History

Jaguar made its name in the 1950s with a series of styled sports cars and luxury saloons.

Jaguar merged with the British Motor Corporation, the Austin-Morris combine, to form British Motor Holdings (BMH) in 1966. After merging with Leyland motors ,the resultant company then became the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) in 1968.

The Jaguar company started production with the pre-war 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 litre models which used engines designed by the Standard Motor Company. The 1.5 litre four-cylinder engine was still supplied by Standard but the two larger six-cylinder ones were made in house. cars have become as Mark IVs.

The first post war model was the 1948 Mark V available with either 2.5 or 3.5 litre engines and had a more streamlined appearance than pre-war models, but more important was the change to independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes.

The first biggest launch in 1948 of the XK120 sports car, which combined a body shell essentially copied from a 1940 BMW[citation needed] with the new XK twin overhead camshaft (DOHC) 3.5 litre hemi-head six-cylinder engine designed by William Heynes, Walter Hassan and Claude Baily.