Jaguar C-Type
The Jaguar C-Type is a racing sports car built by Jaguar and sold from 1951 to 1953. The "C" stands for "competition"; the car used the XK 120 running gear of the contemporary road proven XK120 in a lightweight tubular frame designed by William Heynes and an aerodynamic aluminium body jointly developed by Heynes, R J Knight and Malcolm Sayer. A total of 53 C-Types were built, 43 of which were sold to private owners in the US; the road-going XK120's 3.4-litre twin-cam, straight-6 engine produces between 180 bhp. The C-Type version was tuned to around 205 bhp; the early C-Types were drum brakes. C-Types are more powerful, using triple twin-choke Weber carburettors and high-lift camshafts, they are lighter, from mid 1953 braking performance was improved by disc brakes on all four wheels. The lightweight, multi-tubular, triangulated frame was designed by William Heynes. Heynes and Sayer together developed the aerodynamic body. Made of aluminium in the barchetta style, it is devoid of road-going items such as carpets, weather equipment and exterior door handles.
According to the Jaguar Heritage Registry the cars were produced between May 1952 starting with XKC001 and ending August 1953 XK054. The original alloy body was marked with the prefix K; the C-Type was successful in racing, most notably at the Le Mans 24 hours race. In 1951, the car won at its first attempt; the factory entered three, whose driver pairings were Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman, Leslie Johnson and triple Mille Miglia winner Clemente Biondetti, the eventual winners, Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead. The Walker-Whitehead car was the only factory entry to finish, the other two retiring with lack of oil pressure. A entered XK120, owned by Robert Lawrie, co-driven by Ivan Waller completed the race, finishing 11th. In 1952, worried by a report about the speed of the Mercedes-Benz 300SLs that would run at Le Mans, modified the C-Type’s aerodynamics to increase the top speed. However, the consequent rearrangement of the cooling system made the cars vulnerable to overheating, all three retired from the race.
The Peter Whitehead-Ian Stewart and Tony Rolt/Duncan Hamilton cars blew head gaskets, the Stirling Moss-Peter Walker car, the only one not overheating having had a full-sized radiator hurriedly fitted, lost oil pressure after a mechanical breakage. Testing by Norman Dewis at MIRA after the race proved that the overheating was caused more by the revisions to the cooling system than by the altered aerodynamics: the water pump pulley was undersized, so it was spinning too fast and causing cavitation. With the pump pulley enlarged, the tubing increased to 1 1/4 inch, the problem was eliminated; the main drawback of the new body shape was that it reduced downforce on the tail to the extent that it caused lift and directional instability at speeds over 120 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. These cars had chassis numbers XKC 001, 002 and 011; the first two were dismantled at the factory, the third survives in normal C-type form. In 1953, C-Types won again, placed second and fourth; this time the body was in thinner, lighter aluminium and the original twin H8 sand cast SU carburettors were replaced by three DCO3 40mm Webers, which helped boost power to 220 bhp.
Philip Porter mentions additional changes: Further weight was saved by using a rubber bag fuel tank... lighter electrical equipment and thinner gauge steel for some of the chassis tubes... he most significant change to the cars were the triple Weber carburetors and disc brakes. Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt won the race at 105.85 mph – the first time Le Mans had been won at an average of over 100 miles per hour. Disc brakes were novel in 1953, Jaguar's win due to their superiority, set off a scramble to include discs in production cars. 1954, the C-Type's final year at Le Mans, saw a fourth place by the Ecurie Francorchamps entry driven by Roger Laurent and Jacques Swaters. When new, the car sold for about $6,000 twice the price of an XK120. In an article in the 11 June 2003 issue of Autocar magazine the value of a "genuine, healthy" C-Type is estimated as £400,000, the value of the 1953 Le Mans winner is about £2 million. A C-Type once owned and raced by Phil Hill sold at an American auction in August 2009 for $2,530,000 and another C-type was sold at the Pebble Beach auction in 2012 for $3,725,000, Recently an unrestored C-Type that raced at Le Mans has sold for £5,715,580, during the Grand Prix Historique race meeting in Monaco.
