.com and jaguarcars.com Websites appear to be (understandably, if regretably) solely sales oriented. However, it is not true; clicking on the North America icon brings you to the U. S. page, with a Legacy icon (what a word to use!) on which to click, which, in turn, takes you to a fair history section with the very strange image of a Mk V bonnet and cap with a Jaguar figure mounted (I can easily distinguish the model by the faired headlamps); if it was odd of God to choose the cod (a Boston gag), it was odder of Jaguar-USA to choose the Mk V to exemplify classic Jags! Far better, rather, to go back to either home page and click on Europe and then on Great Britain (Union Jack flag), or go directly to the Jaguar-UK page (quite slow-loading), and then click on Heritage and then on The Jaguar Story, whereby one comes to a very respectable history, indeed, by era, with great illustrations!

As the "Master Nitpicker", I did run across an omission; Jaguars do not show the XK-120M variant (dual exhausts and wire wheels - I had a '54 M).

There are also icons for Classic News and JDHT Online, which land one on the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust pages, where (would you believe?) they also display a Mk V! Many parts for old Jags are offered.

* - The Trust has opened a museum in Coventry - I haven't looked into this yet.

The advert, giving the official change of name from SS Cars to Jaguar Cars, to which I refer on the previous page, was on page 21 of the 25 May 1945 issue of THE AUTOCAR and reads as follows (verbatim, including odd wording, spacing, and lack of commas and periods/fullstops, etc.):

S S Cars Ltd

change name to

Jaguar Cars Ltd

Since 1935 our cars have been produced under the name       
of Jaguar, the name by which they have become known through-
out the World.  We have, therefore, decided to adopt the    
same name for the Company, a decision which has been largely
influenced by the Company's Distributors and Dealers who    
are enthusistically in favour of the change.  Certificate   
of change of name was issued on 9th April, 1945.

Jaguar
{these two lines in script}
The finest car of its class in the world

{Jaguar winged badge}

JAGUAR CARS LIMITED • COVENTRY

More SS and Jaguar Apocrypha

How about the original SS1 "Alpine" Sports Tourer (AYP-975) I used to go see up in Ithaca; I'd forgotten all about that car here (more on it below). I found (02 Oct 98) my correspondence with the owner, the late William E. (Bill) Summers, ca. 1960). I found what must be pictures of that car from May 61. There are also pictures on this page, moved from Page 1, of that one-off Earl's Court SS100 coupé with the S6b on the bonnet and pictures hidden somewhere in my files of a white SS90 roadster (with a Chevy engine, malheureusement).

My Swiss "e-correspondent" found another SS1 with an intact top, copied it, and finished restoration of his 1933 SS1 Tourer; behold:

(photos from Switzerland by permission - all rights reserved to source)
[Thumbnail images; click on pictures for larger images.]

My Swiss friend sent this picture of his 1933 SS1 Coupé off-side door panel sunburst:

While we're at it, here's his car (somewhat wet):

(photos from Switzerland by permission - all rights reserved to source)
[Thumbnail images; click on picture for larger images.]

I find it interesting to note that there were at least two distinct authentic and original sunbursts on the door panels, one design radiating forward and upward from the lower hinge and one upward and outward from the panel center (centre). My hazy memory is that Bill Summers's SS1 Tourer had sunbursts on the left and right rear seat backs (and maybe even on the front seats?), and they were original; nope; not per what I found which must be those old photos (see page 3)!

1938 Earl's Court SS Jaguar "100"
Fixed-Head Coupé
EHP 111, 39088

I also had the pleasure of driving the one-off 1938 Earl's Court SS Jaguar "100" Fixed Head Coupé, the one that was later fitted with a chromed, die-cast Supermarine S-6b racing seaplane model (with a celluloid disk to simulate a spinning propellor) as a radiator mascot. The car was owned by Gordon Shapiro back then. Nick Johannessen's Jag Lovers site, noted above, on a page linked as "The lost ones... prototypes that never made it" and titled "Prototypes - the ones that got away", had a photo labelled "SS Jaguar 100 1938"; I misremembered the year as 1939 and that was the only car! It is the Earl's Court car, and it is back in old Blighty*; how nice that it is back where it belongs. It has what would become the rear coachwork of the XK120 melded with an SS100 front end.

I found the photos (dated April 1961) and digitized them:

38 SS100 FHC 3 38 SS100 FHC 4

38 SS100 FHC 5 38 SS100 FHC 6

38 SS100 FHC 7 38 SS100 FHC 8

38 SS100 FHC 9 38 SS100 FHC a

38 SS100 FHC b 38 SS100 FHC c
(photos Apr 61 by and © 1961/2001 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved)

Note that the coachwork badge in the top of the boot reads (as well as I can make out on the original print):

"COACHWORK BY SWALLOW <S> CARS {screwhead} LTD. <S> COVENTRY"

and the <S> symbols appear to be one "S" superimposed slightly above the other, NOT the classic Nazi-like SS symbol.

The radiator shell badge reads "JAGUAR" and "3½ LITRE".

