In 1922 William Lyons and William Walmsley founded the Swallow Sidecar Company in Blackpool.
The company was producing motorcycle sidecars and coachwork. In 1928 the factory moved to Coventry to meet the demands for the Austin Swallow.
In 1931 the first car was presented with a chassis manufactured by Standard, exclusively for Swallow. This was the beginning of the SS cars.
The first models were the SS 1 and the SS 2. In the following years they were the basis for several successors. In 1934 William Walmsley left the company and William Lyons started to cooperate with Harry Weslake.
Harry Weslake started to improve the engines and founded a construction department under the responsibility of William Heynes. The SS 90 was introduced in 1935. It was a Roadster on the basis of the SS 1. In 1935 the name Jaguar was first use for a car. It was the SS Jaguar, a 4-door saloon with 2.5 L engine.
The smaller version was the 2-door SS Jaguar 1.5 L and the successor of the SS 1 and SS 2. During WW2 the company again produced motorcycle sidecars for military use. After WW2 and due to the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials the name was changed to Jaguar Cars Ltd. In the 1950s Jaguar produced a series of elegantly-styled sports cars and saloons. After several changes of the ownership the Ford Motor Company acquired the company in 1989. In 2008 Jaguar was sold to Tata Motors in India.
