Jaguar the Complete Story [Hardcover]

Stertkamp's book, with gorgeous photos of all the British Jaguars, describes in detail the development and fame of the Jaguar. Its history goes back to the Swallow Sidecar Co., established by William Lyons to build sidecars for motorcycles. In 1927, the first Austin-Swallow Seven Roadster was completed. Then in 1935, the SS Jaguar was produced with a 2.5-liter engine. The distinctive Jaguar leopard hood mascot was adopted in 1938. In 1947, shipments to the U.S. began and a sales organization on the American East Coast and West Coast was formed. Besides speed and its powerful engines, Jaguar has been known for 'daring, individual design, luxurious craftsmanship and driver-oriented technology.' From its beginning, the Jaguar was the racing car of choice with its speed of more than 100 mph in the 1930s. Stertkamp traces with exuberance the first Swallow car through the legendary E-type, right to the recent XJ, XK and S-types. He also covers the business matters of the corporation and various mergers over the years before Tata Motors bought it in 2008. This elaborately illustrated book has numerous color and black-and-white photos of various models that clearly show their beauty and power, especially the post-war XK Series cars followed by the iconic E-Type introduced in 1961. If you are a car enthusiast, 'Jaguar, The Complete Story' should definitely be in your library and read for the exciting history of Jaguar. It is an ideal Christmas gift. It is also a valuable reference tool for this British icon with vehicle identification numbers, color codes and car specifications --Las Cruces Sun-News, December 2008<br /><br />This is a massive work, both content and size, and is lavishly produced in full colour and reflects the author s passion for Jaguar. It is a definitive and readable history of the marque. Jaguar, the Complete Story covers the history from the earliest day in the 1920s through to 2007. It includes the people, the engineering and the development of the models. The highs and lows as Jaguar passed though changing ownership are covered as are motorsport successes, in rallying and at Le Mans, and the less successful foray into grand prix racing between 2000 and 2004. The final part will satisfy the most pedantic historian as it tabulates all the models from Austin-Swallow to the current range with technical details and chassis numbers/VIN. Also provided are project codes, paint codes, trim colours and interpretation of Vehicle Identification Numbers. This book will be appreciated by any enthusiast long after receiving it as a gift. --Sportscustomclassiccars dot com: This book's title might be guaranteeed to strike apathy into the heart of any reviwer -'Oh good, another book on the Jaguar' - but it's not at all bad, and you end up admiring the author's dogged persistance to cover every possible angle, even to the extent of devoting around 40 large-format pages to Daimler's pre-Jagaur history. It's certainly handsome, with excellent reproduction of less-common archive photos, such as a full-page shot of WW 2 motorcycle combinations turned out by William Lton's sidecar business. The weak link is perhaps a number of club rally-type snaps, but they don't seriously detract from the overall quality feel. --Octane, December 200--The Complete Story is certainly a fitting title for this hefty tome. it really does cover the entire history of the Jaguar make, harking back as far as the Twenties and Jaguar's origins from the Swallow Sidecar company ( wher in his youth Sir William Lyon's true pasion was for motorcycles) and goes right through to modern times under Ford ownership before ending up on a high with a look at the new XK variations. The book continues beyond simply narrating the Jaguar timeline by delving into further specific detiails in depth and is a must-have for any Jaguar fan - --Classics Monthly, Jan 2009

Jaguary's story form it's early days making sidecars to the classic cars of today is traced lovingly in this book. Author Stertkamp was born in 1959, the year of the jagura Mark 2, and like many young boys of his generation was fascinated by the world of the sports car, particularly the sleek and powerful Jaguars. Years later, as he worked to aquire his own jaguar, he became a member of the the Jaguar Association germany, teh the country's most prominenet Jaguar club. Today he heads the XJ Register and is a member of the JAG board. His close relationship with the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust ensured complete access to Jaguar's archives. his book, richly illustrated with more than 400 archive and factory photographs, contains an exhaustively researched account of every car Jaguar has ever built. racing vehicles and prototypes receive due treatment, with sections on the four-door saloons, race prototypes, the gT-oriented KJ-S, and the fabulous XJ-220 supercar. --Bolton News, feb 2009

History buffs will enjoy the enthusiastic account of Jaguar's history … benefiting from an entertaining writing style that follows the company's development and its products, with plenty of revealing snippets along the way. --Classic Car Mart magazine; You may ask if there is room for another complete book on jaguar? The answer is 'yes' when it is as complete and well-researched as this volume. -- --Jaguar Heritage Archive magazine, Jan 2009

This is the first book to combine exhaustive research about the vehicles and a full history of the company in one volume - everything from different machines, models, racing drivers, wins and losses on the racetrack, production, plus an extensive specifications index. Heiner Stertkamp is a renowned Jaguar experts and enthusiast, and has enjoyed full access to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust archives in writing this book, making it the most complete, detailed history of Jaguar today, a book sure to become a classic and received warmly by any interested reader, taking pride of place on their bookshelves!