History of Jaguar

The English company “Jaguar” today specializes in the production of prestigious cars. However, in 1922, after registration, she was called “Swallow Sidecars” and was engaged in the manufacture of sidecars for motorcycles. And only 4 years later, two founding partners, William Lyons and William Walmsley, decided to turn their attention to the development of car bodies. Jaguar’s first automotive product was for the Austin Seven sports car.

The manufacturer achieved its first notable success in 1931, presenting its first two cars, the SS-I and SS-II, at the London Motor Show. London buyers liked them, and Jaguar spent the next few years developing premium sedans based on these models. Released in 1936, they were the first cars to carry the Jaguar name.

Having spent the entire World War II as an aircraft engine manufacturer, the company returned to the development of machines immediately after its end. At this time, the company changes its former name, taking as the new “Jaguar”, which had previously designated only a line of luxury cars. The “SS” designation was too strongly associated with the Nazis at the time, and it could hurt sales. In 1948, the first post-war sedan, the Jaguar Mk V, was introduced, and shortly after that, the company released a model that became the fastest production car of that time. The maximum speed of the XK120 was as much as 193 km / h. This series was continued in 1954, when the XK-140 was born. The new car was equipped with an engine that developed 180-192 horsepower and accelerated to 225 km / h. After 3 years, Jaguar introduced the XK150 model, which had a 253-horsepower 3.5-liter engine.

In 1960, Jaguar bought out the Daimler company, with which it had worked closely in recent years. However, this decision was not the best, and led to a number of financial problems. It was possible to correct things only in 1966, by merging with British Motors. After that, the time came, which can be considered the golden age of the Jaguar – the company produces successful models one after another, which break sales records and occupy the top lines in the charts of the most attractive cars in England. The cars of the brand are gradually becoming more aggressive and sporty, both externally and in terms of technical equipment. So, in 1972, Jaguar released the XJ12 model, which had a 12-cylinder engine with a capacity of 311 horsepower. She became the best among all the company’s products for a long time, until in 1981 she was replaced by the XJ-S HE. This model had an automatic transmission and a top speed of 250 km / h, which was another record among production cars.

In 1988, the company created a new division called “Jaguar Sport”, designed to improve the speed and technical performance of brand cars. The very first model presented, the XJ 220, took its well-deserved top spot on the podium among the fastest production cars, and only the appearance of the McLaren F1 forced it to go down one line.

In 1989, Jaguar came under the control of the American company Ford Motor. Thanks to the support of the corporation, the company releases new interesting models without losing its individuality. So, in 1996, the XK8 sports car was released, equipped with a number of the latest developments, among which it is worth noting the suspension controlled via the on-board computer. From 1998 to 2000, Jaguar consistently introduced the S-Type, F-Type and X-Type models, which became the flagships of the entire UK car industry at that time.

Jaguar’s first station wagon, the X-Type Estate, was shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. It had a diesel engine and an all-wheel drive transmission. And 4 years later, the line of sedans of the British company was updated with the XF business class model.

In 2008, Jaguar was purchased by Tata Motors from India. A year later, the company introduced the new XJ sedan, which had an aluminum body, a wide wheelbase and a powerful engine.

After 4 years of fruitful work, the company released the Jaguar F-Type two-seater roadster, which was recognized as “the most sports car of the past 50 years.” Under its hood is a five-liter V8 engine with a capacity of 495 horsepower. In just 4.3 seconds, he is able to reach speeds of up to 100 km / h.

The real “hits” of 2013 were a pair of supercharged models: the Jaguar XJ sedan and the Jaguar XKR-S GT for track days. The first car was equipped with almost the same engine as the F-Type, only with a capacity of 550 horsepower. This two-ton liner is capable of accelerating to 100 km/h in just 4.6 seconds. The second model is a real breakthrough for the company, because its acceleration time to hundreds of just 0.3 seconds.

In 2014, Jaguar engineers worked on the car’s compactness and introduced its smallest D-Class XE sedan. In 2015, manufacturers decided to finalize the XF business sedan produced since 2007, making it 190 kg lighter, shorter and slightly lower. The interior and exterior of the model as a whole remained the same, the developers worked hard to increase the level of comfort and achieved more smooth lines. Sales of the new Jaguar XF will start at the end of 2015.

To date, the company continues to develop in the direction of the production of sports cars and luxury sedans.