SS1
SS Jaguar
Car : SS1
Year : 1934
Engine : 6 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 65.5×101.6 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2025 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 48
Maximum speed : 65 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft 4 ins (2.84 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
Car : SS Jaguar
Year : 1936
Engine : 6 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 73×106 mm
Cylinder capacity : 2664 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 104
Maximum speed : 90 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 0 ins (3.04 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
The two cars illustrated here have been specially chosen as they emphasise the rather curious beginnings of the Jaguar organization.
Jaguar’s origins go back to 1920, when William Walmsley and William Lyons met, almost by chance, in Blackpool. William Lyons helped his father sell pianos, while Walmsley was renovating old motorbikes left over form the war. Walmsley also built aluminium sidecars, and it was when Lyons came to buy one of these that the two met. Their shared enthusiasm for motorbikes and sidecars led them to join forces and found a company called the Swallow Sidecar Company. This was in 1922. In 1927, though business was thriving, Swallow started to turn to cars, modifying the bodywork of the most popular models of the day. They began with the Austin Seven and continued with the Standard, the Fiat 509A, and the Wolseley Hornet, restricting themselves to aesthetic alterations only. In 1928 Swallow moved to Coventry, but the year before it had already changed its name to Swallow Sidecar and Coach-building Company. In 1930 side-cars were shelved, thus indicating that the company had resolved to turn to cars. The first car with bodywork by Swallow and mechanical parts made (by Standard) expressly for the company was called the SS. In general it seemed like a car for the rich driver. In fact it sold for £310. The SS 1 was such a success that 776 were sold in the first year of production, and 1,500 in the next. Adaptation of the Standard engine, first to 2143 cc, then to 2664 cc, enabled Swallow (who in 1934 had once again changed names to SS Cars Ltd) to expand their line (sedan, sports tourer, and cabriolet). The name Jaguar appeared for the first time in 1936, apparently as the personal choice of William Lyons, who by now was on his own, Walmsley having left the partnership to build trailers and mobile homes.
The SS Jaguar of 1936 also had a Standard engine. It was only in 1945 that the company finally became Jaguar Cars Ltd, and began to produce engines itself. The step from graceful swallow to voracious jaguar might seem bold, if not impossible: William Lyons (later Sir William Lyons) succeeded completely. Automobile history cannot boast many makers of coachwork (which was basically how he started) who became manufacturers of de luxe sedans and racing cars.

Car : Morris Oxford
Year : 1912
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 60×90 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1018 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 15
Maximum speed : 50 mph
Wheelbase : 7 ft 0 ins (2.13 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs; back: ¾ elliptic leaf- springs
With William Richard Morris, later created Lord Nuffield for his services to industry, the car took a definite step forward. No longer was it reserved for the few. Though he had no technical qualifications, he combined mechanical instinct with that of a far-sighted industrialist, setting up a large-scale, complex , and well articulated production system; bringing together the products from various suppliers and adapting his own vehicles, at least to begin with, to other goods on the market.
The Oxford, named after the city where his business grew up, typifies its creator’s philosophy. The engine, with T valves, was supplied by White and Poppe; the rear axle by Wrigley, and the chassis from a third source. The car weighed around 1,380 pounds (625 kg). Within a year after it had first been introduced, 40 were being made each week.
Continuing his policy of making as cheap a car as possible, when the Cowley was being designed, Morris did not think twice about using an American engine, the Continental. This at first had a cylinder capacity of 1495 cc (69×100 mm), but later grew to 1547 cc through an increase in the ‘stroke’ of the piston (103.5 mm).

