1970, 1937 SS100 Jaguar - Nostalgia Is Nothing New

Let's get something out of the way first and foremost; I don't like "kit" or "component" cars. Therefore, I don't like this car. The original this is based on? Oh my, yes. Yes, indeed. It's lovely. In fact, I love many Jag-you-ares. Not all, mind you, but many. The car this is based on most definitely. Ain't nothing like the real thing. Baby.
 

 

Kit cars offer an affordable alternative to the real thing. Underneath a kit are the bones of a doner vehicle. On kits of this vinage, those bones, many times came from Volkswagen. Those primitive VW's were simple to work on, rugged, lightweight and most importantly, for profit margins, they were cheap. No one would ever mistake an old stock Beetle for a performance car like the original SS100 was in its day. Nostalgia is powerful. Especially as we get older. That longing, though, can lead us to make some unusual decisions. Like buying this car, new or used.

 

A "kit" car is different from a replica. I'll take a replica over a kit any day. This AC Cobra is a replica and in many ways is superior to what it's based on. This AC Cobra is a real car top to bottom that is a facsimile of the original.  Can't say that for our SS100. 

 

 

This 1970, 1937 SS100 "Jaguar" is a kit. There are several cues that betray its most humble DNA. Those stubby exhaust pipes back here, the odd wheels. Yup.  Underneath this awkwad body is a VW Beetle complete with an air cooled VW engine. As much as I love old Beetles, I can't help but look at this use of a Beetle as a waster. The body on top of the VW a clown suit as opposed to the tuxedo that was the original. I keep waiting for a bunch of clowns to pop out of the square engine door here. Hey, ya, numb skull! Honk, honk! The VW chassis  and engine used, abused to make for an expensive dream. Then and now. 43 years after it rolled off the showroom floor or over the curb of a dealership lot, the owner of this thing is asking five grand for it. Hmmm, good luck with that. Honk, honk!

  

 

1970 was a long time ago. 1937 even longer. However, there were "only" 33 years between 1937 and 1970. 33 years ago here in 2013? 1980. Can't be but it is. Why is it that 1937 seems longer removed from 1970 than 1980 is from now? 

1980 was not a great year for cars. Turbo Trans AM or 305 V-8 powered Corvette, anyone? Maybe a Celica or a Supra? A Jaguar XJS? Let's suppose, though, that you do have a jones for a late '70s or early '80s automobile. That's the same time span of expired years that this SS100 was born in. So, when we fire up the way back machine back to 1970, what "vintage" automobiles did folks long for? Keep in mind, we're talking not about baby boomers but about the parents of baby boomers. Corvettes didn't come out until 1953, muscle cars a good decade later.

 

They longed for the dream cars of their youth like European sports cars. Enter the SS100 "Jaguar" SS.

Nostalgia is nothing new.

 

The original SS100 "Jaguar" was a British 2-seat sports car built between 1936 and 1940 by SS Cars LTD of Coventry, England. The last one is thought to have been delivered in 1941.The SS Cars Ltd Model 100 "Jaguar" was so named as the '100' reflecting the capability of the 3.5-litre model to exceed 100 mph - then a remarkable speed for a production vehicle. In common with many products of the thirties, the adoption of an animal name was deemed appropriate, and once approved, the name "Jaguar" was given to a new saloon car in 1936, and from that point to all the cars.

Following the Second World War, because of the connotations then attached to the initials "SS", the company was renamed "Jaguar" in 1945.