1937 SS Cars 100 SS Roadster

William Lyons and William Walmsley began manufacturing motorcycle sidecars in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1922. A few years later, in 1927, their Swallow Coachbuilding Company was building bodies on Fiat, Morris, Austin, and Standard chassis. After moving to Coventry, they began building their first of several generations of 'SS' cars (which stood for Swallow Sidecar). Powered by a 16-horsepower Standard, they had an underslung chassis, streamlined coachwork, and a long bonnet.

In 1934, Lyons split with Walmsley, and used the Jaguar name for the first time on a sports saloon introduced at the autumn 1935 Olympia Motor Show. Power was from a 2663 cubic centimeter overhead-valve version of the Standard engine. With a top speed in the neighborhood of 90 mph, it was christened the SS 90.

This was followed by a vehicle that had a shortened wheelbase of 104 inches. It had a top speed of 100 mph and was dubbed the SS 100 Jaguar Roadster. The 3485 cubic-centimeter engine was given twin SU carburetors and produced 125 horsepower. It was mated to a four-speed gearbox that had synchromesh on the top three gears. The completed projected weighed just 2,600 pounds, offering impressive performance for its owners.

Just 198 examples of the 2½-Litre SS 100 were built. This particular example is one of only 94 examples produced in 1937. This particular example was delivered by the downtown London distributors Henlys on 30 January 1937, finished in black with an olive interior. From 1978 to 1998, Tom Gooding of Minetto, New York owned the car. It was then in the care of James Dale, of Canada and Florida, who received the car in trade from Terry Larson, in exchange for the missing parts to an original C-Type.

While in the care of Mr. Dale, the car was given a restoration to original condition. At this time, the color was changed to its present livery, red with black interior and tonneau cover. At some point the car received a correct replacement 2½-Litre engine.

The odometer shows just 87 miles since the restoration was completed.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2017