On 07 Jan 01, I found my bureau-top photo (missing since my last move) of Gordon's car (a 4x5 enlargement) and here it is:

* - Last I'd heard (Jan 01), the car was in Holland, sans S-6b and with a leaping cat, but Dick Strever (see page 3) says it is now back in England (23 Nov 01); see page 3 for other pix of the '38 FHC, sans cat, in blue, with fender skirts.

** - wonder if that last mightn't be Gordon's photo - there weren't any vent panes fitted when I took the preceeding pictures!

I still have the original hand-operated lubrication gun, ignition lock bezel, and owner's manual from my Mark IV if anyone is interested. The Mark V manual still belongs to me but it is in the hands of a local Mark V owner (who I just ran across by chance - Apr 99).

Happily for me, there are a number of XK120 dropheads still running in the area and there is even a silver Mark IV drophead nearby to gladden my heart of a sunny weekend day.

Anent Daimlers ("DAY'm'lurz" - NOT the "DI'm'lur" Daimler-Benz type), who can ever forget the incredible extent and visual impression of Lady Docker's enormous drophead, jet black with gold fleurs de Lys or rosettes inset all over the paint? Incidentally, it did appear, ca. 1995 or so, for a while, that new Jag van den Plas saloons sported the signature Daimler ribbed radiator top tank (simulated on the bonnet), with the motif repeated on the rear boot lid as the top of the license plate holder.

I promised more photos of my 1948 3½-litre Drop Head; here they are, the first two taken early April 1956, the morning after I bought it and before I paraffined (waxed) the head (top) to waterproof it:

the one taken in Havre de Grace just after arrival in Maryland [you can almost make out my S.R.T.B. (Susquehanna River Toll Bridge) plate], and a picture given to me at a meet more recently when I showed the picture as my "pride and joy":

(that's a friend's 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan,
partially hidden by the balcony,
the one mentioned on my Ordnance continuation page)

and two blurry enlargements from ones taken on 28 April 1956 at the ACD (Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Club) meet at Avon, Pennsylvania:

If you look very closely at the left hand picture, it sure looks like a Delahaye behind mine!

Delahaye? Oh, that's funny! Here's a lower angle shot I found 07 Jan 01 from that same ACD meet and the car behind mine is a ca.-'41 Lincoln Continental! But at least this shot is sharp and clear (from an original print):

There's that home-made right-side head bracket, mentioned on the main page, silhouetted against the sky on the top rail. You can see a bit of the genuine Lucas three-point sealed beam headlight conversions in these photos; the original lights were not legal in New York State. Also, notice how the windscreen cranks out at the bottom and hinges at the top; the bottom is held in or out by an ingenious chain that becomes rigid when extended (I'd better leave that one alone!).

Also, here's a shot of a Canadian 1950 Mk. V saloon on a Manhattan (or Québec?) street (undated and not actually mine but identical to it - will you look at the MGA and the finned Chrysler product!):

Rummaging through old photos for a daughter, I ran across pictures of a family vacation at Port Cunnington, Lake of Bays, Ontario, ca. Sep 71, and there was this shot of the other daughter in front of a Montréal doctor's 1950 Mark V drophead:

I don't normally think of the stylistically-unfortunate Mark V as particularly beautiful but this one is a gem.

11 Jul 01 - here's an hilariously-funny (to me, at any rate) story, edited only slightly, from an Aussie who went to England in 1959 to work for a couple of years and, with a friend, bought a second-hand SS100, of about 1939 vintage (couldn't have been later!). The vehicle had the words Standard Swallow on various parts of the bodywork. There was a degree of wood rot in the timber in the body work, and as well some repairs were also required on the motor. They had partially stripped down the vehicle, including removing the passenger's seat and the floor under the passenger seat, leaving the gearbox, universal joint, and drive shaft exposed. The universal joint was fabricated from a number of circular sheets of canvas totalling about ¾" thick. One Saturday afternoon, they and a buddy set off for local pub. The co-owner was in the drivers seat, and the other two of were squatting on the body struts that normally supported the floor. By sheer bad luck, our correspondent was the "piggy in the middle" so he was straddling the open universal joint and tail shaft. Everything went swimmingly for a while, but suddenly his trouser legs were caught by the universal joint and quickly wrapped around the tail shaft. Luckily, he was able to hold himself up by his hands, and the weak stitching in the old trousers finally gave way and his trousers were totally ripped off him and wrapped around the tail shaft. He nearly lost the family jewels and was left in just his underpants and shirt. They managed to extricate the trousers from the tail shaft and slowly made their way back home, having learnt from that to never drive without the gearbox tunnel cover on!

A Brief History of the SS-1

Excerpted from an article in the June 1961
NEWS & TECHNICAL BULLETIN

of The Classic Jaguar Association (then with 37 members):

[William E. (Bill) Summers bought his 1934 SS-1 "Alpine" Sports Tourer in 1946. He was considered the leading expert on SS cars in the U.S. I met him at an early Classic Car Club of America meet ca. 1959 or 1960 (when I had the Mk. IV drophead). He passed away several years later. The tourer was originally a rallye car, bearing license plate AYP-975, and its 2½-litre 20hp engine was fitted with twin R.A.G. carburettors. Later, in 1937, the Works fitted it with one of the first 3½-litre engines. That engine died in 1959 and was replaced by Bill with a 1957 XK-140MC engine with leMans modifications, XK transmission, etc. It had a calculated top speed of 145mph and was clocked at 125mph with over three inches of pedal travel left. Bill wrote the article excerpted here.]

