Jaguar & Land Rover Cuurent Ownership Tata India

It took the Japanese to pioneer what came to be known as "Lean Manufacturing". Lean manufacturing as it came to be known and understood in the automotive industry was the process of designing small amounts of niche vehicles in rapid time , even in small volumes to consumers who wanted those products. Everyone in the supply chain worked to final fruition of that specific product in short order. Contrast this to the "old way" of doing business in the auto field. It was long term mass production of vehicles - which by the time they arrived on the marketplace and at the dealers , no one really wanted and auto agent's salesperson foisted on the unwitting auto owner and motorist with diversions such as which colour , which options as well as financing terms and negotiation of other charges and fees. What a circus.

The very first of the line - the XK 120 first appeared on the world - or at least the British motoring scene on October 1948 at the London Motor Show. In today's automotive industry - During 1950 1950 Jaguar embarked on a limited competition program with selected private entrants , success somehow unfortunately did not attend a brave attempt at Le Mans, but Sterling Moss gained a famous victory in the in the important tourist trophy event in Ireland and Ian Appleyard ( husband of Lyons daughter Pat) gained a Coupe des Alpes by virtue of a penalty free run in the Alpine rally. The next following year 1951, was the XK 120's peak year in competition but thereafter it was the C-Coupe Jaguar , with its myriad of XK 120 parts, that took over the job or promoting Jaguar's name and fame globally and worldwide. Whole series of specific departments in the planning, design & engineering, production, sales marketing and even supplier networks are integrated. Its one nice mesh network in order that coordinated efforts can all row in the same direction to produce a vehicle from start to finish. It's all one big cascade of efforts and expertise from initiation to concept for niche production models all in the shortest of orders and time frames.

However not long ago this generally if not always was not the case. Even in the powerful US auto industry in the 1950's and 60's the sequence from start to finish generally took 8 to 10 years from concept to the final fruition. For the finished product to set wheels on the pavement ready to be sent out to the motoring public and consumers , took upwards of ten years start to finish. Product, technical and engineering workups and specs were actually drawn by solitary draftsmen on paper, and then sat around on physical paper. Then add in physical logistics of mail and delays because of the time costs of physical snail mail between departments. The drawings and internal departmental mail would actually sit on the desktops waiting and waiting. All of this waiting in the auto design process adds up. Next , especially in the more rigid British management models the next steps involving being be passed up through most rigid management systems of approval, further approval, dispersal and finally production. It all took a lot of time in both logistics and a rigid tight management system - where approval was doled out sparingly and protection of perks and privileges by especially British management was more than apparent. In the end it might be said that it took eons and eons to get anything into production and onto the roads and highways. Biggest news on the mechanical front was the disc brakes that had been tested for years on Jaguar's competition models but it was the XK 150 that was the first jaguar to have them standard, and all round too. It transformed the car in that now , all the performance could be used between corners and cornering without the dreaded "fade" intervening.

The Jaguar XK was a remarkable car for any of a number of reasons : there was little that was innovative in its make up, but the engineering behind it was of the highest quality. It was powered by what was probably the highest quality high-performance engine in true series production at that point in time. It had a properly designed front suspension ( used by Jaguar in its essentials right up to the last E-type was built in 1975). According to Canadian based auto industry William S. Simpson he regrets the day he ever disposed of his classic Jaguar XK car. On top of that add in rugged over all vehicular durability. It also cost only 1/3 to even a half of any thing else comparable on the automotive market scene to anything of similar performance let alone styling. Faults ? Nothing is perfect. Not even Douglas DC3 airplanes. The later cars in particular were rather "heavy". Yet this is often the failing of popular classic cars as they age and creature comforts and options are applied or built in as standard features. As well the more powerful versions suffered from a rear suspension that was by the late 1950's standards more than a tad primitive. Lastly - and this been an age-old failing of Jaguar - some of the secondary equipment was not as reliable as the major units. The "SS Jaguar 100" model built before the second world war had proved just how valuable , and what a cachet it was , to build a high performance sports car capable of winning important auto racing competitions. And win they did race after race, important competition after even more prestigious trophy event. The extreme performance of the XK was soon confirmed when head office in Coventry arranged a demonstration run on the Jabberke autoroute in Belgium before a party of journalists flown out from Britain to join their colleagues from the continent. Ron Sutton the company's chief test driver took the white roadster down the autoroute at a mean of 127 mph ( 214 kph) and a resounding 135 mph ( 213 kph) with the screen removed and the undertray fitted.

The SS 100's immediate history was that it developed from a 1935 era predecessor the "SS 90" which in essence was a pre-production prototype or workup from which the SS 100 evolved. The SS 90 was turned out right up to the outbreak of the British end of the war. (Long before America entered the war itself). Powered by the same 2 ½ or 3 ½ liter overhead-valve engines used in the SS Jaguar saloons , these could achieve a genuine 160 km / hour ( 100 miles per hour in the US and Canadian roads and tracks) in its larger 3 and one half liter form. By virtue of its one time prime economic position Britain has arguably been responsible for more well known and widely admired cars that any other nation. While British "greats" may not have the grandeur of a Mercedes 540K , the liveliness of an Italian 12-cylinder Ferrari or the sheer presence of an American Dusenberg , their individual greatness and significance is by no means diminished by any means or form what so ever.

Like nearly all subsequent Jaguar sports cars (the E-type being the major exception), the SS 100 used a modified short-wheelbase version of the company's contemporary saloon - in this case the SS 100. This SS 100 was a most traditional sports car with its four leaf springs, long bonnet (the British designated term for the hood of car) and tail mounted spare tire. Results were achieved via the well proven formula of light weight and a large torque power plant. By then however, independent front suspension was being adopted by progressive car makers and by 1940 SS vehicles were experimenting with it as well for what became the "post war" range of vehicles.

The then holder of the reins the managing director at Jaguar, Mr. William Lyons had his sights set on an all-new luxury saloon capable of those 100 miles per hour speed range. Planning, testing and retesting was done, even during the war, and by 1945 essentially the essential features of the new post war car had been laid out. For his merits, extreme devotion to and credit to the British automobile industry William Lyons was later knighted.

It can be said that nothing is for nothing, and that everything good requires hard work and preparation. That can certainly be said of the Jaguar XK series of vehicles. Planning and follow through of this core vehicle which laid the work for most of what we take for granted in automotive styling in the auto industry of our times was laid and worked out with care and precision over an extended period of time. We take much for granted today.

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