In 1917, in the midst of the First World War, the then King of England George V made the momentous decision to change the original surname of his dynasty, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to the current name of Windsor.
The historical origins of the British royal house were totally German since 1714 – when George I of Hanover was enthroned – and it was uncomfortable that the English monarch had such a “German” surname when the Kaiser’s troops at the front – by the way, also his first cousin – were massacring the British.
The Great War of 1914 to 1918 was a carnage in terms of human lives, but it had no ideological or racial origin, so little by little things returned to normal, although the Windsors would forever be Windsors.
After the Second World War, on the other hand, national socialism had left a mark of hatred and horror so unbearable that it provoked an excessive desire to “de-Germanize” themselves among countless citizens, brands and companies that were not willing to have their name or denomination commercial suggested some link – although it had never existed – with Adolf Hitler’s regime.
One of the companies that did not hesitate for a moment to adopt this name change was Swallow Sidecars, founded in 1922 by two friends who were passionate about motorcycles – William Walmsley and William Lyons – in Blackpool, Lancashire.
The company had started manufacturing, as its name suggests, sidecars to attach to motorcycles whose maintenance, paint and body repair they also took care of.
Nowadays they are an eccentricity, but in the 1920s sidecars often served as family utility vehicles or work vehicles and the Swallow Sidecars did very well in a very short time. So much so that in 1927 they decided to manufacture their first car, based on an Austin Seven: the Austin Seven Swallow.
The Austin 7 had a 696 cc, 7 HP four-cylinder engine and was already extraordinarily popular. In fact, BMW’s first vehicle, the Dixi, was also based on the Austin 7 just like the first Nissan or the French Rosengart.
The Swallow preparation significantly improved the finishes and offered more modern decorations, so that it was a success even during the crisis of ’29, since it remained among the cheapest on the market and offered a more sophisticated image than the original model.
In 1934 Walmsley decided to sell his part of the company, putting it all in the hands of Lyons, who definitively left sidecars and motorcycles behind and focused his sights solely on automobiles, changing the name “Swallow Sidecars” to “S.S. Cars Limited.”
Lyons had understood that the secret of the success of his first car had been in appearing more than what it actually offered mechanically and he continued down that path with the SS 1 – a 2.0 six-cylinder engine – and the SS 2, with a 1 liter and 4 cyl- propellers and frames supplied by the Standard Motor Company.
The SS cars continued to sell very well despite the global situation because they always moved in the most economical ranges, but Lyons was blown away by the reputation of “More show than go” models – “More appearance than efficiency” – with which its competitors They rated their creations. Willing to change this dynamic, he hired two solvent engineers -William Heynes and Harry Weslak- and launched a new high-performance range in 1935; the SS Jaguar with 6-cylinder engines and 102 HP.
In 1939 the country was once again at war against Germany and this time – unlike in the First – the Luftwaffe bombs did fall on London and in addition the British news broadcasts were loaded every day with gruesome images of the atrocities committed by the H.H. The problem was that, due to one of those bad twists of fate, Lyons’ cars sported on their front a logo very similar to the disastrous runes of the Nazi “SchutzStaffel”. They even incorporated spread eagle wings just like the German ones.
And it didn’t all end there; The advertising campaign for the new cars was based on the unfortunate slogan, given the circumstances, Wait!!! The SS are coming!!!
Evidently, neither Lyons nor his company had had absolutely anything to do with the Third Reich and not only that, but during the conflict, they had slowed down car production and returned to origins by manufacturing military sidecars for the British Army. its motorized exploration units.
Despite that, the coincidence of acronyms was not only annoying but was also a brake on sales because despite the fact that the SS90 and SS 100 were extraordinary cars, the potential client did not want to see anything in paint that would suit them. reminds in the least of the horrors experienced.
Faced with this situation and promoted by Lyons himself, on March 23, 1945, those responsible for SS Cars agreed at a board of directors to change the name of the company to Jaguar Cars Limited to avoid any type of association with Nazi acronyms as well as the incorporation of the emblem of the elegant feline to the detriment of the hateful acronyms.
