I am a child of the sixties and so my preferred era of motor car is the 60’s and 70’s. However, I have recently been introduced to cars from a much earlier era and they have a lot to offer. The Fast Lane’s Yorkshire Elegance had a fabulous selection of pre war cars, all the finest examples of their type.
One great example was this SS1 which was not only a stunning car, it was owned by an enthusiastic owner who was only too keen to tell us all about it.
But first, a little history.
The SSI was the Swallow Company’s first complete car. In 1927 it offered special bodies on chassis from other manufacturers but by 1931 Lyons wanted to become a car maker. He negotiated a deal with the Standard Motor Company who would supply a new chassis, unique to Lyons’ Swallow Company, as well as engines and other components. The result was the SSI car, launched in October 1931 in time for the London Motor Show, together with the smaller companion model called the SSII.
Lyons had wanted to build the car as low as possible, but when he was struck down with appendicitis during the development period, his partner William Walmsley raised the roof of the prototype, to provide more headroom. The result was still a striking looking car, the height of fashion at the time. The close-fitting helmet wings were a unique feature, found only on the first year’s production of 500 cars. Similarly, the chassis which went above the rear axle was found only on this batch of cars.
Priced at £310 with the 2 litre 16 hp engine, the SSI was labelled as ‘the car with the £1000 look’, and offered a top speed of 75 mph (120 km/h). A bigger 20 hp engine was available at extra cost.
The car manufacturer’s name ‘SS Cars’ was used from 1934 to maintain a link to the previous owner, Swallow Sidecar founded in 1922 by Walmsley and Lyons to build motorcycle sidecars. In March 1945 the SS. Cars shareholders agreed to change the name to Jaguar cars Limited.
This SS1 is owned by Micheal Jewell and his passion for the car is clear. It isn’t that it is a beautiful car, its the family history with his own family where it has belonged since 1937. Being owned by the same family for 87 years is an impressive record. And along with that ownership come memories of days out and drives with his father, memories that clearly mean a lot to him.
Michael’s SS1 was manufactured on the 13th February 1933 and was dispatched to the distributers, Henleys London on 15th April 1933. It’s first owner was a Mr E M Bowden of London EC4.
In 1937 it was sold to Miss Betty Foley of Portsmouth, cousin of the present owner. Betty used it regularly until 1963 but it was then stored in her garage until Michael bought the SS from her for £325 (more than the original purchase price). He then dry stored it until March 2001 when the decision was made to have it restored. The car was transported to Wildae restoration of Braunton, North Deven where it was restored to its current incredible condition.
The SS1 was brought home in the late summer of 2009 and has since won the SS register concours de challenge trophy in 20120 to 2012. Not surprising given the quality of the restoration. Apart from the mirror finish black paintwork I was particularly taken with the interior and the sunburst door cards. Retaining the originality of the car was pretty straightforward. As Michael points out, the car had been in a single family ownership and held in storage for most of that time. Hardly any parts had gone missing between it going into storage and heading for restoration.
If you fancy taking on a pre war car Michael has an important piece of advice. These cars are very challenging to drive and completely different to a modern, or even classic car. Braking in particular requires considerable anticipation.
The restoration:
