Home Part 2: The Last 100 years 8: Car Manufacturers by Country 8.7 Great Britain (UK) 8.7.4. Jaguar History of Jaguar Motor Cars / Automobiles 8.7.4. Jaguar In 1932 the Swallow Sidecar Company produced its first car; the two-door SS 1. In the mid 1930s the company produced the Jaguar SS100, the first car to carry the Jaguar name.  Just over 300 of these 2.5 and 3.5 litre cars were made. Immediately after World War 2 the company changed its name to Jaguar Cars Limited due to the link between the initials “SS” and Nazi Germany. The first cars bearing solely the Jaguar name were the pre-war designed 1.5/2.5/3.5 litre models that were produced from 1945 to 1948. The Mark V, produced in 1948, was the first post war designed model. Shortly afterwards the company launched the XK120. This was followed by the XK140 in 1954 and the XK150 in 1957. About 72,500 E-Type Jaguars were produced between 1961 and 1973. The car had a top speed of 150 mph (240 kph) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 7.1 seconds. In 1968 the top selling XJ6 entered service and by 1979 over 155,000 had been made. After various mergers during the 1960s and then nationalisation, the company became a separate company again in 1984. Five years later it was acquired by the Ford Motor Company. Other models produced between 1950 and 1980 include the S Type, 240, 420, Mk 1, Mk 2 (over 90,000 produced), Mk V11/Vlll/lX and the XJ12. Models produced since 1980 include the XJS 5.3, XK8 and XJ8. The 2007 range includes the XK, XJ, and XF range, the S Types and the X Types.   [ Back ]