Jaguar

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

1945: Company name becomes Jaguar Cars Ltd..

1948

1951-1953: C-type, racing; the C-type introduced disc brakes.

1953

Jaguars won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1957 (also 1988 and 1990). (Mercedes won in 1952, Ferrari in 1954.)

XK120, 1953

1954-1957: D-type, racing.

1957, note the characteristic fin

1961-1974: E-type.

1966 E-type 4.2

1968: First 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.

1979 March: third generation XJ.

1986 October: XJ40 unveiled, 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto', rectangular headlamps.

1988: The Jaguar 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 XJR12 (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.

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

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.