Jaguar Cars (inc. SS)

Here's my grandfather's 'SS' Jaguar in the Forest of Dean, don't ask me what the exact model is though. They originated in Holbrooks and derived from the Swallow Sidecar company.

I lost my dad ten years ago but always remember him telling me about when he was small during the war him being terrified of the SS1/nee Jaguar that was parked in the rear entry of the house they were living at the time in Grangemouth Road.

I believe Jaguar dropped the 'SS' tag after the war for obvious reasons.

This was my dad's Jaguar, I think it's a Mk I but am not sure, I remember he turned the ignition on but let me press the starter on the dashboard. I can still smell the insides now and he sold it for £70 as the clutch went on it.

Hi Catshed I feel your vibes on that. I let my Wolseley 6/80 go for a song, simply because I was saving for a house. The car did about eighteen gallons to the mile (it might have been the other way around). I hope you like the Jaguar in Ted & Jean's driveway on our railway.

Hi Catshed, You are right it is a Mk1.

Thanks for identifying it Meerkat, and Philip, in my photo of the Jag, the garage it's facing had those very same shape of windows as the one in your layout.

There's editions of the "last few examples" of certain marques at Gaydon, Dutchman. They'll certainly fetch bigger money, though the early S1/S2 E-types were prettier and fetch bigger bucks. S1 E-Type reg. 9600 HP is the earliest surviving E and was restored a few years ago. Here it is at the '61 Geneva Press launch as it went on to be used as the official Press test car. Think of a number and add zeros as to its worth now.

Seeing the picture of the Fixed Head E-type reminds me that if you worked at Jaguar and could drive, then when we had a fire drill, you were expected to drive an E-type from the factory out onto Browns Lane. When there was a fire drill there would be a line of unregistered E-types that went all the way down the hill from the factory. Getting in and out was always a problem with the E-type. In the convertible, they unwary would have the hood hit you just above the left ear as you got in whereas in the fixed head the roof would attempt to take the top of your head off. Getting out of both variants, you had to feed your legs out first and slide your bum from the seat and over the sill before ducking out of the door opening and trying to stand up. It was rumoured that Jag never made any money on selling cars but actually made all the profit out of spares. Incidentally, the bonnet of the E-type was meant to be made out of fibreglass. However, producing them in any numbers proved impossible and so they were made out of steel. Also, the seams on the body were originally lead loaded, ie the seam was filled with molten lead and then rubbed down so that the seam was impossible to detect before painting, let alone afterwards. It still is one of the world's most beautiful cars. Jaguar's expertise in fibreglass, or GRP, led eventually to the Daimler Dart, one of the worlds ugliest cars, although I do remember selling the last Dart bodyshell on the Browns Lane site.

Yes, I once mentioned the gaps in the bodywork to Stan Taylor who was a partner in the panel beater firm which built the body for the prototype and he explained to me that there were no gaps in the hand built original.

Please put me right on this if I have it wrong, but I was told that only 6-7 E.types went out to the showrooms when they first came out. They would be returned after a few weeks or so, and would be given a full re-spray in a different colour and new mileometer then go out again.

Interesting to read the previous posts I did my apprenticeship at Jaguar in the early 50s and it was a great place to work, I finished from memory in 1958 and experienced the fire that destroyed a lot of the Jag, then spent a few months in the experimental dept before doing a couple of years or so in various garages finally returning to Jaguar and the experimental dept where I remained until my departure to NZ. The only Jags I owned were 2.4L Mk 1 which I took to NZ then when we had settled down I sold it and brought a XK150 that started a life long love affair with all kinds of sport cars. I will try to find some pics if I can remember where they are.

Oh what a lovely thread - please keep it going and more pictures. I cannot add much to the story except that I lived just off Browns Lane (Harvey Close) and obviously saw a shedload of Jaguar E type output, seem to remember they all went out on road test down the A45 before delivery. Only other anecdote is the builders firm I worked for, W.H.Jones, was the contractor "on site" for day to day work under the works engineers dept. Our owner William Aubrey Jones was a personal friend of Sir William Lyons. One of our surveyors one day wrote off a brand new E type emerging from Jag gate a bit too smartly onto Browns Lane - hit it amidships

The Jaguar Apprentice School c1952 run by Mr (Joe) Barker To get an apprenticeship was not exceptionally hard - first was an interview and written test, if successful it was followed by a 3 month probationary period, first the Apprentice School where you were instructed in the basics of the motor car, also how to use a file, hacksaw, lathe and milling machine etc. A couple of tests were to make with a file and hacksaw a one inch square from a sheet of

I have been enjoying this post and would like to submit this link to a 1961 film of car manufacture at Browns Lane. Quite nostalgic.