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February 8, 1985 – William Lyons’ death and 5 of the most important postwar Jaguars ever built
8Feb By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

February 8, 1985 – William Lyons’ death and 5 of the most important postwar Jaguars ever built

William Lyons with Jaguar E-Type William Lyons was a visionary and a true pioneer in the automotive industry. Born in Coventry, England in 1901, Lyons had a passion for cars from a young age. He started his career as a motorcycle sidecar manufacturer in the 1920s, but it was his creation of the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922 with William Walmsley that would lay the foundation for his future success. Lyons’s company produced sidecars for various motorcycle manufacturers. However, his innovative designs and attention to detail set his products apart from the competition. Knowing he had something special on his hands, he ushered the Swallow Sidecar Company into the automobile industry. As Swallow was commonly known as SS, he changed the name of the automaker to Jaguar Cars Ltd so it w...
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April 4, 1996 – Jaguar introduces the XK8
4Apr By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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April 4, 1996 – Jaguar introduces the XK8

2004 Jaguar XK8. By Sicnag - CC BY 2.0 Jaguar introduced a new kitten to their litter on this day in 1996 at the New York Auto Show. The Jaguar XK8, project code X100, was a grand touring model and the first car of the new XK series, although it borrowed lettering from earlier models such as the original XK150 and XK-E. The XK8 was available as a coupe or convertible and featured Jaguar’s new AJ-V8 4.0 litre engine. The XK8 replaced the XJ-S, which had been in production since 1976. While the XK8 was manufactured through the 2006 model year, the XK series wouldn’t meet the end of production until July of 2014. 
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March 26, 2008 – Ford sells Jaguar & Land Rover
26Mar By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
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March 26, 2008 – Ford sells Jaguar & Land Rover

On this day in 2006, Ford named Tata Motors, a part of conglomerate Tata Group, as the preferred bidder to purchase Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company. The deal closed the following June to the tune of $2.3 billion. This was about half of what Ford purchased them in 2000. Under the terms of the deal, Ford also had to return Tata up to $600 million following the sale to make up for any shortfalls in the two brands’ pension plans. Ford offloaded the brands during a major company overhaul following a two year loss of $15 billion. Above: Ford era Land Rover Range RoverTop: 2008 Jaguar XF At the time of the purchase, Tata Group focused on overseas acquisitions of everything from coffee companies to manufacturing businesses. Tata had no intention of making any major changes...
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March 15, 1961 – Jaguar E-Type is Released
15Mar By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

March 15, 1961 – Jaguar E-Type is Released

Upon its release on this day in 1961, Enzo Ferrari called the Jaguar E-Type "The most beautiful car ever made." When the grand-tourer hit the market it earned high remarks for its flowing lines and excellent performance, but it also scored well in value. Based on Jaguar's LeMans winning D-Type, which won the 24 hour race three years in a row, the E-Type incorporated racing bones with comfort, luxury and style. It's since been ranked by numerous historians, writers and publications as one of, if not the, most gorgeous car ever produced. Above: 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 roadster. Top: 1964 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Coupe. Both photos by By DeFacto - CC BY-SA 4.0 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 The first E-Type series featured a 3.8L inline six connected to a four speed gearbox. Jaguar cl...
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September 4, 1922 – The beginning of Jaguar
4Sep By Automotive HistoryNo Comments
This Day

September 4, 1922 – The beginning of Jaguar

When motorcycle enthusiasts William Lyons and William Walmsley founded Swallow Sidecar Company on this day in 1922 they hadn’t mentioned any intentions of getting into the automobile business. But as their sidecar business expanded, they purchased a large building that provided them space to offer auto repair, painting and upholstery work. They soon added coach building to their business.  Above: 1931 Austin 7 Swallow Saloon. CC BY 2.0. Top: William Walmsley & Williams Lyons (in sidecar) The first car they designed that sold in high quantities was the Austin 7 Swallow, introduced in May of 1927. This was a rebodied Austin 7 with coachwork by Swallow Side Car. It featured a two-tone color scheme and appeared similar to more expensive cars of the era, yet cost just £175. Some...
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This Day in Automotive History is a transportation history, car history and general automotive history website dedicated to providing informative and entertaining content. Our goal is to enlighten our readers by producing and publishing automotive content on a wide range of topics, including famous cars, important automotive inventors and engineers and other historic automobile related events, places and people. We encourage you to share our page and connect with us on Facebook or sign up for our automotive history newsletter at the top of this page. If you have any questions about the content we publish, including our car videos and car history pictures and text and the use of them, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the below email address. On occasion we post classic cars for sale from Craigslist, Facebook and other online marketplaces. We utilize imagery from those ads in a fair use fashion. This includes barn finds for sale, muscle cars for sale, vans for sale, station wagons for sale, trucks for sale and other affordable old cars for sale. If you’d like your car featured, reach out to us!

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