In 1939 Mr. William Lyon's factory was converted to assist in the war effort and senior management took their place alongside the general work force in carrying out fire watching duties. There is little doubt that in the early stage of the conflict they were all kept extremely busy since Coventry was a prime target for the Luftwaffe. In the latter stages of the war these mandatory duties became less demanding giving rise to the odd game of cards or dominoes. Senior management, however, held brain storming sessions planning of the cars to be built in the future, when hostilities had ended. Many proposals were aired by Messrs, Lyons, Haynes, Bailey and Hassan on the roofs of the Coventry factory, dreams were dreamt and sketches were made, perhaps some on the back of an odd empty cigarette packet.

At the end of World War II Britain was faced with rebuilding a peacetime industrial based economy. A slogan of 'Export or Die' was adopted by the government and this was the key to earning desperately needed foreign currency. The message was simple, those firms which did not send a significant amount of their production abroad would not receive the scarce raw materials to continue their operations. Nowhere was the pressure greater than on our motor car industry and no currency more important than the mighty dollar, the coinage of our car hungry allies in the USA.

At around the same time a new name appeared in the ranks of the British car industry when the SS Car Company changed its name to Jaguar Cars Ltd. Mr. Lyons knew that SS was hardly a desirable brand name for the future.

Gradually economies recovered, people in the West began to enjoy the return to peace and freedom, Jaguar's cars reflected the prevailing mood of optimism and best of all, as GIs returned home from duty, the American people were suddenly discovering European sports cars in a big way.

Several engine designs had been considered up on the roof tops of the factory in the dark days of war and those that proceeded beyond the 'cigarette packet stage' were each designated 'X' (for experimental). Initial early design studies (XA, XB etc.) did not get very far but 'XF' was built (a double overhead camshaft, four cylinder unit of 1360cc). 'XG' was a development of the Standard Motor Companies 1776cc unit but lacked sophistication and failed to provide sufficient power. The 'XJ' engine was designed in four and six cylinder form with double overhead camshafts. The four cylinder 2 litre 'XJ' engine did not progress far beyond the experimental stages although a unit was installed in a M.G. special in 1948 and powered the car to 176mph during testing in Belgium. The six cylinder 3182cc 'XJ' engine failed to produce enough torque to impress Lyons but by increasing the stroke this problem was overcome and the 3442cc twin overhead camshaft 'XK' engine was born. This engine became probably one of Jaguar's greatest assets and in various forms stayed in production for 40 years.

The 'XK' six cylinder engine was first seen in public in October 1948 at the Earls Court Motor Show. Jaguar displayed a stunning two-seater sports car which stole the show and was powered by the new 3.4ltr engine. The car used a shortened version of a saloon car chassis with deep box section rails, considerable cross bracing and independent front suspension. The show car was only meant for limited production and used an alloy body over a wooden Ash frame. The engine produced an amazing 160 bhp and the car was named the XK120 being an indication of the claimed top speed and making it the fastest production car of its day. There were naturally doubters and in 1949 Jaguar took a production car to Belgium and in front of invited press recorded a speed of 126 mph with the car in full road trim and using 'pump' petrol. Even higher speeds were recorded without the windscreen and with a smooth chassis undertray.

Thus one of the most beautiful motor cars of all time was born.

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