1938 SS Jaguar 100

I can’t remember when I saw my first SS 100 but it was love at first sight. Of course, in those days I couldn’t stretch to ownership so I worshipped from afar. It was only after I retired that I decided to blow the lot and to hell with the consequences. I’ve owned SY 6684 since 1995 and I’ve enjoyed every moment. For those of you who might be alarmed at what atrocities I may have committed, let me put your minds at rest; she is pretty much original and I have kept my vandal tendencies in check although I keep her up to the mark and she’s ready to leap into action at a moments notice. In the years I have owned her, I have done a bit of paintwork and given her a re-trim in red, a colour that goes well with old English white. In her day she was in the super car class with zero to sixty coming up in under eleven seconds. SY has a long history of competition and I have managed to identify all the previous owners except one although I am still hopeful. We have done a number of continental events and she has never missed a beat. One of my most memorable drives was with a rally group coming off the Ouistreham ferry and heading towards Brittany. It was late, completely dark and we were at the head of the pack. It was a fantastic drive in an old, open car in the pitch black of the French countryside with only the feeble light of our old Lucas lamps. Only one other competitor kept up with us. On another occasion we were running significantly behind when we came upon two Porsche 356s also late and playing catch up. We were in a real hurry however and when I got the chance, I scooted past them. Later in the day one of the Porsche drivers came up to me. “It’s not often,” he said, “that you see an SS 100 going flat out past a pair of hard driven Porsches.”


She was invited  by Jaguar Land Rover (September 2010) to take part in the Jaguar Cars 75 years celebration and gave a good account of herself.

Jaguar 75 Year Celebrations –

Top: On the road. Passenger is Financial Times correspondent John Griffiths. Below: Leaving the Coventry museum.

SY took part in the Varta Battery campaign in the eighties. I acquired two of the girls on horseback with the car – not really - I wish I had!

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    Frontal view, sitting in the Sussex sunshine

Left: Well instrumented, pre-war dash.


Right: Rather a lot of frontal chrome including the mesh grilles.

Right: Moody workshop shot

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I’m not sure quite how it came about but I had, for some time, considered  changing the gearbox for one with a closer ratio. The original box has a huge gap between second and third.; you are either revving furiously in second or stalling in third, well, not quite, but you know what I mean. My intention was to find a XK120 CR box but first, they are like hen’s teeth and second, the chances are that it will most likely be worn out. In the event I was persuaded that a Ford Type 9 five-speed was a better bet and I had the work done by maestro, the late Dave Davenport; he did a fabulous job. The new box has transformed the driving experience.

Left: Davenport’s very neat installation of the Ford box.


Far Left: Ford Type 9 five-speed gearbox