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Jaguar Automobilia Collector
Introducing Jaguar Automobilia Collector
Ian Cooling introduces us to a fascinating aspect of the Jaguar hobby
People enjoy their Jaguars in many different ways. For some, it is the snarl of a well-tuned XK engine powering along the straight past the grandstand. For others, that priceless moment when the rebuild is complete, the key turned (or button pressed) and the engine actually fires! Others enjoy the friendship of the Jaguar Clubs or simply wafting through the country lanes on a Sunday with the top open and a pint in prospect.
Another strand in the Jaguar hobby is fuelled by the collector's instinct. This too can take many forms, but tends to start with the cars themselves. My own experience is typical. After some rackety Mark VIIs and Mark 2s, my first serious Jaguar was a Series 2 FHC E-Type. I then started adding various items that related to the car. First, came brochures, road test reports and a new handbook; then the same for the two other E Type series, then badges and mascots. By then I was well and truly in thrall to my newly-discovered hobby. Gradually, my collection worked back to those early days of Swallow Sidecars in Blackpool. I also widened my scope to collect photos, posters, paintings, books, letters, press packs, models, marketing give-aways, calendars, trophies and so on. En route, I developed my own definition of these collectables or automobilia: "Anything to do with cars, except cars" - plenty of scope there!
My aim here, is to introduce you to a number of different collecting themes. Like me, you may start (or have already started) a collection related to your car(s). Or you may have focused on Jaguar's competitive history, perhaps majoring on their triumphs and tears at Le Mans. More widely, you may already have a collection of mascots, with Jaguar mascots being just one strand within that collection. Others may fall into the same trap as me and end up ranging across the whole history of the company and all aspects of Jaguar automobilia.
This multi-strand approach can actually be useful for the dedicated collector. Every collecting strand will run dry from time to time and there is nothing more frustrating than auction after auction, autojumble after autojumble with no result. With several themes in play, it will usually be possible to keep the collection growing throughout the year. You may then discover the same three constraints as I did: the bank manager, the size of the house – and the wife!
Having defined "Automobilia" I should also make clear that by "Jaguar", I include all the predecessor companies too: SS Cars, Swallow Coachbuilding and Swallow Sidecars. So, the true brochure collector will not only be interested in brochures for the likes of the E Type and the Mark 2, but will also be looking for publicity items showing the pre-war cars and side-cars right back to the 1920s. This will also be true of the model collectors. For some years, coverage of cars from the 1950s forward was very good (sometimes too good) but pre-1950, the selection was very much thinner. However, this has changed in recent years with models of SS Cars and Swallows starting to trickle out.
Books are another fascinating collecting focus. You have the double benefit of reading what the author has to say about our cars, the drivers, the company and the personalities, and also the collectors' pleasure of seeing the shelf filling up. One book collecting theme could be individual cars - much has been written about E Types, Mark 2s and the original XK Series, for example. Another might be to home in on biographies of Jaguar drivers, past and present.
These examples only scratch the surface. You may decide to collect owners' handbooks, or Jaguar key rings, or badges, or stickers. Indeed, as I say above, my definition of automobilia is carefully crafted to include practically everything! I hope this article will encourage you to become a Jaguar Automobilia Collector or, if you collect already, then to open up new collecting themes for you. The images below illustrate some popular themes, which I shall be exploring.
Jaguar brochures are where most of us start out on the automobilia trail, usually collecting brochures related to our own car(s). There is a view that the only really interesting brochures are the older ones. The two brochures in this photo tell a different story. The XJ220 is one of the most sublime car bodies ever created. Originally intended to be powered by Jaguar's mighty 6 litre V12 engine, production realities dictated that it was launched with the TWR 3.5 litre V6 engine. The prototype was the only car ever to be fitted with the V12 engine. A tiny number of sales brochures for the V12-engined car were produced and an even smaller number reached the general public, making this one of the rarest post-war Jaguar brochures. It is the front brochure in my photo.
Sooner or later Jaguar Automobilia collectors home in on the iconic Jaguar mascot. Below, I explore the origins and evolution of the Company mascot over the years. But I shall also look at Jaguar mascots from other sources, like this one. This is a fine example of the Jaguar mascot produced by the "Desmo" company, a prolific producer of a wide range of mascots and other motoring accessories. This mascot was produced in the company's Animals and Birds range during the inter-war years and preceded the Company's own mascot. Indeed, one story tells us that it was seeing one of these mascots mounted on one of his cars that led Sir William Lyons to commission his own mascot. His typically curt description of the "Desmo" offering was "A cat shot off a fence"!
Badges are a collecting theme with two major sub-themes. Some collectors focus on badges related to the cars, while others collect badges for the various Jaguar clubs across the world – and down the years there have been hundreds of them. My photo shows one of the club badge collectors' holy grails. The UK Jaguar Driver Club (JDC) issued 100 "Founder" badges to their early members. Not all have survived and this photo shows JDC Founder badge no 13 - the lowest number I have ever seen.
