1934 S.S. Cars Ltd. SS2 1.6-Litre Series 2 Fixed Head Coupé

After having been in the coachbuilding business for four years with a range of special bodies on other manufacturers’ chassis, by 1931, William Lyons and the Swallow Company felt ready to launch their own brand of car. A 'teaser' campaign of advertising under the by-line, ‘Wait! – The SS is coming’ ran in the motoring magazines in the period up to the 1931 Motor Show. The new cars were finally unveiled on 9th October 1931. Although still making use of chassis, engines and components supplied by the Standard Company, Lyons’ new cars were very different from the earlier Standard Swallows. There were two models, the six-cylinder SS1 with 16hp or 20hp engines, and the SS2 with a four-cylinder 9hp engine of 1,006cc. The SS1 had a specially designed chassis, while the smaller car used a standard Little Nine chassis.

Both models had similar styling, with coupé bodies, dummy hood irons on blind rear quarters and helmet-type wings, but the larger car looked more impressive with its immensely long bonnet. A range of striking colour schemes was available for both models. Priced at £310, the SS1 was labelled as ‘The car with the £1,000 look’. The SS2 was even more reasonably priced at £210, but naturally offered more modest performance, with a top speed of 60mph (96kmh) against the 75mph (120kmh) of its bigger brother.

The SS2 was manufactured for two years in this form, and total production during this period was 550 cars. Survivors of this early type are now very rare. At the end of 1933, the Series 2 was introduced with a new longer-wheelbase chassis, revised styling with flowing wings and a choice of bigger engines although still Standard side-valve units, of either 1,343cc (10hp) or 1,608cc (12hp). This revised model was also available in Saloon and Tourer form. It continued in production until 1935, and a total of 1,800 SS2 cars of all types were made, of which only 154 were Series 2 Coupés.

AVM 57 was first registered on 9th June 1934 initially, we believe, to the factory. Subsequently, a Mr Bernard Adams of Chapel-en-le-Frith became its next custodian and it was to remain with him from September 1936 until August 2003 when Captain Geoffrey Uren purchased it. The following month, it passed to a prominent private collector, and there is correspondence with the car indicating that it took part in the Parliamentary Classic Car Run in April 2006, and the final tax disc on the windscreen expired in March 2007, which we assume was the end of its active life. Apparently there was a history file but this was mislaid during the transfer from Mr Adams to the Captain, however there is a ‘Buff’ logbook, some correspondence between keepers and an original Standard Cars Instruction Book showing some private written entries, one of which states that the engine was reconditioned in October 1956 and bored out to 69.5mm.

The car appears to be in an unrestored state and fairly original. The classic Jaeger odometer displays 29,692 miles which we imagine is probably 129,692 miles. We think it’s safe to say that it’s at the stage where a complete restoration is required, however it may be possible to recommission AVM and get her running again. We invite and encourage interested parties to view this venerable 1930s FHC and form their own opinion as to how much work will be necessary to return this rare (1 of 154) SS2 Series 2 to the road.