The SS100 is one of the rarest and most desirable pre-war Jaguars. ‘SS Cars’ was the name Jaguar traded by before World War 2. For obvious reasons, the SS brand seemed less desirable after the war. SS was a link back to William Lyons previous company Swallow Sidecar. Lyons along with his business partner William Walmsley had started off building motorbike sidecars and then moved into building two-seater sports cars based on chassis and engines supplied by the Standard Motor Company. (Also Austin Seven chassis)
The SS100 is probably the most famous of the cars produced by SS and was in production from 1936 to 1939 with World War 2 putting a stop to production. The chassis was essentially a slight update to that of the earlier SS90 which in turn was a shortened version of the one designed for the 2 ½ litre saloon. The engine was based on a Standard 2 ½ litre pushrod engine with SS creating their own cylinder heads to convert it from a side valve arrangement to an overhead valve. In later years there was a 3 ½ litre version and plans for a fixed-head coupe, though only one was ever built.