In August 2015, an ex-Ecurie Ecosse Lightweight C-type, chassis XKC052 and the second of only three works lightweights, driven by Peter Whitehead and Ian Stewart to fourth at the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours, fetched $13.2 million at auction in California Porter, Philip. Jaguar Sports Racing Cars. Bay View Books. ISBN 1901432211. Jaguar Heritage Trust - Official Jaguar Heritage Trust Page on 1950s developments Jaguar Heritage Trust - Official Jaguar Heritage Chassis Number description Coventry Racers – Pages for each of the 54 C-Types, including photos and short histories for many
Jaguar Mark V
The Jaguar Mark V is a luxury automobile built by Jaguar Cars Ltd of Coventry in England from 1948 to 1951. It was available as a four door Saloon and a two door convertible known as the Drop Head Coupé, both versions seating five adults, it was the first Jaguar with independent front suspension, first with hydraulic brakes, first with fender skirts, first designed to be produced in both Right and Left Hand Drive configurations, first with disc center wheels, first with smaller wider 16" balloon tires, first to be offered with sealed headlamps and flashing turn signals for the important American market, the last model to use the pushrod engines. The Mark V was introduced to distributors and the press on 30 September 1948 and launched on 27 October 1948 at the London Motor Show at the same time as the announcement of the XK120, with which it shared a stand; the XK120, though not quite ready for production, was the star of the show. However, the Mark V vastly outsold the XK120 by 5,000 cars per year as compared to 2,000 cars per year for the XK120.
Three cars were built in late 1948 and saloon production was well under way at the factory on Swallow Road at Holbrook Lane in the Foleshill district of Coventry by March 1949, though the DHC was delayed for some months, the last cars were built in mid 1951. While the XK120 had a new overhead-camshaft XK engine, the Mark V retained the 1946-48 driveline including the overhead-valve pushrod straight-6 2½L and 3½L engines, now since 1946 produced by Jaguar, which the company had purchased from the Standard Motor Company before the war, the four-speed single-helical gearbox produced by both Jaguar and the Moss Gear Company of Birmingham. Automatic transmission was not available at this time; the 1½L Standard engine used in previous models was not offered in the Mark V. Claimed power output in this application was 102 bhp for the 2664 cc Mark V and 125 bhp for its more popular 3485 cc sibling; the chassis frame was new with deep box sections and cross bracing for improved stiffness in handling and cornering, independent front suspension by double wishbones and torsion bars, an arrangement that would be used by Jaguar for many future vehicles.
It has weldments and brackets provided for both Left Hand and Right Hand Drive brake and clutch pedal linkages, so the chassis could be assembled in either configuration. It had hydraulic brakes, which were necessary with the independent suspension, which Jaguar had been slow to adopt compared to other manufacturers, an all pressed steel body on the saloon, though the DHC still had wood framing in the doors. Another new feature was that the rear of the chassis swept over the rear axle to provide greater movement for improved comfort, where on previous models it had been underslung; the styling of the car followed prewar SS-Jaguar lines with upright chrome grille and the leaping Jaguar radiator cap mascot was available as an option. The Autocar called it rich yet with unostentatious looks, in outline halfway between the old and new. There is a distinct hint of the modernised Bentley look in the style of the front grill; the wheels were 16-inch steel-disc type smaller than the 18-inch wheels on the MK IV.
From the side, a distinctive styling touch on the saloon was a "tuck in" curve at the base of the rear quarter window following the curved profile of the side glass, a feature retained on many subsequent models. Rear-wheel spats were standard. There was a drophead coupé version. For the UK and most foreign markets, 7.7" Lucas PF770 headlamps were used, along with flip-out trafficator semifore turn indicators. For the important American market, 7" sealed headlights were used, along with flashing turn signals incorporated into the front side lamp and rear tail lamp units, the trafficators being deleted; the Mark V was available in 12 single paint colors, in various combinations with 7 upholstery colors, but the factory did not offer two-tone treatment, nor did they offer white wall tires. Two cars were done by the factory in two-tone schemes, 32 others in various special colors, for unknown reasons. Others may have been repainted as two-tone by American dealers before or after the sale, as well as fitting white wall tires.
