Jaguar cars traces its roots back to the Swallow Sidecar Company, which was founded in 1922 by Bill Lyons and William Walmsley to produce a range of aluminium motorcycle sidecars. Swallow eventually switched to cars and changed its name to SS Cars Ltd. in 1933. The first vehicle to carry the Jaguar name was the SS Jaguar 100, released in 1935.
After World War II, SS had connotations that were not conducive to selling cars, so it SS Cars changed its name to Jaguar. Its first offering was the Mark V, produced in 1948. This was joined by the XK 120 in the same year. The XK 120 was the fastest production car of the day and proved popular, helping Jaguar establish a strong presence in the sports car market.
By the 1950s, Jaguar had begun exporting luxury vehicles to the United States. Created just for the American market, the Mark VII Saloon was introduced in 1951. Jaguar quickly realized it had a hit on its hands, with the car winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1956. Later in the decade, Jaguar added the Mark VIII and Mark IX to its line-up.
The 1960s saw the launch of one of Jaguar's most recognisable models; the E-type, or XK-E as it was known in the U.S, blended performance and refinement in a package that suited the image of the 60s.
A decade later, Jaguar introduced the XJ6, XJ12 and the XJ-S. A new V12 was put in the XJ12, making it the fastest production saloon of its day. Jaguar continued to raise the bar in performance with the launch of the XJ-S HE and a true world supercar, the XJ220. But by this time, Jaguar faced increasing pressure from other manufacturers, mainly from Germany. Like other manufacturers, the idea of joining forces with another manufacturer to make use of economies of scale was attractive. This ultimately led to a full buyout of Jaguar by Ford in 1990.
Ford's influence and financial support was evident with the 1997 launch of Jaguar's XK8 and supercharged XKR sports cars. Powering both was Jaguar's new AJ-V8, a compact yet powerful engine that was also used in certain Land Rover vehicles. In recent years, Jaguar has made an effort to broaden its product line and have resorted to older models for design detail giving a nostalgic feel to some hi-tech cars. Today, the marque is known for offering cars that boast distinctive styling, performance and luxurious interiors.
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Check Jaguar insurance groups - select a model to start
Whether you currently own a Jaguar or you are considering buying a model from
the Jaguar range, it helps if you understand insurance groups and how they affect
your premium.
Insurance group ratings take into account performance, security, damage and parts costs, new
car values, availability of body shells and repair costs and times. What you'll typically
find is that cars in lower insurance groups attract a lower premium, whilst cars in higher
insurance groups attract a higher premium - usually because they are high performance models
or have high repair or replacement costs. Just choose a model to check its insurance group ratings.