SS Jaguar 100

SS Jaguar 100
1939 SS Jaguar 100
Overview
ManufacturerSS Cars Ltd
Also calledSS Jaguar 2½ Litre 100 Model[1]
Production1936–1939
Body and chassis
ClassSports car
Body style
Powertrain
Engine2663 cc (3485 cc from 1938)
straight-6 overhead valve[3]
Dimensions
Wheelbase104 in (2,642 mm)[3]
Length153 in (3,886 mm)[3]
Width63 in (1,600 mm)[3]
Chronology
PredecessorSS 90
SuccessorJaguar XK120
An SS Jaguar radiator badge
The only fixed head coupé
A publicity shot of CKV250 outside the SS Cars building in 1937. This is considered to be the first recorded use of the Jaguar 'leaper' mascot.[4]
A 1938 SS Jaguar 100 - 2 1⁄2 Litre

The SS Jaguar 100 is a British 2-seat sports car built between 1936 and 1939 by SS Cars Ltd of Coventry, England. The manufacturer's name 'SS Cars' used from 1934 maintained a link to the previous owner, Swallow Sidecar, founded in 1922 by Walmsley and Lyons to build motorcycle sidecars. In March 1945 the S. S. Cars shareholders agreed to change the name to Jaguar Cars Limited.[5]

In common with many products of the thirties, the adoption of an animal name was deemed appropriate[citation needed] and the model name "Jaguar" was given to a new SS saloon car in 1935, and then to all new SS models. The '100' was for the theoretical 100 mph maximum speed of the vehicle.[6]

  1. ^ "Motor magazine insert for the 1936 SS Jaguar range". The Jag-lovers Web. Jag-lovers Ltd. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  2. ^ "1938 show-stopper: William Lyons' Jaguar SS100 3.5-litre Coupé Prototype". Classic Driver. Classic Driver (Switzerland) AG. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Culshaw; Horrobin (1974). Complete Catalogue of British Cars. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-16689-5.
  4. ^ "First Cats: The predecessors of Jaguar Cars Ltd". The Jag-lovers Web. Jag-lovers Ltd. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. ^ S.S. Cars Limited. The Times, Wednesday, 4 April 1945; pg. 10; Issue 50108
  6. ^ "1938 S.S. Jaguar 100 3½ Litre". Supercars.net. Supercars.net Publishing. Retrieved 13 September 2014.