Car : Morris Minor
Year : 1929
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 57×83 mm
Cylinder capacity : 847 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 20
Maximum speed : 50 mph
Wheelbase : 6 ft 6 ins (1.98 m)
Suspension : front and back : semi-elliptic leaf- springs
Whilst starting off designs for a ‘Baby’, he still did not neglect American-style large cylinder capacity engines, for which he claimed the English market was ripe.
From 1923 onwards he experimented with a series of 6-cylinder engines, and in 1928 his first six went into production as the 2.4-litre Isis. With the Oxford, the Cowley, and now the Minor, William Morris had offered the public what he maintained was the logical fruit of a sane, farsighted industrial policy. After 1928 things changed. He now had to adapt to what the market demanded. His enlightened administrative abilities enabled him to ride the 1929 slump without great loss, and by the constantly balancing costs against profits, his company became the largest not only in Great Britain, but in the whole of Europe.
William Morris, Viscount Nuffield, died in 1963. In 1952 the merger of his firm with Austin had given rise to the British Motor Corporation. He did not live to see that other great industrial operation–the grouping into a single entity (1969) of Austin-Morris and Leyland, to create British Leyland, now one of the major car manufacturers in Britain.

Car : Morris Cowley
Year : 1920
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 69×103.5 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1550 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 24
Maximum speed : 55 mph
Wheelbase : 8 ft 6 ins (2.59 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs; back:semi-cantilever leaf- springs
The Cowley was designed in 1915, but, except for some 1,500 built before hostilities really began, was mainly produced after the was.
Morris’s intuitive foresight, and his certainly in the future of cars were fully confirmed in the Cowley. The list price of this car in fact saw a continuous drop, from £465 in 1920 to £375 in 1921, to £225 in October 1922.
The Cowley was made up also of components from different sources. Apart from the engine, supplied by Continental, then later produced in Coventry by Hotchkiss; the gearbox, axles, and magneto also came from the United States. In 1926 its appearance changed substantially: the characteristic ‘bullnose’ radiator disappeared, to be replaced by one a different shape, and brakes on all four wheels became the norm. The price went down to £142.
The success of the car can be amply illustrated by the production figures: over 55,000 in 1928, over 63,000 in 1929. The attempt at every level to rival Austin found concrete expression in the Minor, which appeared in 1929. From the technical point of view, the overhead camshaft and forced lubrication represented a double advance on the Seven (it was also more roomy and faster: around 55 mph). The sedan version was priced at £140, but the 2-seater cost barely £100. Morris realized, however, that the success of his two basic models so far (the Oxford and the Cowley) could not go on for ever.

Morgan Cyclecar
Car : Morgan Cyclecar
Year : 1914
Engine : Jap V-twin
Bore and stroke : 85.5×85 mm
Cylinder capacity : 976 cc
Gears : 2 forward
Brake horse power : 8
Maximum speed : 40 mph
Wheelbase : 6 ft 0 ins (1.82 m)
Suspension : front: vertical telescopic mountings and coil springs; back : cantilever
leaf- springs
From railways, H. F. S. Morgan went over to cars, opening a business selling Wolseleys and Darracqs. Then, with his father’s help, he started a car manufacturing company, whose first vehicle was launched at the London Motor Show of 1910. It was disconcertingly simple (the outer tubes of the chassis were also the exhaust pipes), but it most striking feature was its front suspension. At £89 it was extraordinarily cheap.
The 1914 Cyclecar had a twin-cylinder air-cooled engine, with overhead valves operated with push-rods and rockers, magneto ignition, pressure lubrication, and cone clutch. The car’s 8 bhp was sufficient to give it a respectable speed. Drive was by chain to the rear wheels.
The ban on three-wheel vehicles at Brooklands put an almost complete stop to production of any Morgan racing models. In 1936 it was able to adapt, quickly changing to 4-wheelers powered by 4-cylinder Ford engines.

MG Midget M Type
Car : MG Midget M Type
Year : 1930
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 57×83 mm
Cylinder capacity : 847 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 20
Maximum speed : 64 mph
Wheelbase : 6 ft 6 ins (1.98 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
MG was the creation of William Richard Morris (the founder of the company of that name) and Cecil Kimber (the managing-director of the Oxford Morris Garages Ltd). The letters MG stand for Morris Garages. Kimber’s idea was to produce low-cost sports cars using, as far as possible, standard production components and publicized by racing.
Everything began simply at first; Kimber realized that it would be worthwhile making certain modifications to the bodywork of some models. To begin with these were more aesthetic than mechanical. The thought of starting a new company was far from Kimber’s mind, but things developed almost of their own accord. By 1927 the Morris Garage had become too small, and Kimber moved to the outskirts of Oxford, and later to Abingdon. At the London Motor Show of 1928 substantially new models were introduced–new in that, though they were Morris cars, they had been modified both aesthetically had mechanically. One of these, derived from the Minor, was the Midget M Type. It was the first of a lucky series. In a supercharged version, but with its reduced engine (750 cc) to qualify it for the class, the Midget was the first car of that cylinder capacity to top 100 mph.

