The British company "Jaguar" today specializes in the production of prestigious cars. However, in 1922, after registration, it bore the name "Swallow Sidecars" and was engaged in the manufacture of sidecars for motorcycles. It was only 4 years later that the two founding partners, William Lyons and William Walmsley, decided to turn their attention to the development of car bodies. Jaguar's first automobile products were intended for the Seven sports car, manufactured by Austin.
The manufacturer achieved its first notable successes in 1931, presenting its first two cars, the SS-I and SS-II, at the London Auto Show. London buyers loved them, and Jaguar spent the next few years developing premium sedans based on these models. Released in 1936, they were the first cars to bear the Jaguar name.
After spending the entire Second World War as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, the company returned to developing cars immediately after its end. At this time, the company changes its former name, taking as a new "Jaguar", which until then designated only a line of luxury cars. The designation "SS" was too strongly associated with the Nazis at the time, and it could hurt sales. In 1948, the first post-war sedan, the Jaguar Mk V, was introduced, and shortly thereafter, the company released the model that became the fastest production car of the time. The XK120 has a top speed of 193 km / h. This series was continued in 1954, when the XK-140 was born. The new car was equipped with an engine that developed 180-192 horsepower and accelerated to 225 km / h. Three years later, Jaguar introduced the XK150, which had a 253-horsepower 3.5-liter engine.
In 1960, Jaguar bought out Daimler, with which it has worked closely over the past years. However, this solution turned out to be not the best and led to a number of financial problems. It was possible to improve matters only in 1966 by merging with "British Motors". After that came the time that can be considered the golden age of the Jaguar - the company produces one after another successful models that break sales records and occupy the top lines in the charts of the most attractive cars in England. The cars of the brand are gradually becoming more aggressively sporting, both outside and in technical equipment. So, in 1972 "Jaguar" released the XJ12 model, which had a 12-cylinder engine with a capacity of 311 horsepower. It became the best among all the company's products for a long time until it was replaced by the XJ-S HE in 1981. This model had an automatic transmission and a top speed of 250 km / h, which became another record for a production car.
In 1988, the firm created a new division called Jaguar Sport, dedicated to improving the speed and performance of the brand's vehicles. The very first presented model, the XJ 220, took its deserved highest place on the podium among the fastest production cars, and only the appearance of the McLaren F1 made it go down one line below.
In 1989, Jaguar came under the control of the American company Ford Motor. Thanks to the support of the corporation, the company releases new interesting models without losing its individuality. So, in 1996, the XK8 sports car was released, equipped with a number of the latest developments, among which it is especially worth noting the suspension controlled through the on-board computer. From 1998 to 2000, Jaguar consistently introduced the S-Type, F-Type and X-Type models, which became the flagships of the entire UK car industry at that time.
Jaguar's first station wagon, the X-Type Estate, was shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. It had a diesel engine and an all-wheel drive transmission. And 4 years later, the XF business class model was updated to the line of sedans of the British company.
In 2008, Jaguar was acquired by Tata Motors from India. A year later, the firm introduced the new XJ sedan with an aluminum body, wide wheelbase and powerful engine.
After 4 years of fruitful work, the company launched the Jaguar F-Type two-seater roadster, which was recognized as "the sportiest car in the last 50 years." Under its hood is a five-liter V8 engine with 495 horsepower. In just 4.3 seconds, it can reach speeds of up to 100 km / h.
A couple of supercharged models became the real hits of 2013: the Jaguar XJ sedan and the Jaguar XKR-S GT for track days. The first car was equipped with almost the same engine as the F-Type, only with 550 horsepower. This two-ton airliner can accelerate to 100 km / h in just 4.6 seconds. The second model is a real breakthrough for the company, because its acceleration time to hundreds is only 0.3 seconds.
In 2014, Jaguar engineers tweaked the compactness and unveiled their smallest D-Class sedan, the XE. In 2015, manufacturers decided to modify the XF business sedan produced since 2007, making it 190 kg lighter, shorter and slightly lower. The interior and exterior of the model as a whole remained the same, the developers have worked to increase the level of comfort and have achieved more smooth lines. The new Jaguar XF will go on sale at the end of 2015.
Today the company continues to develop in the direction of the production of sports cars and luxury sedans.