In its 31 Jul 31 issue, the Autocar announced Swallow Coachbuilding Co., Ltd., was cooperating with Standard Cars, Ltd., to create an entirely new automobile, with Swallow bodies and low-slung, special (meaning non-standard) Standard chassis. The first car appeared at Stand #72 at the Olympia Motor Show in Oct 31. It was a show-stopper, a long, low, sexy coupé with seating for four and a sliding roof, at a vaguely-affordable price. The 1932 production models came in 16 and 20 hp versions. The car {was less than practical and} was redesigned in 1933. The open Sports Tourer version appeared in March of that year. In 1934, the tread was widened. Also, the '33s were improved with true (instead of occasional) rear seats and a longer wheelbase (up 7" to 119").

Oh, good grief! - I just read the Swap Section at the back of that June 1961 issue! There's a late Mk. V saloon for $500, a '47 Mk. IV RHD saloon for $1,500, and a 2½-litre Mk. IV drophead for $1,750, plus a 3½-litre Mk. V engine for $100! Shop Manuals for the Mk. IV and Mk. V were in stock at Jaguar of Chicago for CJA members at $3.62 and $7.25, respectively! I think I may be ill!

{More to follow - technical details - also, the article said it would be continued the following month, but I only have the one issue}

08 Jan 01 - Dredging up old railroad photos, I ran across these taken 03 Jul 82 at the (then) National Museum of Transport in St. Louis of what appears to be a 1934 SS Jaguar tourer:

It's a '35 and was sold at public auction ca. 2005. (05 Jul 06)

On 16 Oct 98, whilst in England, I visited the fabulous National Motor Museum (formerly the Montagu Motor Museum) at beautiful Beaulieu (just south of Southampton) and was grievously disappointed to find the only Jags on display were a somewhat-less-than-perfect 1960 XK150 drophead and a 1962 E-type roadster, plus that hideously-modern 1993 XK220 abortion! Their catalog mentions the XK120 but doesn't show it nor was one visible and their Website indicates they have a 1954 D-type, as well. Supposedly, they also have a 1962 Jaguar E Type Roadster squirreled away somewhere. The closest thing to an SS was an S Mercedes 36/220 tourer.

SS and JAGUAR BIBLIOGRAPHY

"Jaguar and SS - Gold Portfolio 1931-1951", compiled by R. M. Clarke, Brooklands Book Distribution Ltd., 'Holmrise', Seven Hills Road, Cobham, Surrey, England, undated but ca. 1990, ISBN 1 85520 0635.

"Jaguar - The Complete Illustrated History", by Philip Porter, G. T. Foukis & Co., Haynes Publishing, Sparkford, Near Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7JJ, 1984, 1990 & 1995, ISBN 0-85429-962-9, LoC 95-77382.

"Jaguar - The Legend", by Jonathan Wood, Paragon Publishing, 13 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1PB, 1997 and 1998, ISBN 0-75252-069-5.

(for a start - more citations to follow)

HELP! moved to Continuation Page 3 on 30 Jan 01.

SS & JAG NEWS

1935 SS1 Alpine Sports Tourer WS 5777 has just come available in England (as of 11 Jan 04)!
(Click HERE for more information.)

11 Mar 00; ~13:00 - I was't sure I believed this! An American called me, purportedly from Tokyo, with a 1934/5 {?} SS1 Tourer available, claiming it was the 1995/6 {?} Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance #2 car (only #2 because it had been refitted with dual carbs), restored by Wolf in Australia, and was owned by a Japanese collector. We were talking an initial asking price of $300,000! My own take, sight-unseen, was that it was an SS Jaguar, Pebble Beach classification or no, NOT an SS1 [it was described to me first as having a radiator cap with a flying lady, then "corrected" to a leaping Jag (it has neither), if for no other reason].

Well, on 12 Mar 00 at 16:00 EST and I DID believe, but it's a 1935 SS1 Sports Tourer, Registry No. CMA 490, with the post-1934 external filler cap (without any lady or cat) and here she is:

Here's that famous sunburst door upholstery:

And here are the filler cap and badge:

{the latter two are thumbnail images - click on the pictures for larger images}
(all CMA 490 photos from Japan by permission - all rights reserved to source)
[These were taken in a cluttered garage (clean and neat - but cluttered, nevertheless) so I took the liberty
of retouching two of them rather roughly just to highlight the beauty of the car.]

Note that the blurry image under the "SS" reads "ONE",
something I'd never noticed before.

This car was complete in all respects, including all original documentation!

The car is probably no longer available (I am unable to contact the seller as of 12 Jan 04).

Obligatory courtesy link to the
Classic Jaguar Association

NOTE: You may also wish to visit the preceding SS and Jaguar Cars and Continuation Page 1 and succeeding Continuation Page 3 pages, as well.

Cyclops fans; see Cyclops on my Automotive page!