Gallery: 75 Years of Cool Cats
011967-jaguar-e-type-production-line
Think of England and several things come to mind. The Queen. Big Ben. Stiff upper lips. And, of course, Jaguar. The venerable automaker is as much a part of the Britain as the Union Jack, and a marque loved, or at least respected, by all auto aficionados. Jaguar has built some of the most iconic automobiles in history -- E-Type, anyone? -- and you'd be hard pressed to find a gearhead who wouldn't love to take a few laps in a D-Type. Today is the 75th anniversary of the first Jaguar, and to mark the occasion we've run down some of the best cats to come out of Conventry. Above: No car epitomized Jaguar’s slogan of “Grace, Space, Pace” quite like the E-Type. Jaguar sold more than 70,000 of them between 1961 and 1975, and they were all built at the factory in Coventry. *Photo: Jaguar*
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Jaguar wasn’t called Jaguar and it didn’t build cars when William Lyons and William Walmsley founded the company on Sept. 11, 1922. It was called Swallow Sidecar Co. and, as the name suggests, it built motorcycle sidecars. Lyons, pictured here in 1922, studied as an apprentice at Crossley Motors and then worked as a salesman for the Sunbeam dealer in his hometown of Blackpool. Walmsley set up shop next door in 1921, converting military surplus motorcycles for civilian use and building beautiful sidecars. The two motorcycle enthusiasts met when Lyons bought a sidecar, and on Lyons' 21st birthday the two men – with a little help from their fathers – founded Swallow Sidecar Co. *Photo: Jaguar*
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Swallow Sidecar Co. started building cars in 1927 when it announced the Austin Swallow, a coach-built seven-horsepower roadster and sedan based on the Austin Seven. The company soon had 500 orders for the Swallow, which was far more sporting in appearance (if not performance) than the car on which it was based. The factory in Blackpool, shown above, could produce 12 cars weekly, which soon proved insufficient to meet demand. Lyons changed the name of the company to SS Cars Ltd. in 1928 and moved the factory to Coventry. *Photo: Jaguar*
041935-jaguar-ss-launched
The company introduced the Jaguar SS 100 Saloon in September, 1935 at the Mayfair Hotel in London, where this picture was taken. It was the first model to bear the name “Jaguar.” Like the SS 1 and the SS 90 that came before it, the Jaguar SS 100 used a six-cylinder engine built by Standard Motor Co. The 2.6-liter mill featured overhead valves and twin SU carburetors. It produced 100 horsepower, enough to propel the 2,600-pound car to 60 mph in 13.5 seconds. Top speed was 90 mph. SS Cars boosted the displacement to 3.5 liters in 1938, raising the top speed to 100 mph. The Jaguar SS 100, especially the roadsters, is considered by some aficionados to be among Jaguar's prettiest models. They’re also among the rarest, with just 314 built. A nearly perfect example sold at auction for 199.500 pounds in 2007. *Photo: Jaguar*
051949-jaguar-xk-120
The last SS 100 rolled off the line in 1940 and the company focused its efforts on building motorcycle sidecars and aircraft during World War II. SS Cars changed its name to Jaguar Cars after the war and set to work on what would become its first icon. The XK120 roadster made its debut at the London Motor Show in 1948, and although it was built merely to showcase Jaguar’s impressive XK engine, the car proved so popular Lyons decided to produce it. Lyons wanted an engine that would allow Jaguar to stay one step ahead of the competition without constant revisions. The XK engine had a displacement of 3.4 liters and an output of 160 horsepower. It propelled the car to a top speed of 120 mph, hence the name. The XK120 – a line of them is shown here at the factory in 1949 – was as quick as it was sexy and racked up wins at Le Mans, Targa Florio and elsewhere. As for the XK engine, it became synonymous with Jaguar and was produced until 1992. *Photo: Jaguar*
061951-jaguar-c-type-lemans-winner
Jaguar’s racing success took off with the C-Type, a car based on the the XK120 but built specifically for the track. The car used the XK120’s running gear in a tube frame wrapped by a gorgeous aerodynamic aluminum body. The engine produced 205 horsepower, though the company dropped the twin SU carburetors for three Webers in 1953 and, with high-lift camshafts, found another 15 ponies. The C-Type was a successful racer, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1951 (shown above) at the hands of Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead. Two other C-Types entered by the factory retired with low oil pressure, but a fourth entered by privateers Robert Lawrie and Ivan Waller finished 11th. Jaguar didn’t fare so well in 1952. It redesigned the car to improve aerodynamics, but that made the cars prone to overheating. All three cars DNF’d. But the C-Type was back on form the following year, when Dunca Hamilton and Tony Rolt took the checkered flag with an average speed of 105.85 mph. *Photo: Jaguar*
