1937 Jaguar SS 2 ½ litre (SS100 Roadster)
Launched in 1936 alongside the 2 ½ litre Saloon, the SS100 Jaguar Sportscar marked the Company’s first use of the Jaguar name. It employed a shortened /lowered saloon chassis of 102” wheelbase and revised 2,663 Weslake’s OHV Standard Six with twin SU carburettors.
This original 'Barn-find' SS 2 ½ litre saloon (with all matching numbers) was delivered new on 30th August 1937 to Henly's of Manchester. It has been the subject of a meticulous restoration and enhancement project which has taken place over a 13 year period. Firstly the car was stripped to its bare chassis, and every mechanical component removed. Everything was then totally restored and reassembled.
The original SS chassis was modified to the sportscar dimensions, the old saloon body discarded and a new alloy Roadster body was coachbuilt to conform exactly to the SS100 technical specification by world renowned marque specialist Fullbridge Restoration Company (Jack and Duncan Buckley) who have rebuilt twelve SS100’s. These cars are in private collections throughout the world and command high prices when offered for sale due to the fastiduous attention to the smallest details.
There is a comprehensive file of receipts from dozens of highly specialised and highly skilled UK experts go with car. Only the leading specialists have ever been entrusted with supply of parts and services. A complete photographic record has been kept at each and every stage of the restoration process.
As you can see from the photographs the car has been built to absolute perfection. It is interesting to note that the sister-car to this one from the Fullbridge factory sold for £207,000 (now worth a lot more) at Bonham’s Goodwood Sale in 2006 (the photo above shows this car Reg DUV 71), the only difference is the ‘100’ chassis number which was from the original production run, however in build quality and components they were identical Fullbridge Cars. There are several authentic SS100’s currently on the market at well over £250,000. All indistinguishable from our stock vehicle DVR 692.
Comes with 12 Months MOT, Historic Tax and JDHC Heritace Certificate. Photo History File and Receipts.
NOTE
I now have received some more information about the car from somebody who was involved with its construction. The Jag was built from the ground up by Jack Buckley of Fullbridge Restoration at their Knarr Mill facility. He made all the body panels, it was then assembled and chassis altered by his son Duncan Buckley. The engine was rebuilt by the previous owner. The chrome plating was mostly done by Derby Plating. All the trimwork by Vas Co in Wakefield. Apparently the Fullbridge cars are so accurate and build quality so high that in the past they have been passed off as genuine Swallow built SS100’s, by unscrupulous people. However I would like to re-state that this body is a replica which has been built on a genuine 1937 SS Jaguar 2 ½ litre car.
Footnote:
Founded in Blackpool by William Walmsley, the Swallow Sidecar & Coachbuilding Company branched out into motor manufacture in 1926, its first major success being an attractive sports saloon on the Austin Seven chassis, the design being the work of Walmsley’s partner, one William Lyons. Relocation to Coventry followed and the Swallow range expanded to include models on Morris Cowley, Wolseley Hornet and Standard Sixteen chassis. Marque status arrived in October 1931 with the launch of the SS 1. Based on that of the 16hp Ensign, the SS 1’s chassis was supplied exclusively to Swallow by Standard, who also provided the six-cylinder sidevalve engine and four-speed gearbox. Although unspectacular in performance, the SS 1 went some way towards establishing the pattern for future Jaguars, combining sporting good looks with a better-than-average specification and all at a bargain price. Indeed, so successful was Lyons’ new venture that production of Swallow-bodied cars ceased altogether in 1933 and SS Cars Limited was formed, initially as a subsidiary of the Swallow sidecar-building business.
The company’s first real high-performance model did not arrive until 1935, by which time William Heynes had joined as Chief Engineer. Based on a shortened SS 1 chassis, re-engineered by Heynes, the SS 90 again demonstrated Lyons’ consummate skill as a stylist, its long bonnet, smoothly flowing wings, cut-away doors and truncated tail making it every inch the epitome of the 1930s sportscar. Although good for 90mph, the SS 90 was handicapped by the limitations of its sidevalve engine, a deficiency that would soon be rectified by another of Lyons’ new recruits, gas-flow consultant Harry Weslake. Launched in 1936 alongside the 2½-Litre saloon, the SS 100 Jaguar sportscar marked the company’s first use of the ‘Jaguar’ name. Beautifully styled in the manner of its SS90 predecessor, the newcomer employed a shorter, 102”-wheelbase chassis and a revised version of the 2,663cc Standard six which, equipped with Weslake’s overhead-valve cylinder head and breathing through twin SU carburettors, noe produced 104bhp.
Although a fine touring car, the SS 100 was marketed as primarily for competition work. Its first major success came early, if somewhat unexpectedly, when Tommy Wisdom, crewed by his wife, won the arduous International Alpine Trial in 1936, beating Bugatti and bringing the fledgling marque to the attention of the Continental public. This would be the first of many successful rallying forays, including class wins in the RAC events of 1937 and 1938, and the Alpine (outright) again in 1948. Around 190 2½-Litre and 118 of the later 3½-Litre cars had been made by the time SS 100 production ceased at the outbreak of war.