I would change it if I could but I don't seem to have that level of access. Meanwhile, Steve, maybe this will help. Just click on the image below to see it in a larger size.
I click on The Diecast Zone which brings up the home page. To the right is Cart and a 0 with a circle around it, but nothing else. I clicked all around the ring hoping to hit something which would bring up the rectangle. Nada.
So I decided to show you just one more Jaguar of indeterminate scale. More artwork than an accurate scale model - A Dream.
Please read the story if you can. Magnifiers might help. Enjoy. 🙂
Models = Miracles in miniature = Holding History in ones hand Cheers and Happy Collecting, Steve
The SS1 Airline was only in production for a period of two years from 1934 to 1936 during which time 624 were produced, out of the total of 4,254 SS1 cars of all types.
Like many other cars of the period, the Airline paid lip service to the then current fashion of streamlining and reflected the Art Deco style. It has been said that William Lyons – stylist as well as company director – did not personally like the model, and the Airline has been attributed to the influence of William Walmsley, Lyons’s original partner, who would soon leave the Company.
Whatever, it is without doubt the most striking of all the different SS1 body styles, with many unique features, such as the twin wing mounted spare wheels.
The Airline Saloon was the first Jaguar that I ever drove in, an uncle having one during WWII. I remember several trips in Lancashire and Yorkshire in it as a young child. My uncles was black with brown leather interior.
The 1934 Motor Show at Olympia was the first year that SS Cars Ltd appeared in the manufacturers’ section rather than the coachbuilders’ section of the exhibition, this following Swallow’s change of name to SS Cars Ltd. This was a landmark step for Lyons, marked by the presence at that show of the Airline Saloon. This new model was offered with either 16hp or 20hp engine options, the latter costing only a modest £5 extra. The Airline Saloon joined the Four-light Saloon and Tourer to complete the SS range. Tested by The Motor this new car achieved a genuine 80mph at the Brooklands Circuit.
This car can fairly be described as a luxury limousine in miniature, distinctive accessories and features including Lucas Bi-flex Long Range headlamps with stone guards, Lucas spot lamps, Lucas Twin Alto horns, cased twin side-mounted spare wheels, swivel spot lamp, sliding opening roof, scuttle side ventilators, centre-mounted ‘Owleye’ rear lamp, sprung steering wheel, multi-instrumented dash panel, opening windscreen, picnic tables in the back of the front seats and divided rear seat squab. Few production models priced at £350 offered such luxuries.
Because of my history with the car, I have collected a significant variety of 1/43 scale models of it.
My first model was by MOTORKITS. I built this over 30 years ago.
My next was from Gems & Cobwebs, a white metal built model. Better than the MOTORKITS one. This came in several colours.
My favourite is the ALTAYA issue, put out through magazine subscription in Europe.
A nice red one was put out by ATLAS in their black boxed Jaguar Series. Love this except the Airline never had come wires.
More recently, GFCC Toys put out a DINKY TOY like production in three colours. The wheels and trim let this issue down.
They drastically improved on this with a current issue, again in three colours. This would appear to be the best yet, From GFCC Toys.
A few other companies made 1/43 Airline Saloons. I may touch on these later. Your additions are also welcome.
The cars were marketed as the Jaguar 1½ litre, Jaguar 2½ litreand Jaguar 3½ litre with the Mark IV name later applied in retrospect to separate this model from the succeeding Mark V range.
The range was a return to production of the SS Jaguar 1½ litre, 2½ litre and 3½ litre models produced by SS Cars from 1935 to 1940. Before World War II the model name Jaguar was given to all cars in the range built by SS Cars Ltd with the saloons titled SS Jaguar 1½ litre, 2½ litre or 3½ litre and the two-seater sports cars the SS Jaguar 100 2½ litre or 3½ litre. In March 1945 the company name SS Cars Ltd was changed to Jaguar Cars Ltd.
All the Mark IVs were built on a separate chassis frame with suspension by semi-elliptic leaf springs on rigid axles front and rear. Pre-war the car was available as a saloon or drophead coupé but post war only the closed model was made. Up to 1938 body construction on all the models was by the traditional steel on wood method but in that year it changed to all steel.
Franklin Mint made a quite interesting 1/43 model of the 1940 Jaguar Mark IV 4 Door Sedan a number of years ago. I have to update my images as these are quite old now. This was the first Jaguar Mark IV that I was able to collect. Others have since produced more refined versions but not with engine detail. Franklin Mint called this a 1940 but I do not believe Jaguar were building cars then as they had changed to WWII armament production. This was likely a 1938-9 vehicle.
My current favourite is the Atlas Editions 1945 Jaguar Mark IV.
Altaya did a convertible version of the 1948 Jaguar Mark IV.
The Jaguar Mark V is a luxury automobile built by Jaguar Cars Ltd of Coventry in England from 1948 to 1951. It was available as a four-door Saloon (sedan) and a two-door convertible known as the Drop Head Coupé, both versions seating five adults. It was the first Jaguar with independent front suspension, first with hydraulic brakes, first with spats (fender skirts), first specifically designed to be produced in both Right and Left Hand Drive configurations, first with disc centre wheels, first with smaller wider 16" balloon tyres, first to be offered with sealed headlamps and flashing turn signals for the important American market, and the last model to use the pushrod engines.
The Mark V was introduced to distributors and the press on 30 September 1948 and launched on 27 October 1948 at the London Motor Show at the same time as the announcement of the XK120, with which it shared a stand. The XK120, though not quite ready for production, was the star of the show. However, the Mark V vastly outsold the XK120 by roughly 5,000 cars per year as compared to 2,000 cars per year for the XK120. Three cars were built in late 1948 and saloon production was well under way at the factory on Swallow Road at Holbrook Lane in the Foleshill district of Coventry by March 1949, though the DHC was delayed for some months, and the last cars were built in mid 1951.
While the XK120 had a new overhead-camshaft XK engine, the Mark V retained the 1946-48 driveline including the overhead-valve pushrod straight-6 2½L and 3½L engines, now since 1946 produced by Jaguar, which the company had purchased from the Standard Motor Company before the Second World War and the four-speed single-helical gearbox produced by both Jaguar and the Moss Gear Company of Birmingham. Automatic transmission was not available at this time.
JAGUAR Mark V by Atlas in 1/43 scale.
JAGUAR Mark V by Neo in 1/43 scale in several colours..
The GFCC 1935 SS Airline is also available in green, $35 + shipping from China on eBay. Just ordered one in cream color. They come in nice package with blueprint cards.
