Heir Line

EVEN THOUGH he owned one, this is a car that (Sir) William Lyons apparently disliked. It shared its bones with one of the most beautiful cars Jaguar produced during its early life, when the marque was branded S.S., but the voguish bodywork of this S.S.1 Airline coupe looked heavy and illproportioned. Customers thought so too. The Airline went on sale in 1934, and was dropped two years later after only 624 had been built. That makes it rare, but it’s far from being the mostadmired model in the S.S.1 range.

During the Twenties, Swallows had evolved from sidecar manufacturer to coachbuilder of bodies based on other manufacturers’ cars, and very successfully too. The next stepwas obvious – for Swallows to make complete cars. That dream took another step forward in the deal Lyons forged with John Black of the Standard Motor Company, and the inspiration of a cartoon. The deal sawcomponent makers Rubery Owen fabricating chassis to Swallows’ design and delivering them to Standardwhere they would be fittedwith the running gear and 2,045cc six-cylinder engine of the Standard Sixteen.

The chassis was of the dropped-frame variety, the back axle’s leaf springs mounted outboard of the frame