A car which is a symbol of classic elegance and quality performance is the Jaguar. The name Jaguar made its debut in the United Kingdom and since then has been the icon for Britain's upper class society. Although recently, Jaguar has been acquired by the joint efforts of several automotive manufacturers, it still has the undeniable character of luxurious English tradition.
The Jaguar tradition began when William Walmsley and Bill Lyons started a company called Swallow Sidecar in 1922. It was based in England and was involved in the production of sidecars for motorcycles made of aluminum. In 1933, the name of the company changed to SS Cars Ltd when they decided to enter into the production of cars. The SS Jaguar 100 was officially the first Jaguar car.
SS Cars again changed its name to Jaguar after the Second World War to avoid any connection with the Nazi army which had the same letter initials. The Jaguar Mark V came out in 1948, which was the first post war production car to be produced by Jaguar. The Mark V was a sedan and was followed by the XK120 which gained its popularity due to its high speed performance. It was this car that catapulted the fame of Jaguar into the forefront of the automotive industry.
The Jaguar cars were introduced to the United States in the 1950s. The car model Mark VII Saloon was especially designed for the American consumer and proved to be an important product on the market. That same car won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1956. The Mark VIII and Mark IX soon followed their predecessor.
The E-type Coupe or XK-E was one of the most popular models of Jaguar launched in the 60s. It was a complete package of elegance, style, luxury and performance. The popular band groups then like the Rolling Stones and The Beatles, who used Jaguar cars, also contributed a great deal to the car's continued fame.
The seventies paved way for the production of a new breed of fast coupes namely the XJ6C, XJ12C and the XJ-S. The XJ12C had a V12 engine which made it the fastest car during that time.
Continuing Jaguars tradition of class and performance, the eighties witnessed the super car XJ220 and the XJ-S HE. Due to tight competition with the rise of German automotive companies, Jaguar felt the need to acquire partners to maintain its hold on the market, but this resulted instead to a full buy out by Ford during the nineties. Bold efforts by Ford during the first years resulted in the production of other Jaguar models. Unfortunately, sales of Jaguars lowered when Ford decided to manufacture low-priced Jaguars, a move which took out the luxury status Jaguar had had,and also lost its supporters and clients. Jaguar was overshadowed by various types of new designs of new car brands and was considered a liability to Ford. A decision was made to sell Jaguar to a new Indian management.
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