A 3½ litre car tested by The Motor magazine in 1949 had a top speed of 90.7 mph and could accelerate from 0–60 mph in 20.4 seconds. The Autocar called the steering light at all speeds and free from road reaction, said the new suspension showed great merit in comfort and stability, with performance figures satisfactory. Jaguar's test engineer Norman Dewis used a Mark V regularly; when asked about the top speed he saw in his car, he commented that he verified 90 mph once, but the thrill of the moment did not encourage repeating the feat. A fuel consumption of 18.2 miles per imperial gallon was recorded. The test car cost £1263 including taxes. Production figures were: 2½ litre RHD saloon 1481 2½ litre RHD drop head coupé 17 2½ litre LHD saloon 188 2½ litre LHD drop head coupé 12 2½ litre LHD chassis only 2 3½ litre RHD saloon 5923 3½ litre RHD drop head coupé 108 3½ litre LHD saloon 1902 3½ litre LHD drop head coupé 577 3½ litre RHD chassis only 2 3½ litre LHD chassis only 1 sum total 10,499 In 1951 the Mark V was replaced by the Jaguar Mark VII.
The Mark VII had the same 10-foot wheelbase as the Mark V, but a longer and more streamlined-looking body, which continued in production with little outward change through the Jaguars Mark VIII and Mark IX until 1961. The origin of the Mark V name, always printed in company documents as a Roman numeral V, never an Arabic n
SS Cars
SS Cars was a British manufacturer of sports saloon cars from 1934 until wartime 1940, from March 1935 of a limited number of open 2-seater sports cars. From September 1935 their new models displayed a new name SS Jaguar. By its business, founded in 1922, was run by and owned by William Lyons. Lyons had been partner with 1922 co-founder William Walmsley until Walmsley sold his shareholding in January 1935; the company that owned the business, S. S. Cars Limited, bought the shares of Swallow Coachbuilding Limited as of 31 July 1934 and the Swallow company was liquidated before S. S. issued shares to the public in January 1935. This was the time. S. S. Cars Limited changed its name to Jaguar Cars Limited 23 March 1945. There is doubt about the source of the SS name. Sir John Black of Standard-Triumph when asked said. William Lyons when asked was noncommittal, but he was at the time in the company of suppliers of chassis for his run of the mill production bodies, he concurred. The Swallow Sidecar Company, trading name for the company Walmsley & Lyons co-founded by William Lyons and William Walmsley, progressively developed into a coachbuilder from its 1922 start, first making stylish sidecars for motorcycles.
In May 1927, Swallow advertised that it would make 2-seater bodies on Austin and Morris chassis and running gear supplied through any authorised dealer. Their first full page advertisement appeared in the Autocar magazine in October 1927 to fit with the Olympia Motor Show; the next year Swallow relocated to the heart of the British motor industry. In the winter of 1928-1929 they moved bit by bit from Cocker Street Blackpool to a disused munitions factory on a rutted track, the future Swallow Road, off Holbrook Lane, Coventry, they returned to Blackpool each year for the Works Day Out. In 1929 John Black of Standard Motor Company and William Lyons teamed up to realise their long standing dream to produce a one of a kind sports car; this "First SS" was a sleek boat-tail open 2-seater. Its flowing design and streamlining pointed to an obvious attempt at making a fast car with the intention of venturing into racing; this car is believed to have been shipped to Australia in the late 1940s. While the initial link with John Black's Standard was developed, bodies continued to be built on Austin, Standard and lastly Wolseley Hornet chassis.
