SS Jaguar 1.5 Coachbuilt Saloon

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William Lyons cut his teeth in the motor trade at the helm of a small Blackpool-based company producing motorcycle sidecars.

Founded in 1922, his Swallow Sidecar Company soon branched out into making car bodies, initially fitted to the Austin 7 chassis. Beautifully styled and offering exceptional value for money, they were soon making more profit than the sidecars and by 1929 Lyons had relocated to larger premises in Foleshill, near Coventry.

Lyons’ first complete car was the SS 1.5-litre Saloon of 1935. This used a 1,609cc side valve engine supplied by nearby Standard Motors. This was soon complimented by 2.5 and 3.5-litre models and, of course, the staggeringly beautiful SS100. The engine on the entry model was soon enlarged to a 65bhp 1,776cc unit and from 1938 the bodies were made entirely of steel, doing away with the earlier ash frame construction.

The performance of the 1.5-litre was not its strongest suit, however 70mph was attainable and road tests of the day praised the car for its sweet running and its ability to cover ground efficiently. It certainly looked good, and was soon dubbed the 'Wardour Street Bentley' thanks to its aristocratic style at a bargain price which appealed to the more raffish elements of the contemporary Soho set.

After the war, the company name was changed from SS to Jaguar Cars Ltd (for obvious reasons) and production continued with the old pre-war model range. The term Jaguar MkIV was introduced retrospectively to differentiate the model from the MkV which gained independent front suspension. In all, some 10,980 1.5-litre SS and Jaguar cars were produced between 1935 and 1949 although survivors are now rare and highly prized.

First registered in Brighton in May 1936, CUF 415 is one of the exceedingly rare ‘Coachbuilt’ ash-framed saloons, distinguishable by the spare wheel on the nearside wing, and only manufactured in 1936 and 1937 before being superseded by all-steel saloons and dropheads from 1938. It retains the early dashboard lay-out with the speedometer on the far left, and has four side windows without the quarter light which was introduced later in 1936, plus the Art Deco sunrise pattern doorcards which were abandoned on the 1937 model on grounds of cost.

By 1952 it was in the hands of one Elsie Miller, passing down the family to Gerald E Miller the following year, who owned it into the 1990s. After his death, it was registered in his wife’s name until 2001. There are details of an early engine rebuild back in 1952 and it was driven on this engine until the mid- 1980s.

Mr Miller was an aircraft engineer and when the car was well-worn in the 1980s, he introduced a few modifications, installing a Ford 1600 OHV Kent cross-flow engine and the excellent Ford synchromesh gearbox to produce a highly practical motor car which drives beautifully to this day. 

In August 2001, CUF 415 was sold to Mr JW Scott from Flintshire before being acquired by our vendor in 2005. The month after it was purchased, the car featured in a Channel Five production of ‘Worst Celebrity Driver of the Year Award’, performing faultlessly as they drove from John O’Groats southwards. After this celebrity experience the car was then taken off the road and restored, as close to the original as possible, though leaving the engine and gearbox and a couple of other modifications. The sunburst doorcards were also restored and the car professionally repainted in its original Old English White livery.

Much admired over the years, CUF 415 featured in the UK’s largest Jaguar gathering at Windsor Great Park in May last year, joining the procession around Windsor Castle in front of royalty and being the oldest Jaguar in attendance. Indeed the current keeper, a lifelong Jaguar collector and enthusiast, believes it to be the oldest roadworthy Jaguar saloon in Britain, and one of perhaps only five 1936 Jaguars surviving in the world today.

Supplied with a large history file, this wonderful and exceedingly rare SS Jaguar is in lovely condition throughout and is easily capable of keeping up with modern traffic thanks to the later Ford engine, as we discovered during an enjoyable test drive on the occasion of our visit to take these photos.