The SS 90 was a British sports car first built by SS Cars in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1935. In 1945, the company changed its name to Jaguar. The car used a six-cylinder

side-valve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

engine of 2663 cc with an output of 50 kW. The engine differed from the one used in the ordinary cars by having Dural connecting rods, an aluminium

cylinder head In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head (often abbreviated to simply "head") sits above the cylinders and forms the roof of the combustion chamber. In sidevalve engines, the head is a simple sheet of metal; whereas in more modern ...

with 7:1 compression ratio, and twin RAG carburettors. 2,642 mm long, the chassis was a shortened version of the one used on the

SS 1 The SS 1 (the top of its radiator says 'SS One') is a British two-door sports saloon and tourer built by Swallow Coachbuilding Company in Foleshill, Coventry, England. It was first presented to the public at the 1931 London Motor Show. In ...

, and was also supplied by Standard. Suspension was by half-elliptical springs all round, with an underslung back axle. The braking system was Bendix. The cars rapidly gained attention for their elegant sporting styling, but were not well regarded by the sporting fraternity as their performance did not match their appearance. True sports car performance had to wait for the

SS Jaguar 100 The SS Jaguar 100 is a British 2-seat sports car built between 1936 and 1939 by SS Cars Ltd of Coventry, England. The manufacturer's name 'SS Cars' used from 1934 maintained a link to the previous owner, Swallow Sidecar, founded in 1922 by ...

, which had similar styling and suspension but an engine fitted with an

overhead-valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

cylinder head. The SS 90 does not seem to have been tested independently by any magazines, therefore contemporary performance figures are unknown; however, it was widely believed to be capable of reaching 150 km/h. In 1932, the basic tourer cost £395. Twenty-three were made. The car was 3,810 mm long, 1,600 mm wide, and had a mass of 1,143 kg. When leaving the factory it originally fitted 139.7 × 457.2 Dunlop tyres on 457.2 mm wire wheels.Paul Skilleter, ''Jaguar Sports Cars'', pp.304 . The prototype SS 90, ARW395, was owned by

Hugh Kennard Wing Commander Hugh Charles Kennard, DFC (24 June 1918 – 2 June 1995) was a Royal Air Force pilot during World War II and later an entrepreneur in civil aviation. Personal life Kennard was born on 24 June 1918 at Coxheath, Kent, United Kingdom ...

from 1938 until at least November 1940. 23 were built, of which 16 survive; the prototype is one of the surviving cars.

Notes

{{Jaguar 90 Cars of England Coupés Roadsters Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1935