1936 SS Jaguar 1½-Litre Coachbuilt Saloon

Offered by Brightwells | Leominster, U.K. | November 28, 2018

Photo – Brightwells

Time to indulge in my favorite thing: breaking down make and model histories. SS Cars Ltd. was the result of the Swallow Sidecar Company – founded by William Lyons and William Walmsley – turning to automobiles. This occurred in 1934 (even though cars had sort of been on the table since 1932). The company became Jaguar in 1945 – thanks a lot, Nazis (but seriously, even the SS Cars logo looked like it was ripped off of an SS officer’s uniform).

Prior to 1935, the company had a few products, namely the SS1 and SS2. Sports cars came next with the SS 90 and SS 100 (or SS Jaguar 90 and SS Jaguar 100). Jaguar was a model name with various trims and engines. The SS Jaguar sedans went on sale in 1935 as the SS Jaguar 1.5, Jaguar 2.5, and Jaguar 3.5. They would be produced until 1940 and would go on sale again in 1946 as the Jaguar 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 (without the SS).

And what we have here is an SS Jaguar 1.5. It was available as a sedan or 2-door drophead coupe. This sedan is called a “Coachbuilt Saloon” but there is little evidence it was coachbuilt in anything more than name. Power is from a replacement Ford Kent 1.6-liter straight-four, which is unfortunate.

The lot description says that this car is the oldest surviving Jaguar in the U.K. and one of just five 1936 Jaguars to exist worldwide (yes, there are older non-Jaguar SS cars). One of 10,980 made, it should bring between $26,000-$33,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Sold $36,499.