Just Sir William: Jaguar past and future... in 1969

August 29th 2025

A lecture from 56 years ago, printed word for word, is the story of a marque as told by its creator. Damien Smith dives in...

Sir William Lyons made his speech to the Institute of the Motor Industry just after the launch of the XJ6

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Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons gave few interviews in his lifetime, which is why this slim but pricey volume, published 40 years after his death, has such value. As is evident from the title – Sir William Lyons on Jaguar – this is the Jaguar story in Sir William’s own words.

As he explains in his introduction, prolific motoring author Giles Chapman chanced upon the text of an address Sir William delivered to the Institute of the Motor Industry in April 1969, titled The History of Jaguar and the Future of the Specialised Car in the British Motor Industry. “The simple rationale of this book,” Chapman explains, “is to share his spoken words with the wider Jaguar-supporting community for the first time, by reproducing them exactly as they were delivered on that long-forgotten afternoon.”

A foreword is provided by Michael Quinn, grandson of Sir William, who has listened to a recording of the speech given at Church House, Westminster. “It strikes me as being a very formal affair, in very formal surroundings,” he writes. “It is quite long and very wordy, and must have been a little intimidating to deliver even to someone of my grandfather’s experience in the industry. He was not comfortable speaking in public, and occasionally he does seem to struggle a bit with his voice to deliver it.”

Jaguar’s success in the 1950s at the Le Mans 24 Hours was clearly a source of pride for Lyons

Then follows the word-for-word transcript, and as promised it is illuminating in a restrained, matter-of-fact and understated tone in keeping with Sir William’s generation.

He begins in 1922 with the founding of Swallow, manufacture of motorcycle sidecars in Blackpool, then explains the expansion into sports two-seaters and saloons on Austin 7 chassis. There’s the move to Coventry, the inspiration from nature for a striking new name, a remarkably casual account of how the vital XK engine was created and much more. On ramping-up production in the early days, Sir William says: “One of the reasons for the profitability of the Austin Swallow was a system of wage payment which ensured that the amount provided in our price build-up for labour costs was not exceeded – a state of affairs I would be very happy to see today!” By 1969, industrial unrest and strains with the unions were already an undermining frustration that would only deepen long beyond Sir Williams’ retirement in 1972 when the British Leyland rot soon set in.

The speech doesn’t linger too long on Jaguar’s motor racing exploits, but there’s pride in the glittering record at Le Mans. Of greater note is how he downplays Jaguar’s merging within the British Motor Corporation (BMC) which cost him the independence he’d sustained for so long. There’s subtle pathos here, intentional or otherwise.

Chapman’s insightful commentary in an essay beyond the speech embellishes the founder’s words and briskly recounts Jaguar history since 1969, right up to the brave reinvention/abomination (depending on your perspective) of the Concept 00. As Chapman tactfully points out, Sir William “always understood the need to move on.”