'34 SS One Custom Car Page
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Updated: 08 Aug 2006, 10:00
ET
(Created 19 Jul 2006)
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SS and Jaguar Cars
'34 SS One Custom Car Page
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Wild '34 SS One Custom Classic Cat (below) is
now available:
(photo courtesy of present owner - all rights reserved)
SS and JAGUAR - Continued
The first page was originally "jaguar.html".
'34 SS One Custom Classic Cat
(19 Jul 06)
This site has now been visited 
times since the counter was installed.
NOTE: This page is concerned only with one special car and is NOT
part of the regular succession of SS and Jaguar pages. You may also wish to
visit the main SS and Jaguar Cars page, and the
continuation pages indexed thereon, as well.
Custom Classic Cat!
[Continued from, and expanded on, coverage of this unique vehicle on
SS and JAGUAR Cars Continuation Page 4]
(19 Jul 06)
Now, here's a car to delight any classic sports car lover and an opportunity to have a
lot of fun without investing in a museum car. First, though, let me be perfectly
clear - this is NOT an original SS One car, but neither is it a replicar;
it is a customized synthesis of appropriate SS and Standard parts. As I
understand it, a 1934 SS One Airline Saloon, chassis number 248943, was severely
damaged during World War II and was used as the basis for an "SS 90" (NOT
SS 100) type of sports car. Inasmuch as the work was done in 1969 or 1979, it
is over 25 years old and so can be considered a "classic car", if a "one-off', in its own
right. The chassis was cut and spliced, a door-less roadster body fabricated,
and everything assembled meticulously with lots of TLC; the resultant car speaks for
itself:
(19 Jul 06)
(all photos courtesy of present owner - all rights reserved.)
[Thumbnail images - click on photos for larger images]
{I assume that this car, with a 20HP engine, will turn out to be an SS One;
it is NOT a Jaguar, which name only was adopted in 1935.}
(21 May 06)
Here are representative shots of the engine compartment, with the whole engine, the
side of the block with "STANDARD 20 A" cast on, and the near/driver's/right
side of the cast alumin(i)um valve head (remember, this is an SOHV Standard 20HP
in-line 6):
Note the high mounting of the distributor, necessitating the upper bulge in the
bonnet; until I determine the engine serial number, we won't know if the engine
belongs to the chassis or not.
Next, a closer view of the cast on numbers on the head, the forward end of the
cowl/rear end of the engine, and the front end of the engine/water pump:
Finally, for the nonce, a longitudinal view looking aft along the off/passenger's/left
side of the engine compartment:
(all photos courtesy of present owner - all rights reserved.)
[Thumbnail image - click on photo for larger image]
You can now see why the shoehorning required bulges on the bonnet side.
I had not yet seen this car or its extensive documentation; I had hoped to do so
shortly after posting the above but only got up there on 18 Jul 2006 to take more
pictures, including underneath (the splicing). Purists may take offense, but this
is one fabulous car, neither a restoration nor a recreation, since there never was any
such car to begin with; perhaps it is on a par with Sir William Lyons's "Baby Jag", a car
assembled to suit, with appropriate parts. The work was done in England and
the car has more recently been "restored" to its as-modified 1979 reappearance.
(19 Jul 06)
Well, to begin with, the car is not just "WILD", it is "SEXY" and it is very
definitely a "FUN" car! The bonnet badge reads "SS ONE":
(all subsequent photos 18 Jul 06 by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
[Thumbnail images - click on photos for larger images]
{Some of the photos have been cropped and/or artificailly lightened}
and the grill shell is from a second-generation SS (narrow and with a round radiator
cap), as can be seen on these datail shots of the horn/hooter mounting:
Note that the above two details show the crank hole hanging out in the middle of
nowhere; there is no crank dog behind it (nor any crank guide under the bumper) and
therein lies a tale.
The car was represented as an SS 90 when it was sold to the present owner; one
doesn't have to be the most expert of SS afficionadoes to see that that is simply not
so. The grill shell of the SS 90 was the first (as I recall) of the later SS Jaguar
line, wider than that on the SS, and this car has neither the SS 90 nor SS 100
cross-bracing for the head-lamp tie bar. As originally "restored" to its
as-modified condition, as imported from England to Florida ca. 1969, the car came with
this "provenance":
The info. re SS 90 may be taken with a grain of salt; the Bassetts "restoration" of
1988-1991 was painstakingly done and photos of the work clearly show a steel or
alumin(i)um body and fenders/wings.
Those Lucas headlamps measure 12" across; P-100? The SS 90 had P-90s {?}.
