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SS Car’s
It was the intention to do a write up of Singer cars next, but have put it on hold until I can get some better information. You cannot believe that books on Classic Car’s make no mention of Singer, thank goodness for the internet.
So it is SS cars, very interesting story with a reasonably happy ending, though there is still some mileage left in the marque
It all started in Blackpool, William Lyon’s met Bill Walmsley, the later being a sidecar builder, between them they formed a company to build sidecar’s, it was named Swallow, made out of aluminium, the notes say they were very stylish.
Well ,yours truly had one attached to my 650cc Triumph Thunderbird, there was good reason, the insurance was 50% cheaper with a sidecar, it was reckoned that sidecar owner’s were more sedate and less likely to have any claims.
I guess it was an opinion, in those day’s London buses had an open rear platform for getting on and off, it could be dangerous, especially when one ran to jump on as the bus was pulling away, it didn’t happen too often but people could get dragged along the road.
One of my friend’s took up an offer to come for a spin on the said outfit, when we eventually got to the destination, he declared he would never ever ride in another sidecar; especially if I was driving, and if he had wanted to go on the bus he would have got on in the normal way, I often wonder what become of him.
However in six year’s Wm Lyon’s was making bodies for Austin Seven’s, business was brisk, so brisk in fact they needed larger premises, so they moved, Coventry of all places, however it was a shrewd move as most of the British Car industry was in Coventry.
The Swallow sidecar, and now Coach building firm, was in business, they were making one off bodies for various marques, apart from Austin they had Morris, Fiat, Swift and Wolseley and Standard.
The two of them decided to build their own car, a name, well the supposion is that they took the S from Swallow and S from sidecar, making SS the company name, one that came to be regretted very soon afterwards.
They actually exhibited at the 1931 Olympia show, as there was a lack of capital, as one would expect with a fledgling company, they obtained engines and chassis from Standard. Again a lucky friendship with a certain Mr Black.
The press raved about these new car’s and Wm Lyon’s was thrown into the deep end of car manufacturing. There appeared to be no turning back.
In 1936 the partnership was dissolved when Wm bought out his friend Bill Walmsley who had decided that he really did not want to get into this kind of manufacture.
Before the split the company needed more expertise, they had in 1934 obtained the services of a top engine expert, one Harry Weslake, he designed a new cylinder head and an overhead valve set up which proved to be very reliable, another expert Wm Heynes came in as Chief engineer, and he set about improving the chassis.
There are a few dubious details about when things happened, depending where the source of information comes from. Whilst I have tried to validate most of it, I would not put money on the accuracy of some of the dates etc.
The split was perhaps 1935 because the new company was floated on the London Stock Exchange, and in that year a total of 1,720 cars rolled out of the factory, by 1939 a total of 5378 SS cars came through the door.
The model line up was 1.5 litre, 2.5 and the fastest of them all the 3.5litre, saloons, convertibles and sports cars, though the cars were brilliant and had made great inroads into other manufacturers sales, they were not particularly technically advanced, still having rod operated brakes, the gearbox was not syncro on the first gear.
In the hurdy gurdy world of sports cars and saloon’s, especially ones marketed by Wm Lyons at a considerably cheaper price than some of the other manufacturer’s.
For the first SS, uniquely called the SS1 had a 6 cylinder side valve motor of either 2054cc or 2552cc, these engines were fitted with 7 main bearings, and suspension was semi elliptics front and rear, unfortunately it wasnb’t the success it should have been due to some bad, well poor quality engineering.
Within a year a new version was unveiled, the body lines were changed to make it look sleeker, running boards added, and improved manifold breathing, apparently needed as the original car could only mnake 70mph.
They did not make the same mistake twice, the new model was a delight and 1249 models were made in the first year. In 1934 the last development of the SS1, a new chassis but holding on to the same wheelbase which for the record was 119inches.
The body was somewhat controversial with streamlined styling, but there was still a conventional saloon or a drop head coupe.
The gearbox was now fully synchromesh, and even larger engines 2143cc or 2663cc but still side valve, to improve performance the camshafts were reprofiled and compression ratios raised.
So the SS1 bowed out, and two much sought after cars were made, in fact the first the SS90 only 23 were made, there was nothing wrong it was a two seater, with a shortened wheelbase, still using a beam axle on semi elliptic springs, and a slightly tuned engine giving it as top speed of 90 mph, thart must have been some stomach churning speed in those day’s.
What happened was the engine became an overhead valve cylinder head and it became an almighty 3.5 litres, it had to be renamed to the SS100, if you find one tucked away in a barn somewhere don’t tell a soul, it would be worth a small fortune, your secret would be safe with me.
Actually it was rated at the magic ton, which was rare in those days, unfortunately two things happened, firstly there was not much in creature comforts, not that anyone cared and secondly the war put paid to any further production so a total of 118 cars existed, for your records it could do 0 to 60 in 10.4 seconds.
Now there is a model which is not referred to in general terms ,a saloon the Mark iv, it apparently is not a company designation, however it was made just before the outbreak of world war II and was made as a stop gap after the war for a couple of years.
It was the war that made the company change its name to Jaguar, so all the original Mk iv’s were rebadged Jaguar, the SS name quickly forgotten.
The Mkiv came in three engine sizes 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5, they were overhead valved, but still using out moded rod operated drum brakes and a fixed front axle, but once again it was the body, described as devastatingly beautiful, most examples were saloons but there was drop head coupes.
Speed for the 1.5 was grim not much over 70mph, the car Was targeted towards the American market, though some 13000 were produced, these beauties are commanding astronomical prices.
So how come you had one Ted, to be honest it is a bit of a mystery, because before the Jag, love the word Jag ,we had a little Standard 10 which cost the princely sum of £195 purchased from a dodgy dealer, now defunct, in Balham.
You would have loved our Jag, KPD 602, 1946, 2.5 litre four door saloon in British Racing Green, I used to spend hours lovingly polishing it, the leather interior, wow, it just oozed power, and though we were not restricted to speed limits as such in those heady day’s, we mostly took it to work in the city, can’t say it was economical either, but to arrive at the office in a Jag, I am not like that really.
As you know , the Jaguar story continued, one of constant success, despite set backs it is still reckoned as a maker of fine cars.
Ted Lay
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