Better Gas Mileage

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.

It didn’t take the company long before they were producing their own car the company launched the SS1 in 1931. It sold for 310 but actually looked a lot more expensive. It was low, had wire wheels and was quite long, the overall impression was of an expensive sports car. It was shown at the 1931 Motor Show and gathered large crowds. The Company name was changed again during 1933 to SS Cars and they launched the SS1 Tourer. William Walmsley resigned from the company.

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.

As was the case with German Motor manufacturers the company’s production was switched to the war effort. The German manufacturing plants were prime targets for the allied force’s bombing raids and the Germans naturally tried to take out the UK manufacturing plants, Coventry became one of the most heavily targeted cities.

In 1948 the company’s name changed to Jaguar cars. Clearly the SS name had to be dropped, considering the possible association with the horrific SS in Nazi Germany. The Jaguar XK 120 was launched in the same year. It is said that it was designed during those war years, at night, whilst the designers, were on fire watch; it was standard procedure during the war to have personnel on fire watch duty, to ensure that the factory was still going to be there in the morning.

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.

Jaguar did very well during the 1950’s; the Mark V11 was introduced, which enjoyed a great deal of success in motor racing. Stirling Moss raced the car, as did the Formula 1 world champion Mike Hawthorn. It also came first in the 1956 Monte Carlo Rally. Rack and pinion steering was a new feature when the XK140 was launched in 1954. The other new feature was a rear seat designed for seating small children, perhaps not seen as a great asset by the typical purchaser of an XK140. The new feature of the XK150 when it was launched was disc brakes. Also launched was the Mark 1X and the very popular Mark1 and Mark 11.

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

The XJ6 was launched in 1968 and it proved extremely popular between 1968 and 1973 almost 100,000 came off the production line. The series two was to follow and various versions of this model continued through to the present day. During 1972 William Lyons retired from Jaguar.

The XJS sports car came out in 1975 and the model ran until 1996. It was produced in both a fixed head and convertible model. The car received excellent reviews from the motoring press but the design seemed to lack some of the previous Jaguar style. Twelve years later in 1997 came the XK8 a beautifully designed sports car reminiscent of the stylish E Type launched some thirty-six 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.

In 1968 Jaguar’s fortunes started to change they became part of the British Leyland Corporation; British Leyland had become very large and chaotic. Labour relations deteriorated to an all time low and whilst Sir William did everything he could to look after Jaguar and its workforce Morale was slipping and it deteriorated further when Jaguar’s founder retired in 1972. Even the company’s name had been changed from Jaguar Cars ltd to British Leyland Exports ltd; it appeared to be change for the sake of change but it certainly caused the workforce to further loose identity. The inevitable happened and in 1975 the company went bankrupt and was nationalised by the government. One can only imagine what Sir William felt for Jaguar the company he had nursed for fifty years.

Jaguar was then in the hands of Bob Knight a loyal Jaguar man, who was determined to turn the company around. Jaguar reputation for poor reliability was becoming well known and sales were dropping. Knight was convinced that a lot of the company’s quality problems were as a result of outside suppliers supplying components that were of poor quality and subsequently failing, making Jaguar cars look bad in the eyes of the public.

In 1980 Bob Knights role was taken over by John Egan. Michael Edwards, who was head of what had become BL, gave more independence to Jaguar and allowed Egan to carry on where Bob Knight had left off, in restoring the company to profitability.

When Bob Knight joined the company the workforce were on strike. He didn’t have much to offer the workforce at that early stage but persuaded them to put their faith in him and production re-started. The low morale, from which the company had suffered, started to recover. Things did not improve overnight and in 1981 Jaguar only managed to sell a little over 13,000 cars.

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.

In 1982 the company was re-named Jaguar Cars ltd and in 1984 was privatised by the Thatcher government, Jaguar Plc was formed. John Egan remained with the company as chief executive. Jaguar’s future was once again secure. In 1989 Ford bought Jaguar for $2.5 billion, it has been estimated by some observers, that since then it put between $1billion and $1.5 billion a year into the company, more conservative estimates are that Ford invested over the years, a further $10 billion into Jaguar and Land Rover, which it had also bought.

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 was running into problems, it sold it’s interests in Aston Martin during 2007. Jaguar and Land Rover were sold together for $2.3 billion in March 2008. The purchaser was Tata an Indian motor manufacturer, with many other diverse interests around the world. A substantial loss for Ford made worse by having make up the shortfall in both Jaguar and Land Rover’s pension funds, this cost them a further $600,000. Any benefit from the excellent XF model, designed whilst they owned the company, will now go to Tata. At least the sale of its various subsidiaries has allowed Ford to concentrate more on their own problems, without the added distractions.

Some were dismayed to learn that Jaguar had fallen into foreign hands but wasn’t it already in foreign hands? More important is perhaps that Jaguar now has a long term future. From past experience it seems clear that to succeed Jaguar needs to be left alone and Tata have made it very clear that they do not plan to interfere with the day to day running of Jaguar.

In 2006 of 30,000 Germans polled, the majority favoured Jaguar over the German produced Mercedes, BMW and Audi; Jaguar is also extremely popular in America. The XF model being hailed as a triumph and with contract hire and leasing companies, that are responsible for so many of the cars on the roads of Britain, placing significant orders for this model, there seems no reason why Jaguar will not be around for another 86 years.

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