Sir William Lyons looks fondly at his new Jaguar 3.4

This series is all about Jaguar's development in the Western Hemisphere. Sir William, of course, is not American. But America was very important to Jaguar's marketing plans, and has consistently accounted for more than half of Jaguar production. The Mark 1 saloon has the distinction of being the only Jaguar model to date assembled in North America. The best reference for this is John Dugdale's Jaguar in America. Dugdale was involved with setting up the Mexican plant while he was working at the (now defunct) LA office of Jaguar Cars. Mario Padilla, who ran the Mexico city distributorship (Automoritz Internacional, SA) for both Jaguar and Fiat, suggested Mexican assembly in 1957. The idea was that import duty could be avoided if semi-knocked down (SKD) cars were assembled in Mexico. The Mexican market was perceived as being ripe for a compact, small engined alternative to North American V8's, which had long been assembled south of the border.

The cars were engineered by Buck Hickman, Jaguar's west coast service engineer. Reengineering, or respecification, was necessary due to the high altitude driving conditions encountered in parts of Mexico. Hickman also detailed a technical report for packaging the SKD cars. Finances were worked out by the New York office. Jaguar hoped to sell 300-400 cars a year below the Rio Grande.

Jaguar produced a total of 214 sedans from August 1957 to July 1960. Of these, 152 had 2.4L motors, 62 had 3.4's.  Production ceased due to action of the Mexican gov't cracking down on SKD imports. Dugdale offers the following SKD shipment statistics (they were shipped in groups of ten) for 1959 and 1960, there is no source for data on earlier production:
 
 
 

Dates & Serial Numbers
Oct 1 1959	LHD 2.4	125003-124012
Nov 9 1959	LHD 2.4	125060-125069
Dec 4 1959	LHD 2.4	125129-125138
Dec 30 1959	LHD 2.4	125212-125221
Jan 11 1960	RHD 3.4	175281-175290
Jan 25 1960	RHD 3.4	175356-175365
Feb 2 1960	RHD 3.4	175401-175410
Apr27 1960	RHD 3.4	175659-175668
May30 1960	RHD 3.4	175752-175761
Jul 1 1960	RHD 3.4	175857-175866

Bob Grossman Continues:

The only time I ever met Lyons was when they acquired Daimler. I went to Jo Ehrdmanns (head of Jaguar North America), and I told him I'd like to be the importer for Daimler, specifically the SP250 (Dart). I knew the Jaguar distributors didn't want to handle Daimler: it was unconventional, some said ugly. It had a good engine, a hemi V8, 2.5 liter. They used the same engine in the 3.8 and called it a Daimler. They also had a 4.5L which we never dealt with. Finally, there was a limo for $12,000 which used a lot of Jaguar components. At one point they had no idea what they were going to do with Daimler, but I took them on and sold about 200 of them. I raced them too, they were winners in their class. Mark Donahue bought one from me.

Jaguar thought I was some sort of hero for taking on Daimler, so they invited me to go with all the Jaguar distributors to the Earl's Court Motor Show. That was a fun trip. Franklin Roosevelt, Jr. was with us on that trip...he was the Jaguar distributor for Washington, DC. He was also the distributor for Fiat, and he used to race Fiats. But Cunningham didn't come, neither did Qvale.

There was a guy by the name of Bill Touchston,who was responsible for PR for Jag. He arranged a cocktail party with Sir William Lyons. Going to the party, we all got into cabs. We were going to a hotel call the Carlton Towers, then a new hotel, and Bill told the drivers. After driving for a while through some terrible neighborhoods, we arrived at a brothel, the name of which was the Carlton House. Didn't realize the mistake until we knocked on the door. We had a good laugh and then went off to our party.

Daimler by Grossman

The next day, there was a meeting, and I had to get up and explain how I was able to sell Daimlers. Later, I spoke privately with Sir William, and I told him that I'd thought up a new design for the Daimler Dart. Like an E-Type, but with it's own distinct look. The one thing I don't like on the E-Type is that the fenders are lower than the hood. I liked the D-Type, where the fenders are higher. So I made higher fenders. And then I made bigger wheel openings. Then I made the front something like a Maserati, so the grille was below the bumper. It would have sold for $4,200. I had already gone to Ehrdmanns and told him we should make a car like that. I even went to Italy to discuss building a small run of bodies with a coachmaker. In those days there were loads of custom body builders in Milan and Turin. That day, I proposed this to Lyons. He replied in his most pompous tone, "MY DEAR SIR, I design ALL the cars at Jaguar. We are going to abandon the Dart project. We have just come out with the E-Type, the Mark X,  and the 3.8, we have no room for another car." And that was my meeting with Sir William.
 

About the editor -Michael Frank is Vice President and Webmaster of the Jaguar Touring Club. His red 2+2 E-Type is a familiar sight at JCNA events in the Northeast. Currently, he is building a reproduction of the 1963 Cunningham Lightweight E-Type.

About the author -  Bob Grossman's seven decade love affair with the automobile is reflected in the wide array of venues he has explored. He is a three time US National Champion race car driver, and has appeared six times at Le Mans. His extensive career on tracks such as Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring has gained him international recognition. These stunning victories on the global race circuit were followed by highly successful business ventures as the pioneer US importer of noteworthy European marques. As a natural extension of his inborn passion for the aesthetics of automotive design, Bob's artwork eloquently expresses his remarkable lifestyle.

Copyright © 2001 Bob Grossman and Michael Frank, New York
 

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