Searching for a french Swallow from 1938/1939

GuillaumeL · August 11, 2022, 7:24pm

Ok, thanks for the precision

However in french register, it’s still “Swallow” as a Car Make, and not “SS Cars”.
I added 2 examples, from the register, of “Swallow SS1” and “Swallow Jaguar” from early 1936.

But indeed that’s confusing …

ptelivuo · August 11, 2022, 7:41pm

Yes, you can say that again. The French distributor is most likely behind the information, maybe the ”Swallow” had a good brand name back then. A bit like the Americans called the E-type an ”XKE” after the successful XK120-XK150.

Anyways the company that made the SS1 & SS2 between 1932 and 1936 was called SS Cars Ltd.

Cheers!

GuillaumeL · August 12, 2022, 4:12pm

Yes, indeed.
Some of the cars were registered directly by the official importer as “Swallow” which sounds more attractive than “SS Cars”, even before WWII

GuillaumeL · August 15, 2022, 3:06pm

I managed to get more informations about the car. (Special Thanks for Coventry Foundation and Jaguar Enthusiaste Club for informations given, just below)

Color : olive,
Engine : 2663cc,
Body : Saloon,

So the car should be like this one (Musée National de l’Automobile - Collection Schlumpf - Mulhouse) :

Wiggles · August 15, 2022, 3:42pm

That is definitely on my bucket list!

GuillaumeL · August 17, 2022, 11:04am

Well, i found something very interesting, and also, Spoil alert, a little bit sad.

I continue to read the register from 1936, i found that M. Delloye bought a 2nd SS Cars in May 1936, which is when his first SS1 move to another region.

But that time, it’s a SS Cars Jaguar. VIN : 10799, engine : 250368. Plate Number 50 MD2

The cars stayed in his family until 1949, when he passed away.

That means that my grand father drove this Jaguar and not the SS1, contrary to what i thought previously. He probably didn’t know his boss has a SS1 before his Jaguar.

Then the car was bought by M. Henri Choteau in 1949, and by Paul Lesieux in 1954.
In 1954, the registration system has been changed, so new Plate Number : 9189 AY 59.

And unfortunately, in May 1956, the car was destroyed, i don’t know the reason …

My quest is over.

Thanks a lot for your help !

Please find below all the VIN Number i found in the register, it could help some of you :

Immatriculation Plate Number	Marque Make	Type Type	N° Série/Châssis Serial Number	Carrosserie et Couleur Body & Color	N° moteur Engine Number	Puissance Power
937 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247106		210363	15 HP
3700 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247561		210754	15 HP
5005 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247275		210482	15 HP
5177 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247874	Saloon Olive Green	210960	15 HP 2663 cc
5329 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247903		210959	15 HP
5437 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247902			15 HP
5752 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247836			15 HP
5817 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247911			15 HP
8693 MB9	Swallow	SS1	247972		211042	15 HP
2103 MD	Swallow	SS1	248374		248370	15 HP
3828 MD	Swallow	SS1	248209		211222	15 HP
6324 MD	Swallow	SS1	248252		211328	15 HP
800 MD1	Swallow	SS1	249479		249288	15 HP
2262 MD1	Swallow	SS1	248755		248676	15 HP
9310 MD1	Swallow	Jaguar	10238		D2-249746	15 HP
50 MD2	Swallow	Jaguar	10799		250368	15 HP

Rob_Reilly · August 17, 2022, 12:51pm

So that’s a 2-1/2 Litre saloon from 1936, probably brand new, which would have looked something like this. The center spot light and wheel cover discs were options.

I’m curious, what register did you find all this information in, and how did you gain access to it?

GuillaumeL · August 17, 2022, 1:01pm

Thank you, wahoo, i understand how my grand father should have been excited to drive such a car when he was 15 ! and during all the WWII !!

The register i found is the official register for car, i mean the register that french administration have.
I read about 20 volumes (from 1934 to 1936). In each volume, you have 2000 cars (and also trucks and motorbikes). So i read about 40000 lines of car.

This picture shows what a page of register is, there are 200 page in a register.

Here is the official website : https://archivesdepartementales.lenord.fr/

But the only way to consult these register is to go in Lille, France where the archives of my region (and only of my region) are.
Each Region (in France, we call that a Department) have such register and there are 96 departments in France …

Registers are not scanned and can not be read online.

And of course, you have others cars like Delage, Delahaye, Bugatti but mainly Peugeot, Renault and Citroen.
I also take picture of Bugattis, because i’m a big fan of old ones, type 35 or 57 for example.

And for the car that my grand father drove, here what i found :

In register from may 1936 :