Jaguar Cars Limited is a luxury car manufacturer, originally based at Browns Lane, Coventry, England but now at Whitley, Coventry. It was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, changing to SS Cars Ltd in 1934, and finally becoming Jaguar Cars Ltd in 1945. While Jaguar is currently part of Premier Automotive Group, Ford is considering divesting both Jaguar and Land Rover, with India's Tata Motors the frontrunner to buy the brands since the unions of the two units chose the Indian company as the preferred bidder. The name is pronounced "jag-u-er", with the term "Jag" being used colloquially.
Today, Jaguars are assembled at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and Halewood in Liverpool. The historic Browns Lane plant closed in 2005, leaving the XJ, XK and S-Type production at Castle Bromwich and the X-Type at Halewood, alongside the new Land Rover Freelander 2, from 2007. Since Land Rover's 2002 purchase by Ford, it has been closely associated with Jaguar. In many countries they share a common sales and distribution network (including shared dealerships), and some models now share common components, although the only shared production facility is Halewood, for the X-Type and the Freelander 2. Jaguar Cars holds Royal Warrants from both HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Charles.
The Jaguar company started production with the pre-war 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 litre models which used engines designed by the Standard Motor Company. The 1.5 litre four-cylinder engine was still supplied by Standard but the two larger six-cylinder ones were made in house. These cars have become known unofficially as Mark IVs. The independent rear suspension from the Mark X was incorporated in the 1963 S-Type which closely resembled the Mark 2, and in 1967 the Mark 2 name was dropped when the small saloon became the 240/340 range. The 420 of 1966, also sold as the Daimler Sovereign, put a new front onto the S-type, although both cars continued in parallel until the S-Type was dropped in 1968. The Mark X became the 420G in 1966.
Of the more recent saloons, the most significant is the XJ (1968-present), still the definitive Jaguar saloon car for many. Since 1968 the Series I XJ has seen major changes in 1973 (to Series II), 1979 (Series III), 1986 Europe / 1987 United States (XJ40), 1995 (X300), 1997 (to the V-8 powered X308), 2003 (the present model, X350). The most luxurious XJ models carry either the Vanden Plas (US) or Daimler (rest of world) nameplates.
Jaguar has designed in-house four generations of engines : Historical engines: Jaguar XK6 engine inline-6, Jaguar V12 engine V12, Jaguar AJ6 engine inline-6, Current engines: Jaguar AJ-V8 engine V8, Jaguar AJ-V6 engine V6.
In the late 1990s, Ford decided that Jaguar would be the corporation's Formula One entry. Ford bought out the semi-works Stewart Grand Prix team and rebranded it as Jaguar Racing. The Jaguar F1 program was not a success however, achieving only two podium finishes in five seasons of competition between 2000 and 2004. At the end of 2004, with costs mounting and Ford's profits dwindling, the F1 team was sold to Red Bull energy drinks owner Dietrich Mateschitz, and it became Red Bull Racing. Since 2004 Jaguar has not had an official presence in motorsport.
Jaguar Notable models: Sports: 19481954 XK120, 19541957 XK140, 19571961 XK150, 19611974 E-Type, 19751996 XJ-S, 19972006 XK (X100), 2007-date XK (X150), Compact & Meduim Executive : 19351949 1½ Litre saloon, 19551959 Mark 1, 19591967 Mark 2, 19631968 S-type, 19661970 420, 19671969 240 & 340, 1999-2008 S-type, 2001-date X-type, 2008-date XF (new model replacing S-Type), Jaguar Large Executive: 19351948 2½ Litre saloon, 19371948 3½ Litre saloon, 19481951 Mark V, 19511957 Mark VII (& VIIM), 19571959 Mark VIII, 19591961 Mark IX, 1961-1966 Mark X, 1966-1970 420G, 19681987 XJ6 Series 1, 2 & 3, 19721992 XJ12, 19861994 XJ6 (XJ40), 19931994 XJ12 (XJ81), 19951997 XJ6 & XJ12 (X300 & X301), 19972002 XJ8 (X308), 2003date XJ (X350).
The current Jaguar line-up includes the following models: XJ Full-size luxury sedan, S-Type Executive car luxury sedan, X-Type Entry level luxury sedan and wagon, XK Sports car Coupι Convertible, XF Sports car Saloon, Jaguar Concept models: Pirana (1967), XK180 (1998), F-type (2000) Roadster, similar to the XK8 but smaller, R-Coupι (2002) Luxury four-seater coupι, closest competitor being the Bentley Continental GT. Fuore XF 10 (2003), R-D6 (2003) Compact four-seat coupι, XK-RR A
high performance version of last generation XK coupι, XK-RS Another performance-spec version of last generation XK convertible, Concept Eight (2004) Super-luxury version of the long-wheelbase model of the XJ, C-XF (2007).