Jaguar's racing and other competition history is a very strong collecting theme (we shall draw a discreet veil over the ill-advised excursion into Formula 1!). This aspect of automobilia collecting can range very widely: over posters, trophies, tickets, paintings, badges and rally plaques, original photographs, drivers' autographs and so on. Race programmes have a particularly enthusiastic following, with those for Le Mans being especially desirable. This photograph shows an original programme for 1955, the year of the tragic crash. It has the manuscript annotation in French on the front cover "Annee de l'accident. 82 Morts."
Books will enter the collectors' world before long. Again, there are many sub-themes: books on the cars themselves (of course), but also those who want to read the drivers' stories as well as the historians' view of the same races. The books by the men who managed the company have interest as well as those looking to another bout of restoration as winter approaches.
The book I have chosen to illustrate just one of these sub-themes is a copy of racing driver Duncan Hamilton's ghost-written autobiography "Touch Wood". This book celebrates his whole career but with a predicable focus on those golden years in the 1950s when he was Jaguar-mounted and regularly in the frame, including winning Le Mans twice (1953 and 1954). The book is a collector's item in its own right, but this copy is greatly enhanced by bearing the signatures of both Duncan and Sir William Lyons on the title page.
Prints and (better) paintings cover the whole range of Jaguar subjects. Predictably, most feature the dash and drama of the competition scene. But others place the cars in more day-to-day situations. Buy prints because you like them, not as the good investments they are claimed to be, because very few are. If your wallet can stretch to it, original art will score over prints every time. Not only as investments, but also because of the unmatchable look and feel of the "real thing". The example I show here is a privately commissioned oil painting of a Mark VIII or Mark IX saloon running through the lanes on a moonlit autumn night. It is by Roy Nockolds, the Company's artist of choice for much of the 1950s. This work is a fine example of his great skill in handling the effects of car lights at night. Not only has he captured the throw of the headlights perfectly, but the stab of the brake lights and the dim glow of the rear number-plate light are also exactly right.
Further Reading
All About Jaguar Mascots
by Ian Cooling, Tony Bailey and Gil Mond
The second in the 'All about' series, this book brings together key articles on Swallow and Jaguar mascots, written by leading authorities on the subject Ian Cooling, Tony Bailey and Gil Mond. They are taken from Jaguar World and Jaguar Automobilia Collector and include the much sought-after major series on the 'leaper'. The book features original blue prints and describes every variant of the pre-war Swallow mascot and the famous 'leaper' which was available from 1938, including the original Gordon Crosby prototype. Plus new material on the legalities of mounting mascots on UK cars, and on building a collection (this book is essential if you want to buy mascots and don't want to get caught out by fakes!)
All about Jaguar mascots, published by Paul Skilleter Books (PJ Publishing Ltd)
ISBN 978-0-9550102-9-3
Soft-bound, A4
80 pages
For more information please visit the website below
JAGUAR COLLECTIBLES
image shows full dust jacket
This 'must-have' reference book is by well known Jaguar automobilia guru Ian Cooling who built the finest collection of Jaguar automobilia in the world.
Ian Cooling was highly privileged in being the first person ever to have full access to the Jaguar Company archives and their own collection of automobilia. The book starts with fabulous images of trophies and other awards and artifacts amassed by the company over the years, expecially from the height of its competition successes in the 1950s. Many other specialist collectors also allowed Ian full access to complement his own vast collection. The superb photography found on every page and in great detail is by James Mann.
If you have any interest at all in Jaguar and its associated memorabilia then this book is a must for you! A totally unique 192-page survey exploring a Jaguar theme never before covered. Well over 500 stunning full-colour pictures showing literally thousands of different individual items: Models, posters, badges, paintings, racing items, press packs, books, magazines, and much, much, more.
Contents include:
Introduction
The Jaguar Crown Jewels
Brochures
Racing Automobilia
Books & Magazines
Posters and Advertising
Models
Mascots
Badges
Memorabilia
Enthusiastic comments made about the book since its release 12 years ago include:
So you thought everything that could possibly be written about Jaguars was already on the shelves? Wrong, because here is a fascinating book whose only concern is Jaguar automobilia! - Classic Cars
Eagerly awaited by many, and boy, has it been worth it! - Paul Skilleter - Jaguar World
A great work that will stand the test of time - Nigel Thorley - Jaguar Enthusiast
You will be strong willed if you can put it down - Phillip Porter - Jaguar Driver
This book will surely join the Jaguar collector's collection - Mike McCarthy - Classic & Sports Car
A fascinating book - Classic Car
Looks set fair to be a best-seller - Classic Car Mart
Photography is excellent…complemented by words which prove informed - Motor Sport
192 pages. Hardback, with dustjacket and copious (500 plus) full colour illustrations! Large format, 10.5 x 10.5 inches.
Contact JAC
Please feel free to e-mail me on ian.cooling@invictanet.co.uk
with your comments and queries and details of treasures from your own collection.
Alternatively, if you prefer, you can phone me on 01233 812416
For more information please visit the website below
Visit Ian's website
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