Swallow Sidecar Company
Encyclopedia
William Walmsley
William Walmsley was with William Lyons a co-founder of the Swallow Sidecar Company, which later became the Jaguar car company.-Biography:...
(b. 1891) and William Lyons
William Lyons
Sir William Lyons , known as "Mr. Jaguar", was with fellow motorcycle enthusiast William Walmsley, the co-founder in 1922 of the Swallow Sidecar Company, which became Jaguar Cars Limited after the Second World War....
(b. 1901). Both families lived in the same street in Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, England. Walmsley had previously been making sidecars and bolting them onto reconditioned motorcycles. Lyons had served his apprenticeship at Crossley Motors
Crossley Motors
Crossley Motors was a British motor vehicle manufacturer based in Manchester, England. They produced approximately 19,000 high quality cars from 1904 until 1938, 5,500 buses from 1926 until 1958 and 21,000 goods and military vehicles from 1914 to 1945.Crossley Brothers, originally...
in Manchester before moving to Brown and Mallalieu as a junior salesman.
Lyons, having recognised the commercial potential for these sidecars, joined Walmsley and together they obtained premises in Blackpool with the assistance of a £1,000 overdraft. With a small team of employees they were able to begin commercial production of the motorcycle sidecars.
The company diversified in 1926, changing its name to the Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company and moved into the car coachwork business. The first car that Lyons and Walmsley worked on was the Austin 7
Austin 7
The Austin 7 was a car produced from 1922 through to 1939 in the United Kingdom by the Austin Motor Company. Nicknamed the "Baby Austin", it was one of the most popular cars ever produced for the British market, and sold well abroad...
, a popular and inexpensive vehicle. Lyons had persuaded a dealer in Bolton, Lancashire to supply him with an Austin 7 chassis and commissioned Cyril Holland, a coachbuilder from the Midlands, to create a distinctive, open tourer body. The result was the 1927 Austin Seven Swallow.
Priced at only £175, the Swallow, with its brightly coloured two-tone bodywork and a style that imitated the more expensive cars of the time, proved popular at a time of financial hardship for many. Soon after, a saloon version was produced: the Austin Seven Swallow Saloon.
In 1927 the "Sidecar" was dropped from the name, and it became the Swallow Coachbuilding Company.
The increasing demand for Swallows made it necessary to move the company closer to the heart of the British car industry and so, in 1928, they moved to a part disused First World War munitions factory at Holbrook Lane, Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. Business continued to grow and in 1929 the company was sufficiently confident to go to the expense of taking a stand at the London Motor Show.
Three new Swallow models appeared in 1929, based on Standard
Standard Motor Company
The Standard Motor Company was founded in Coventry, England in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay . The Standard name was last used in Britain in 1963, and in India in 1987.-1903–1914:...
, Swift
Swift Motor Company
The Swift Motor Company made Swift Cars in Coventry, England from 1900 until 1931.Founded by James Starley as a sewing machine maker in 1859, the Coventry Sewing Machine Company as it was then called, started making bicycles in 1869 and changed its name to Coventry Machinists. In 1896 they became...
, and Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
chassis. Also in 1929 John Black and Willia Lyons realised a long standing dream and produced a one of a kind sports car, This "First" SS ( standard Swallow ) was a sleek Boat Tail Roadster with a flowing, streamlined design and pointed to an obvious attempt at making a fast car, possibly with the intention of venturing into racing. This car is believed to have been shipped to Australia in the late 40's.
Lyons wanted to move away from just being a coachbuilder and reliance on other manufacturers' existing chassis. He commissioned a custom chassis from the Standard Motor Company
Standard Motor Company
The Standard Motor Company was founded in Coventry, England in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay . The Standard name was last used in Britain in 1963, and in India in 1987.-1903–1914:...
, fitted with either a 2 or 2.5 litre Standard engine. At the 1931 Motor Show he unveiled the S.S.1
SS 1
The SS1 was a British sports car first built by the Swallow Sidecar Company in Coventry, England. It was first presented at the 1931 London Motor Show and was produced between 1932 and 1936...
coupé and a smaller 1 litre version, the S.S.II.
The continued success and expansion of the SS range resulted in the creation of the S.S. Cars Ltd
SS Cars Ltd
SS Cars Ltd was a British car maker. It grew out of the Swallow Sidecar Company and was first registered under the new name in 1934. Some conjecture to the origins of the SS name exist, It was John Black who when asked the meaning of SS said it has always stood for Standard Swallow...
motor company by Lyons in 1934. Walmsley, who did not share Lyons' ambitions, left the company at this time.
After the Second World War, due to the unfavourable connotations of the SS initials, the company was renamed Jaguar Cars Ltd in 1945.
Sidecar production was now by Swallow Coachbuilding Co. (1935) Ltd. of Albion Road, Birmingham, 11.
At the end of 1945, the Helliwell Group, an aircraft maintenance firm, bought the name and goodwill of the now defunct Swallow side car manufacturer, Swallow Coachbuilding Company (1935) Ltd, from SS Cars Limited. Sidecars produced at Helliwells' Walsall Airport works were built in the same way as the originals and used the same patented trademark. They closed shop in the late 1950s.