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 9 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 SS2 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.

ATT 39 was originally registered on 31st December 1934 finished in Dual Green, according to the original 'Buff' logbook within the car's history file. The later green logbook lists the car as being black so it's assumed that the colour was changed within this period. Also within the file there are 14 old MOT certificates, the oldest being 1977 with the newest being 2007. There are a few invoices for work carried out but not many, however there is a Bill of Sale for ATT 39 in 2012 for the sum of £36,000. Showing 4,377 miles on the odometer, therefore assumed to be 104,377, and interestingly, looking back at the old MOTs, the mileage goes back to 00003 in 1978 and gradually moves forward to its current 4,377 showing that, in reality, the car has covered just 4,374 miles in the last 46 years. We can also see from the file that, prior to our vendors, it has had four keepers from new.

Looking at the condition of the car, both internally and externally, it's clear that at some point this SS2 has been carefully restored, which fits with the owner prior to the Collection having paid £36,000 for it just over ten years ago. The car sits really well and the black paintwork and black fabric seem excellent if a bit dusty. The engine bay is tidy and would be enjoyable to detail and bring up to scratch, and the interior is lovely with great red leather seating, 'sunburst' door cards, very good carpets and that classic wooden dashboard with its well presented Jaeger instruments is a delight.

A really good example of a rare car which, with a couple of days fettling, could be back on the show circuit.