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Jaguar Cars

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Jaguar Logo
Jaguar Logo

Jaguar Cars is a British-founded subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company famous for its luxury saloon and sports cars.

Because Jaguar occupies both the performance and luxury markets, its competition is particularly diverse. It includes BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti, as well as Lincoln in the U.S..

The name is pronounced /ˈdʒægjuːə/ in the UK, /ˈdʒægˌwɑɹ/ in the USA.

History

Founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley, the Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5 Litre saloon in 1935. This name was given to the entire company when SS Cars Ltd was renamed Jaguar Cars Ltd after World War II because of the unfavourable connotations of the initials, SS.

Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation (BMC), the Austin-Morris combine, to form British Motor Holdings (BMH) in 1966. After merger with Leyland and Rover, the resultant company then became British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMH) in 1968. Financial difficulties and the publication of the Ryder Report led to effective nationalisation in 1975 and the company became British Leyland Ltd (BL).

In 1984, Jaguar was floated off as a separate company on the stock market - one of the Thatcher government's many privatizations. It took the Vanden Plas name with it. It was then taken over by Ford in 1989-1990. In 1999 it was made part of Ford's new Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin and Volvo Cars. Land Rover was added to the group in 2001 following its purchase from BMW.

The company was originally located in Blackpool but relocated to Coventry in 1928 to be at the heart of the British motor industry. Today, Jaguars are assembled at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and Halewood in Liverpool. The historic Browns Lane plant closed as a vehicle assembly plant in 2005 leaving aluminium vehicle production at Castle Bromwich and steel at Halewood.

Jaguar also owns the Daimler car company (not to be confused with Daimler-Benz), which it bought in 1960 from Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA). Since the late 1960s, Daimler has been a brand name for Jaguar's most luxurious saloons.

Historical Models

1950 Jaguar XK120 from the Ralph Lauren collection
A 1963 E-Type Roadster on display in Indianapolis
A 1968 Jaguar 340 small saloon

The Jaguar company started production with the pre-war 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 Litre models which used engines designed by the Standard Motor Company. The 1.5 Litre 4 cylinder engine was still supplied by Standard but the two larger six cylinder ones were made in house.

The first post war model was the 1948 Mark V available with either 2.5 or 3.5 Litre engines and had a more streamlined appearance than the pre-war models but more important was the change to independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes.

The big breakthrough was the launch in 1948 of the XK120 sports car with the new XK twin overhead cam, 3.5  Litre, six cylinder engine designed by William Heynes and Claude Bailey. This car had originally been intended as a short production model of about 200 vehicles as a test bed for the new engine until its intended home, the new Mark VII saloon was ready. The XK120's reception was such that production continued until 1954 and it was followed by the XK140, XK150 and E-Type models, keeping Jaguar in the sports car market.

Introducing the large Mark VII Saloon in 1951, a car especially conceived for the American Market, Jaguar soon found itself overwhelmed with orders. The Mark VII and its successors gathered rave reviews from magazines such as Road and Track and Motor. In 1956 a Jaguar Mark VII won the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally.

The 1955 Mark I small saloon was the first monocoque (unibody) car from Jaguar and used a 2.4 Litre short stroke version of the XK engine. In 1959, the car was improved with a larger engine and wider windows and became the Mark II, one of the most recognizable Jaguar models ever produced.

The Mark VIII of 1956 and Mark IX of 1958 were essentially updates of the Mark VII but the Mark X of 1961 was a completely new design of Jaguar large saloon with all round independent suspension and unibody construction.

The independent rear suspension from the Mark X was added to the Mark II body to make the 1963 S-Type and in 1967 the Mark II name was dropped when the small saloon became the 240/340 range. The 420, also sold as the Daimler Sovereign, of 1966 put a new front onto the S-type although both cars continued in parallel until the S-Type was dropped in 1968. The Mark X became the 420G in 1966.

Of the more recent saloons, the most significant is the XJ (1968-present), still the definitive Jaguar saloon car for many. Since 1968 the Series I XJ has seen major changes in 1973 (to Series II), 1979 (Series III), 1986 [Europe] / 1987 [United States] (XJ40), 1995 (X300), 1997 (to the V-8 powered X308), 2003 (the present model, X350). The most luxurious XJ models carry either the Vanden Plas or Daimler nameplates.