At Motor Show time in October 1931, Swallow launched a car of its own, the SS 1, displayed a prototype, all while the aforementioned little Wolseley Hornet Special continued alongside. "This car has its little knot of admirers around it every minute of the day, from the point of view of general interest it is the most serious rival to the Rover Scarab. It is made by the Swallow Coachbuilding people on a chassis specially built for them by Standard, featuring a six-cylinder side-valve engine of 15hp, but it is the body, the big attraction. Its long low lines with no running boards and the head only a matter of four feet above the ground create an impression of speed and gracefulness, quite worthy of comparison with the Lagondas and Delages, it is with a distinct shock that one notices the price is only £310. The radiator is quite different from the ordinary Standard type being specially designed to conform with the body lines and fitted with a chromium plated fluted front, it is set off with a futuristic emblem and the filler cap is tucked out of sight under the bonnet.
The Rudge-Whitworth wire wheels are racing type, the wheel base being 9 ft 4 in and the track 4 ft 1 in The coachbuilt body has a sliding roof of new design with leather-grained head and large travelling trunk at the rear. The cycle type wings are domed the side valances being deep so that the necessity for running boards is obviated The interior of the car is beautifully finished, the cabinet work being done in atrractive polished sycamore grained to resemble the back of a fiddle; the upholstery is in furniture hide The particular model shown is finished in apple green and black and is a beauty in every sense of the term." Under the guidance of the chairman, William Lyons, the company survived the depression years of the 1930s by making a series of beautifully styled cars offering exceptional value for money although some enthusiasts criticised them at the time for being "more show than go". The engines and chassis supplied by the Standard Motor Company were fitted with Swallow bodies styled under Lyons supervision.
The first of the SS range of cars available to the public was the 1932 SS 1 with 2-litre or 2½-litre side-valve, six-cylinder engine and the SS 2 with a four-cylinder 1-litre side-valve engine. Available as coupé or tourer a saloon was added in 1934, when the chassis was modified to be 2 inches wider; the first of the open two-seater sports cars came in March 1935 with the SS 90, so called because of its claimed 90 mph top speed. This car used the 2½-litre side-valve, six-cylinder engine in a short-chassis "cut and shut" SS 1 brought down to an SS 2's wheelbase, only 23 were made. Harry Weslake was set to work on engine development. Bill Heynes came to be chief engineer from Hillman — before that Humber. Weslake's new cylinder head was manufactured for SS by Standard; the Weslake head and twin RAG carburetters were fitted to the last year's production of SS 1 and SS 2 cars. To counteract the "more show than go" criticism of their SS90 Lyons had engaged William Heynes as chief engineer and Harry Weslake for engine tuning.
Weslake was asked to redesign the 2½-litre 70 bhp side-valve engine to achieve 90 bhp. His answer was an overhead-valve design that produced 102 bhp and it was this engine that launched th
Jaguar Cars
Jaguar is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, England. Jaguar Cars was the company, responsible for the production of Jaguar cars until its operations were merged with those of Land Rover to form Jaguar Land Rover on 1 January 2013. Jaguar's business was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922 making motorcycle sidecars before developing bodies for passenger cars. Under the ownership of S. S. Cars Limited the business extended to complete cars made in association with Standard Motor Co, many bearing Jaguar as a model name; the company's name was changed from S. S. Cars to Jaguar Cars in 1945. A merger with the British Motor Corporation followed in 1966, the resulting enlarged company now being renamed as British Motor Holdings, which in 1968 merged with Leyland Motor Corporation and became British Leyland, itself to be nationalised in 1975. Jaguar was spun off from British Leyland and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, becoming a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it was acquired by Ford in 1990.
Jaguar has, in recent years, manufactured cars for the British Prime Minister, the most recent delivery being an XJ in May 2010. The company holds royal warrants from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. In 1990 Ford acquired Jaguar Cars and it remained in their ownership, joined in 2000 by Land Rover, till 2008. Ford sold both Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors. Tata created Jaguar Land Rover as a subsidiary holding company. At operating company level, in 2013 Jaguar Cars was merged with Land Rover to form Jaguar Land Rover Limited as the single design, sales company and brand owner for both Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. Since the Ford ownership era and Land Rover have used joint design facilities in engineering centres at Whitley in Coventry and Gaydon in Warwickshire and Jaguar cars have been assembled in plants at Castle Bromwich and Solihull; the Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley. In 1934 Walmsley elected to sell-out and in order to buy the Swallow business Lyons formed S.
