The Ultimate Cat

The Jaguar practically purrs. It doesn’t matter if you’re driving the F-TYPE, a sports car engineered for performance; the XF, a mid-sized executive car; the XJ, a full-sized luxury saloon; or the XK, a luxury grand tourer. Designer Ian Callum’s F-TYPE won the World Car Design of the Year Award last year, and the Jaguar brand was named number one among luxury brands in the
J.D. Power 2013 Sales Satisfaction Index Study. 

According to Fred Hammond, who handles heritage-related activities for Jaguar Land Rover North America as well as the Jaguar Heritage website, the Jaguar has always been known for its style and performance. But in the beginning it was simply a sexy sidecar attached to a motorcycle. In 1922 Sir William Lyons, the founder of the Swallow Sidecar & Coach Building Co., partnered with William Walmsley in Blackpool, England. The sidecar was Walmsley’s baby, but it was Lyons’ sophisticated artistic and logistic vision that made it marketable. 

In 1927 Lyons teamed up with Herbert Austin, who had just introduced the Austin Seven, and the Austin Seven Swallow was born. Lyons designed the two-seater body that was mounted on the Austin chassis, and the following year he released an updated version of the car, the Austin Seven Swallow Saloon. With a chassis and engine supplied by the Standard Motor Company, the Standard Swallow was an elegant sedan that stole the 1929 London Motor Show.