The body plate is from a later SS Jaguar car and is not an original for any car as it has
no stamping at all in the "ENGINE NO." box (data updated per verbal info. 08 Aug 06):
(08 Aug 06)
SS
SS CARS LTD. COVENTRY
JAGUAR 2½ LITRE
BORE & STROKE 73 x 106 mm
CUBIC CAPACITY 2663.7 c.c.
R.A.C. RATING 19.84 HP
WHEELBASE 8.8 (i.e.: 104"}
TRACK 4.8 (i.e.: 56"}
FIRING ORDER 1 5 3 6 2 4
VALVE CLEARANCE IN. .062
ENGINE WARM EX. .012
CHASSIS NO. [ 248943 ]
ENGINE NO. [ {blank} ]
BODY NO. [ 4337 ]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
{My photo was not sharp enough to read the details;
the missing information should be available momentarily.}
The engine number, H112E, appears on the Standard 20 block boss at the
right rear, just under the head:
The chassis splicing, which appears so clearly to the naked eye, does not show at all
well in these pictures, although the heavy splice plates do:
The resultant wheelbase is 120"; the regular long w/b, as on the tourers
and Airline saloon, was 9' 11" (119") - huh? That on the SS 100 was 8' 8"
(104"). The t(i)(y)res mounted are 5.25/5.50-18; the rims were made for
5½".
(19 Jul 06, 15:45)
Some views of the engine compartment show how the Standard 20 sits up about
some 6" high, necessitating the bulged bonnet to clear the distributor cap and
high-tension leads (the leads come out upwards, whereas they came out horizontally
on the SS One and Two saloons and tourers):
(19 Jul 06, 15:45)
On the latter, I have added a blue arrow to indicate the four-bolt cam-shaft fan
adaptor, sitting high above the ingenious shelf added, with two pillow block bearings
to accomodate the lowered fan placement. This arrangement can be more
clearly seen in these detail photos, again with blue arrows added:
Whil(e)(st) we are in the engine compartment, here are the twin Solex side-dra(f)(au)t
carburet(t)ors, with their air filters necessitating the scooped bulges in the left side
panel, front and rear (with the twin SU fuel pumps):
Next, some general views of the cabin and most-unique foot cutouts:
I forgot to photograph the details of the rear fenders/wings; they were widened
about 4" at their inner sides but retain the crease of other SS cars, NOT the
Airline saloons, although flat topped. Similarly, the front fenders/wings are
creased and have free-standing bullet side-light housings, not the faired flat ones of
the Airline:
Lastly, let's take a look at the windscreen mounting, with it's distinctive SS
handwheels:
You can see that odd one-piece hood/bonnet (no central hinge or latches)
leaning up against the wall in the above photo. Here's a close-up of the
SS handwheel:
(all preceding 18 Jul 06 photos by and © 2006 S. Berliner, III - all rights reserved.)
[Thumbnail images - click on photos for larger images]
{Some of the photos have been cropped and/or artificailly lightened}
Afterthoughts - look at the windscreen, with its curved bottom and rounded lower
corners and mounting brackets giving away it's tourer heritage; the SS 90 and SS 100
windscreens had straight bottoms above a chromed housing adapting the flat bottom
to the heavily-convex curve of the cowl, with a hinge between the housing and the
screen. Also, the black-faced tachometer is far smaller than the speedometer -
they matched on the SS 90/100 and were white-faced, as well as having far more
company on the fascia (more gadgets). In addition, SS bumpers were mounted
on spring irons, front and rear, not directly to the ends of the frame rails; odd.
Further, the Airline saloon wasn't introduced until 1935. Hmm.
(19 Jul 06, 12:45/15:30)
Someone went to a lot of trouble to cobber up all those bits and pieces that went into
this car; if anyone has photos of the Airline before it got converted, of the original
conversion, or of the car as imported to the States, or more information about the car,
especially why anyone went to all that trouble and expense, please let us know.
Original or not, how could anyone resist this car? It is a delightful fancy, fun to
see and fun to drive!
[More to follow - stay tuned!]
Nick Johannesen's Jag-lovers site.
Obligatory courtesy link to the
Classic Jaguar Association
Stay tuned!
NOTE: This page is concerned only with one special car and is NOT
part of the regular succession of SS and Jaguar pages. You may also wish to
visit the main SS and Jaguar Cars page, and the
continuation pages indexed thereon, as well.
Cyclops fans; see Cyclops on my Automotive page!
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S. Berliner, III
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of the regular series of SS and Jaguar pages.
LEGACY
What happens to all this when I DIE or (heaven forfend!) lose interest?
See LEGACY.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III -
2006
- All rights reserved.
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