S. Cars Limited, finding new capital by issuing shares to the public. Jaguar first appeared in September 1935 as a model name on an SS 2½-litre sports saloon. A matching open two seater sports model with a 3½-litre engine was named SS Jaguar 100. On 23 March 1945 the S. S. Cars shareholders in general meeting agreed to change the company's name to Jaguar Cars Limited. Said chairman William Lyons "Unlike S. S. the name Jaguar is distinctive and cannot be connected or confused with any similar foreign name."Though five years of pent-up demand ensured plenty of buyers production was hampered by shortage of materials steel, issued to manufacturers until the 1950s by a central planning authority under strict government control. Jaguar sold Motor Panels, a pressed steel body manufacturing company bought in the late 1930s, to steel and components manufacturer Rubery Owen, Jaguar bought from John Black's Standard Motor Company the plant where Standard built Jaguar's six-cylinder engines. From this time Jaguar was dependent for their bodies on external suppliers, in particular independent Pressed Steel and in 1966 that carried them into BMC, BMH and British Leyland.
Jaguar made its name by producing a series of successful eye-catching sports cars, the Jaguar XK120, Jaguar XK140, Jaguar XK150, Jaguar E-Type, all embodying Lyons' mantra of "value for money". The sports cars were successful in international motorsport, a path followed in the 1950s to prove the engineering integrity of the company's products. Jaguar's sales slogan for years was "Grace, Pace", a mantra epitomised by the record sales achieved by the MK VII, IX, Mks I and II saloons and the XJ6. During the time this slogan was used; the core of Bill Lyons' success following WWII was the twin-cam straight six engine, conceived pre-war and realised while engineers at the Coventry plant were dividing their time between fire-watching and designing the new power plant. It had a hemispherical cross-flow cylinder head with valves inclined from the vertical; as fuel octane ratings were low from 1948 onwards, three piston configuration were offered: domed and dished. The main designer, William "Bill" Heynes, assisted by Walter "Wally" Hassan, was determined to develop the Twin OHC unit.
Bill Lyons agreed over misgivings from Hassan. It was risky to take what had been considered a racing or low-volume and cantankerous engine needing constant fettling and apply it to reasonable volume production saloon cars; the subsequent engine was the mainstay powerplant of Jaguar, used in the XK 120, Mk VII Saloon, Mk I and II Saloons and XK 140 and 150. It was employed in the E Type, itself a development from the race winning and Le Mans conquering C and D Type Sports Racing cars refined as the short-lived XKSS, a road-legal D-Type. Few engine types have demonstrated such ubiquity and longevity: Jaguar used the Twin OHC XK Engine, as it came to be known, in the Jaguar XJ6 saloon from 1969 through 1992, employed in a J60 variant as the power plant in such diverse vehicles as the British Army's Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance family of vehicles, as well as the Fox armoured reconnaissance vehicle, the Ferret Scout Car, the Stonefield four-wheel-drive all-terrain lorry. Properly maintained, the standard production XK Engine would a
Jaguar Mark X
The Jaguar Mark X renamed the Jaguar 420G, was British manufacturer Jaguar's top-of-the-range saloon car for a decade, from 1961 to 1970. The large, luxurious Mark X succeeded the Mark IX as the company's top saloon model, was aimed at the United States market; the company hoped to appeal to heads of state and film stars. Introduced in the same year as Jaguar's iconic E-Type, the Mark X impressed with its technical specification and innovations. Contrary to its predecessors, the car featured integrated, unitary bodywork – the largest in the UK at the time, as well as independent rear suspension, unheard for early 1960s British luxury cars. Combined with the 3.8-litre, triple carburettor engine as fitted to the E-type, it gave Jaguar's flagship a top speed of 120 mph and capable handling at less than half the price of the contemporary Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. Despite press acclaim from both sides of the Atlantic, the Mark X never achieved its sales targets; when Jaguar decided to replace its entire saloon range with a single new model, the resulting XJ6 of 1968 used the Mark X as a template – albeit with a reduced size.
