Big Cats and Cheshire Grins at the Classic Connection

The gurgling sound of a sleek Jaguar prowling around anyone’s back yard should be a cause for concern, but not at the Classic Connection – it’s a way of life. With more than eighty years experience between three expert mechanics, there isn’t an inch of these iconic cars that hasn’t been graced by the hands of the Classic Connection’s Jaguar team.

First though, a short lesson from history. 

Way back in 1927, when the Swallow Motor Cycle Sidecar Company changed direction and started making vehicle bodies, I wonder if William Lyons envisaged that his Jaguar Cars would still be regarded with such devotion all these years later – I like to think he did.

With a shrewd business mind that would today make mincemeat of the Lion’s Den programme, William Lyons gathered a small and efficient team around him, and from their humble beginnings in an old Blackpool warehouse, the Swallow Sidecar Company started making aluminium bodyworks for a number of car manufacturers such as Austin and Wolseley.

William Lyons soon moved his factory to Coventry where he was able to produce larger numbers of body works for his clients, but this practice was soon found too constraining for the creative juices of Lyons and his team. In 1931 the Swallow SS1 was launched at the London Motor Show to great acclaim - the legend was beginning to take shape.

It would be too easy to say that ‘the rest is history’ but history is always in the making with Jaguar. The analogy of the big cat didn’t appear until 1935 when looking for a name that encapsulated the sleek lines of the newly launched Swallow 2.5ltr sports model, the SS Jaguar 100 leaped onto the world’s stage at the Mayfair Hotel, London.

 Grace, Space and Pace

The lean, post-war years were boom times for Lyons and his team as ‘export or die’ became the maxim of the day, and Jaguar was after the Lion’s share of the US market. With a new sports car let loose on the world, the XK120 stole hearts and speed records at a whim, and after a string of back-to-back wins at Le Mans during the 50s’ ensured that the name Jaguar would always be synonymous with winning. 

But it is probably the 60s’ that we all hanker after. The E-Type Jag has been described by Enzo Ferrari as the most beautiful car of all time (and he should know) and the E-Type surely has no equal when it comes to style and grace. The list of superlatives floods easily from a Chambers Dictionary, and I try to keep the cliche's to a minimum here, but to most human beings, the E-Type Jaguar simply stirs the E-motions like no other car can.

The Classic Connection believes in Jaguar Cars. Passion of the marque reflects in the service that’s on offer here. From early XK 150’s to the glory days of the E-Type and beyond, the servicing of Jaguar Cars is indeed in very steady hands.

Restoration plays a major part of the Classic Connection’s heritage; especially as the popularity of the E-Type refuses to fade away; which is great news, of course. But lingering on the past isn’t necessarily going to secure the future.

 

The Classic Connection now offers servicing and repairs that include the very latest Jaguar models as the photograph above shows, and a good mechanic is a highly sought after specialist, but if he’s really good, he’ll bring with him a loyal following of Jaguar owners. Trust creates a brand all of its own, and that’s exactly what has happening here at the Classic Connection.

 

As with all things in British car manufacturing, events over the last five decades since the E-Type have shaped Jaguar Cars; some good, some not so good, but what hasn’t changed is the desirability of the marquee.

The classic car market today is still reasonably buoyant despite the downturn in the economy, and the Classic Connection is living proof that, just like Sir William Lyons, if you have a good business head and select a few key players, remain true to your customers and provide a reputable service, then you can expect to see Jaguars of all marks prowling the streets and highways for many years to come.

For full details visit the Classic Connection at www.classicconnection.co.uk

Better still, pay them a visit and experience what owning a classic car is all about.