Most Important Models

Sport cars:

Large Saloons

Small Saloons

Jaguar has designed in-house four generations of engines.

Current Models

The current Jaguar line-up includes the following models:

Sports car racing

The company has had major success in sports car racing, particularly in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Victories came in 1951 and 1953 with the C-Type, then in 1955, 1956 and 1957 with the D-Type. The famous race was then left for many years, until in the mid-1980s Tom Walkinshaw's TWR team started designing and preparing Jaguar V12-engined sports prototypes for European sports car races. The team started winning regularly from 1987, and with increased factory backing the team won Le Mans in 1988 and 1990. Jaguar Sport:


Jaguars in fiction and the media

The Jaguar Mark 2 saloon gained a reputation as a popular getaway car among the British criminal fraternity in the 1960s. As a result, Mark IIs have featured in many British crime films, including Robbery, Get Carter and Mona Lisa. However, the best known fictional Mark II is probably the car driven by Inspector Morse in the British television series of the same name.

The character, Arthur Daley, in the British television series Minder was generally to be seen driving a Jaguar XJ6, as was Robert McCall (Edward Woodward) in the 1985-89 CBS TV series The Equalizer. The latter was a black 1985 XJ6 with the license plate "5809-AUG".

British Prime-Minister Tony Blair is driven in a bottle-green Jaguar XJ8 to support British nationalism. His predecessor, John Major, used a modified XJ6. Blair's Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott gained the nickname "Two Jags" for his prceived use of two ministerial cars when he was supposed to be promoting the use of public transport.

Jaguar E-types are featured in the films Robbery, The Odessa File, Brannigan, Silver Streak, 52 Pick-Up, Car Trouble and About Adam. An E-Type also replaced Emma Peel's usual Lotus Elan for the 1998 film of The Avengers. Harold, of Harold and Maude, had a Jaguar E-Type hearse.

In the 1968 movie Danger: Diabolik, Diabolik drove a black Jaguar E-Type. His love interest, Eva, drove a white one.

Austin Powers drove a Union Jack-decorated Jaguar E-Type, calling it a Shaguar.

Mike Gambit in The New Avengers and Simon Templar in Return of the Saint, both had a Jaguar XJ-S as their usual transport.

The made-for-cable 1989 film The Heist (shown on HBO) featured two dark green Jaguar XJS coupes - they were used during a bait and switch scene where contraband was hidden in the trunk panel.

Sting drove a Jaguar in the music video for his song 'Desert Rose', because of this, the song has been used in past Jaguar commercials. While Jaguar does not use the song anymore, the song is still associated with Jaguar.

The Jet Li movie Danny the Dog/Unleashed featured a Series 3 XJ.The nickname for a Jaguar "Jag"was mentioned in many songs such as Snoop Dogg's Riders On The Storm,Usher's Yeah and Lil' Flip's Rollin On 20's.

1950s Jaguar XK120s were used in the films The Green Man and Too Many Crooks, while XK150s were featured prominently in Play Misty for Me, To the Devil...a Daughter and Blue Ice.

The 2002 film Die Another Day of the James Bond series of movies featured a Jaguar XKR. The car was driven by the character Zao in some scenes of the movie, including a chase/battle against Bond's Aston Martin.

Robbie Williams drives an XKR in Los Angeles where he lives. Jennifer Lopez drives a $100,000 Jaguar XK8

See also

  • 1937 Jaguar SS 100
    1937 Jaguar SS 100
  • 1963 Jaguar 3.4 Mk2
    1963 Jaguar 3.4 Mk2
  • 1966 Jaguar E-Type (aka XKE)
    1966 Jaguar E-Type (aka XKE)
  • 1991 Jaguar XJR-15
    1991 Jaguar XJR-15
  • 1995 Jaguar XJ6 (Sovereign)
    1995 Jaguar XJ6 (Sovereign)
  • Jaguar XK8
    Jaguar XK8
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