Jaguar

1922: The company was founded as Swallow Sidecar Company, hence 'SS', by William Lyons and William Walmsley.

1927: Production of a 2-seat body for the Austin Seven, later an Austin Seven Swallow saloon, and bodies for other cars.

1931: The 'SS I' and 'SS II', based on Standard Motor Co. chassis, were unveiled at the London Motor Show.

1935: SS revealed the 'Jaguar' 4-door sports saloon just before the London Motor Show.

1936: The 'SS 100' sports car, and in 1938, an attractive SS 100 fixed-head coupe.

1945: The company name became Jaguar Cars Ltd. -- 'SS' was "on the nose" after WWII.

1948

1948: The 'Mark V' was the first post-war design, in saloon and drop-head versions.

1948-1954: Jaguar 'XK120', 3.4-litre, dohc, straight-6.

a 1953 XK120

1951-1953: 'C-type', racing; the C-type introduced disc brakes; 52 were built.

1953

Jaguar won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1951 and 1953 with the C-type, and 1955, 1956 and 1957 with the D-type, also 1988, XJR-9LM, and 1990, XJR-12. (Mercedes won in 1952, Ferrari in 1954.)

1954-1957: 'D-type', racing.

1957, note the characteristic fin

(July 2008: A 1955 Jaguar D-type, XKD509, sold at auction for £2,201,500; new price was £2,500.)

1955-1957: Jaguar 'XK140'.

1955 XK140

1957-1961: Jaguar 'XK150'.

1960: Jaguar bought Daimler Motor Company (note, not Daimler Benz as in Mercedes).

1961-1974: 'E-type'.

1966 E-type 4.2

1961: The large 'Mark X' saloon was announced.

1963: The 'S-type' saloon was announced.

1966: The '420' saloon (4.2 litre) was introduced.

1968: First Jaguar 'XJ6'. 4.2-litre or 2.8-litre straight 6-cylinder engines, £1800 - £2400.

1972 July: 5.3-litre V12 engine offered in the XJ12 saloon.

1972 September: long wheelbase XJ model introduced.

1973: Series 2 XJ.

1975: The 'XJ-S' sports car was launched, with the V12 engine.

1979 March: third generation XJ.

1986 October: 'XJ40' unveiled, 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto., rectangular headlamps (which soon dated).

1988: The V12 Jaguar XJR-9LM of Lammers, Dumfries & Wallace won the Le Mans 24-hour race, covering 5332.790km (221.665km/h, 0.6km/h shy of Porsche's 1971 record).

1988 XJR9LM, 7-litre V12

1990: The Jaguar XJR-12 (7-litre V12) of Brundle, Nielsen & Cobb won the Le Mans 24-hours race, covering 4882.400km (204.036km/h).

1990: Ford acquired Jaguar.

1994: X300 (XJ6/ XJ12) launched, 3.2-litre or 4.0-litre 6-cyl, or 6.0-litre V12 engines.

1996: The XJ-S was replaced by the 'XK8', coupe and convertible.

1997: 6-cyl. and V12 engines discontinued, replaced by V8's in the 'XJ8'.

1999: The 'S-Type' went into production, the name harking back to 1963.

2002 September 26, Paris Motor Show: 7th generation XJ shown. "The new XJ body is manufactured almost entirely from aluminium ... 40 per cent lighter than that of the equivalent steel body. ... 60 per cent stiffer than its predecessor."

9/2002

Loa 5080mm, width 1868mm, height 1448mm, wheelbase 3034mm. Engine options: 4.2-litre V8 (300bhp), 4.2-litre supercharged V8 (400bhp), 3.5-litre V8 (262bhp), 3.0-litre V6.

2007 June: Ford put Jaguar, and LandRover, up for sale.

2008: The 'XF' sedan (replacement for the mid-range S-type); at the Frankfurt motor show 13-23 Sept. 2007; on sale from March 2008; 5-seat, 4-door coupe; 2.7D/ 3.0 V6/ 4.2 V8/ 4.2 V8 s/c; ZF 6-speed sequential manual/auto gearbox; rear wheel drive; £34K-£55K; .au $106K-$167 from June 2008. If the styling resembles another marque there is a touch of Bentley GT about it.

2008, March 26: Cash-strapped Ford agreed to sell Jaguar, and Land Rover, to Tata Motors of India for about $2.3billion. The deal was completed on 2 June 2008.

2009 July: Jaguar revealed its new XJ saloon, with the new Jag. (~XF) look, and six-speed ZF automatic transmission with paddle-shift -- from £52,500.
2010: 3.0-litre, V6, twin turbo diesel (275bhp), from £53,755, 5.0-litre, V8, direct injection (385bhp) £74,355, and the supercharged (510bhp) Supersport, £87,455.