Lea-Francis Ulster
Car : Lea-Francis Ulster
Year : 1928
Bore and stroke : 69×100 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1496 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 61
Maximum speed : 90 mph
Wheelbase : 9 ft 3 ins (2.82 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
This was one of the first English road-going cars to have a supercharger. The engine was a Meadows. The Ulster derived from the Hyper, which had been longer and less easy to handle. The crankshaft came from Germany. The name of this model came form the famous Irish circuit, on which Kaye Don had that year won the Tourist Trophy, just beating a front-wheel-drive Alvis, at an average of over 70 mph.
Like so many English car companies of the period, Lea-Francis saw many hard times. Initially founded as a bicycle factory in 1897 by R. H. Lea and G. J. Francis, it went over to cars in 1904–though without much conviction. A 3-cylinder design was adopted, and a few cars built; the design was then sold to Singer, for whom Lea had once worked as an engineer. The firm returned to cars in 1920 (having started to produce motorbikes in 1911). Another break in 1935, and another new start in 1938–this time under two different associates, G. H. Leek and R. H. Rose. In 1953 the firm was again foundering, and it suspended car production, to start up again, though unsuccessfully, in 1960, with a 2500 cc model with a Ford engine. It then sank for ever. Lea-Francis cars are still held in high esteem by collectors of vintage vehicles.

Lagonda 14/60 HP
Car : Lagonda 14/60 HP
Year : 1927
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 72×120 mm
Cylinder capacity : 1654 cc
Gears : 4 forward
Brake horse power : 60
Maximum speed : 65 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 0 ins (3.04 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
Lagonda was founded towards the end of the last century by an American, Wibur Gunn, who began with motorbikes, and went on to de luxe cars. In one sense therefore the tradition has been continue, since in 1947 the firm was bought by David Brown, which already owned Aston-Martin.
The 1927 2-litre model (officially launched at the 1925 London Motor Show) had double overhead camshaft and hemispherical combustion chambers. The engine developed around 60 bhp. Its maximum speed was somewhat over 60 mph. There was also a sporting version of the 14-60, the Speed Model, which could reach close to 80 mph. This came as a 4-seater coupé , or 2 4-door sedans. The failure of the Rapier in 1935 brought Lagonda into difficulties. Alan Good rescued it, putting the technical side under the charge of Walter Owen Bentley, to whom he entrusted the design of new models. In 1937 V-12 engines with double overhead camshaft were introduced, and these produced a car that was fast (maximum speed of over 100 mph), silent, comfortable, and elegant.

Jowett
Car : Jowett
Year : 1911
Engine : twin-cylinder
Bore and stroke : 72×102 mm
Cylinder capacity : 830 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power : 12
Maximum speed : 40 mph
Wheelbase : 7 ft 0 ins (2.13 m)
Suspension : front and back: semi-elliptic leaf- springs
Jowett has gone down in history for the solidity of its flat, twin-cylinder, water-cooled car, which was in production from 1911 to 1939.
The brothers Benjamin and William Jowett went from bicycles to cars, building first a 3-cylinder model, then a twin-cylinder engine like the one in the car illustrated here. Although light, weight around 716 pounds (325 kg) and economical (about 60 miles to the gallon), the 1911 Jowett was in other respects an antiquated vehicle, as the tiller steering indicates (a wheel was adopted only after 1914).
By emphasizing its cars’ reliability in its advertising, Jowett survived the crisis that shook all small car firms in Britain in the 1920s. In 1946 it brought out the Javelin which had a flat, 4-cylinder opposed 1485 cc engine (50 bhp). The bodywork was sturdy, and it had torsion bar suspension. Some 30,000 were built. At the London Motor Show in 1953 Jowett launched a lighter version of the Jupiter Sports, but it was a complete failure. The company disappeared when International Harvester and Ford, England took over its premises.