Legacy
Widely considered one of the most aesthetically pleasing sporting cars of the 1930s, the SS100 is also very rare, with only 198 2½-litre and 116 3½-litre models made. While most stayed in the home market, 49 were exported. Cars in good condition will now regularly fetch in excess of £300,000. A near concours example was auctioned by Bonhams at the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed for £199,500. Due largely to its rarity, auction prices for the SS100 have since risen strongly.
More recently a restored former Pebble Beach concours winning 1937 S.S. Jaguar 100 3½ Litre Roadster - was sold by Gooding & Co. at their August 2010 Pebble Beach auction. It fetched £666,270 ($1,045,000).[10]
It was on an SS100 that the famous Jaguar 'leaper', the marque's signature feline bonnet mascot, was first displayed. In mid 1936 the first version of the Jaguar mascot was reputedly described by Sir William Lyons, founder of the company, as "looking like a cat shot off a fence". A later publicity photograph of the new Model 100 "Jaguar" (registration mark CKV 250) parked outside the offices of SS Cars Ltd in early 1937 shows a revised Jaguar 'leaper' mounted on the radiator cap. It is this more stylised 'leaper' that became the trade mark for Jaguar Cars, Ltd., remaining in use to this day. The CKV 250 car was ordered as a gift for the 16th anniversary birthday of young king Mihai the 1st of Romania. As a car enthusiast, he declared that this was his favorite car and drove it consistently until he left power and fled Romania forced by the communists forces.
The late Alan Clark (1928–1999) MP owned an SS Jaguar 100, and during his time in Margaret Thatcher's government was often to be seen piloting his SS100 away from the House of Commons after late Parliamentary sittings.
Of the 49 exported models, one notable example, CNP 947, was driven and raced by pioneering American television host Dave Garroway. His white 3 1/2 Litre car still bears the alligator hide trim on its instrument panel, seat surfaces and steering wheel from his ownership. Jaguar Motorcars provided Garroway the first XK 3.8 litre engine sold privately, a race prepared unit which remains with the car. At Gooding's January 2017 auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Garroway SS100, with both the XK engine and a correct 3 1/2 litre Standard engine, sold for £493,000.