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Doug Philbrook driving an XK120 to the peak of Mt. Washington during the [Mt. Washington Hill Climb](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2010/09/video-travis-pastrana-mt-washington/) in the early 1950s. *Photo: Jaguar*
081955-jaguar-d-type-watkins-glen
The venerable D-Type shared the XK engine and underlying mechanical systems with the C-Type, but it was an entirely different car. Among its greatest innovations was the use of an aluminum alloy monocoque with the engine and front suspension mounted to an aluminum tube frame. Aerodynamic efficiency was a key concern in designing the car, so the car has minimal frontal area, a flat floor and the distinctive fin to increase stability along the [Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circuit_de_la_Sarthe). Many of the D-Type’s design cues carried over to the iconic E-Type. D-Types were fiercely competitive machines, winning at Le Mans in 1955, ’56 and ’57 and scoring wins in smaller races around the world. Here, Sherwood Johnson laps Watkins-Glen in 1955. *Photo: Jaguar*
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Not every racing Jaguar was a two-seater. The Mark VII saloon – as the Brits call sedans – was a formidable car in every regard. Jaguar introduced it in 1950, and it was the company’s first sedan to top 100 mph. All that power came from the 3.4-liter XK engine tuned to 160 horsepower. Power increased to 190 horsepower with the introduction of the Mark VII M in 1954, giving the car a top speed of 104 mph. It is shown here winning Rallye Monte Carlo in 1956. *Photo: Jaguar*
Photo: Dennis Provost/Wired10jaguar-xk-ss
Jaguar stopped racing in 1957 and found itself with a surplus of D-Type racers. To recoup some of that investment, the cars got a passenger seat, a second door, a folding top and a proper windscreen. Jaguar called it the XK-SS. A fire at the factory destroyed 9 of the 25 cars, however, making the XK-SS a rare cat indeed. One of the 16 survivors belonged to [Steve McQueen](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/tag/steve-mcqueen/). *Photo: Jaguar*
111960-jaguar-e-type-prototype
After the company withdrew from racing, it directed its competition division to build a road-going sports car based on the D-Type. The stage was set for what would become the most famous Jaguar ever – the venerable E-Type. The first prototype, dubbed E1A, was built in 1957. It featured an aluminum monocoque, independent rear suspension and an XK engine. Although Jaguar tested the car extensively, it scrapped the design. Three years later the company rolled out the E2A prototype. It featured a steel chassis with aluminum body and a 3.0-liter XK engine with Lucas fuel injection. It competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans but didn’t finish. Jaguar shipped it to America, where it was raced by Briggs Cunningham until 1961. E2A, shown here in 1960, sold for $4.9 million in 2008. *Photo: Jaguar*
121961-jaguar-e-type-introduction
Jaguar introduced the E-Type at the New York Auto Show in 1961, and it was an immediate sensation. It was, and is, simply stunning with almost perfect proportions. You’d expect the readers of London's *Times* to name it the [most beautiful car ever](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2751222/The-100-most-beautiful-cars-20-1.html?image=19) made, but you might be surprised to know Enzo Ferrari reportedly said the same thing. The car probably would have been successful even it if had been a dog, but the E-Type was born of the D-Type and so had plenty of brawn to go with its beauty. The earliest models had a 3.8-liter XK6 engine under that loooooong bonnet. That made the E-Type as quick as it was sexy, with a top speed of 149 mph and a zero to 60 time of 7.1 seconds. Jaguar made small changes to the car during its 14-year run, increasing the engine displacement to 4.2 liters in 1969 and to 5.3 liters in 1971 when the car got a V12 engine. *Photo: Jaguar*
131963-jaguar-e-type-production
Jaguar built some 70,000 E-Types between 1961 and 1975 at its factory in Coventry. Six in 10 were sent to the United States. *Photo: Jaguar*
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The E-Type, sharing its DNA with the D-Type, was a formidable competitor, especially in SCCA Production sports car racing. Privateer Merle Brannan, shown here, was virtually unstoppable in his E-Type, winning 39 of 41 races in his class between 1963 and 1965 and giving Jaguar its first SCCA championship. *Photo: Jaguar*
