← Jaguar

Pre-war / SS Jaguar

Before the Jaguar name existed, there was SS Cars.

William Lyons and William Walmsley's Swallow Sidecar Company moved from sidecars into coachbuilt car bodies through the late 1920s, then into building complete cars. In 1934 the company was renamed SS Cars Ltd, and its SS1 and SS2 models established Lyons' reputation for giving affordable cars an expensive, elegant look.

The name 'Jaguar' was first used in 1935, on the SS Jaguar 90 and SS Jaguar 100 — the 100 in particular, a genuine sports car capable of around 100mph, is where the marque's performance identity begins.

After the Second World War, the SS initials carried an unwanted association with the Nazi Schutzstaffel, and the company dropped the SS name entirely in 1945, becoming Jaguar Cars Ltd — the name it has carried ever since.