1936 SS Jaguar 1½ Litre Saloon (Project)

Description

Unveiled on the Swallow Sidecar stand at the Motor Show in October 1935, the original 2 ½-litre saloon featured a revised version of the overhead-valve engine mated to an uprated Standard synchromesh gearbox.  Engineer William Heynes developed the new model shortly after joining SS Cars in April 1935, revamping the existing SS1 chassis frame with perimeter members boxed-in for additional rigidity, improved damping and the latest Girling hydraulic brakes provided excellent stopping power.  Badged as a Jaguar for the first time, the beautifully proportioned and extremely elegant coachwork wore huge Lucas P100 lamps and featured an integrated boot complete with a tray of tools, the start of a long-standing Jaguar tradition.  Riding on 18-inch Dunlop knock-off wire wheels, the SS Jaguar saloon was described by The Autocar as “a real masterpiece of aesthetic and practical proportioning”.  Sold alongside the 2 ½-litre was a smaller version developed as a replacement for the SS2, powered by the existing side-valve four-cylinder engine displacing 1608cc – in effect a scaled-down version of the larger saloon lacking none of the engineering features or equipment.  Rated at 52 bhp at 43000 rpm, the Standard motor had a 6:1 compression ratio and drove through a four-speed gearbox.  Catalogued from September 1935 until the heavily revised model appeared in March 1938, a total of 2,249 1 ½-litre saloons were completed - all in right-hand drive guise – along with a small number of dropheads from 1937 onwards.  When production resumed post-war, the cars were badged simply as Jaguars, all reference to SS understandably dropped and left-hand drive cars were made for export markets for the first time.  The 1 ½-litre SS offered an unrivalled combination of style, equipment levels and value for money, setting a standard for generations of future Jaguars.