Jaguar didn't build another car as large as the Mark X / 420G for the rest of the century, until the LWB version of the 2003–2009 Jaguar XJ. In 1961 the Mark X introduced a new upright, forward-leaning nose design for Jaguar saloons, with four headlamps set into rounded front fenders, a vaned grill; this front-end style reappeared on many of the manufacturer's successive saloons, up to and including the X‑Type and third generation Jaguar XJ, both through 2009 — thereby forging Jaguar saloons' look for half a century. In 2008 Jalopnik called the quad round headlight design the classiest headlight configuration, the fourth-best car design element of all time, mentioning Jaguar specifically. Instead of relying on body-on-frame construction, like its predecessors and most of its competitors, the Mark X received a unitary body-shell, codenamed "Zenith" during its development, its floorpan remained in production in elongated form, long after Mark X production ended, forming the basis of the Daimler DS420 Limousine until 1992.
But at the same time, the interior was Jaguar's last to feature abundant standard woodwork, including the dashboard, window trim, a pair of large bookmatched fold out rear picnic tables, a front seat pull-out picnic table stowed beneath the instrument cluster. Air conditioning and a sound-proof glass division between the front and rear seats were added as options; the substantial doors required helical torsion springs inside the door pillars to enable them to be opened from the inside with an acceptably low level of effort. From its introduction in mid-October 1961 until the arrival in 1992 of the low-slung XJ220, the Mark X stood as one of the widest production Jaguars built. Asked in 1972 if he thought the Mark X had grown rather too large, Jaguar chairman William Lyons, agreed that it "definitely" had: he opined that the recently introduced and notably more compact Jaguar XJ6 was, by contrast an "ideal size"; the Mark X was the first Jaguar saloon to feature independent rear suspension. It differed from earlier large Jaguar saloons in having 14" wheels instead of the more common 15".
It used a wider-track version of Jaguar's IRS unit first seen on the E Type, subsequently used on Jaguar vehicles until XJ-S production ended in 1996. The front suspension used double wishbones with telescopic dampers. Power came from the E-type's version of Jaguar's 3781 cc XK in-line six-cylinder engine, developing either 250 bhp or 265 bhp, depending on compression ratio. A 9:1 compression ratio was standard, but an alternative 8:1 compression ratio was available as an option. For the London Motor Show in October 1964 the enlarged 4,235 cc unit took over, although the 3.8-litre unit could still be specified until October 1965. Triple SU carburettors were fitted, fed from an AC Delco air filter mounted ahead of the right hand front wheel. Transmission options were manual with overdrive, or automatic; the arrival of the 4.2-litre power unit coincided with the introduction of a newly developed all-synchromesh four-speed gear box, replacing the venerable box inherited by the 3.8-litre Mark X from the Mark IX, which had featured synchromesh only on the top three ratios.
Many domestic market cars and all cars destined for the important North American markets left the factory with a Borg Warner automatic gear-box. The 4.2-litre engine's introduction was marked by a transmission upgrade for buyers of the automatic cars, who saw the Borg Warner transmission system switched from a DG to a Type 8 unit. The power train was completed by a Thornton Powr-Lok limited-slip differential. Stopping power for this heavy car came from power-assisted disc-brakes on all four wheels. Power-assisted steering was standard, the 4.2 cars receiving Marles Varamatic Bendix variable ratio steering boxes, designed by an Australian, Arthur Bishop. For the London Motor Show in October 1966 the Mark X was renamed the Jaguar 420G; the 420G was distinct from the Mark X only with the addition of a vertical central bar splitting the grille in two, side indicator repeaters on the front wings, a chrome strip along the wing and door panels. Interior changes included perforations in the central sections of the leather seats, padded dashboard sections for safety, moving the clock to a central position, the introduction of air conditioning as an option.
A limousine body was available on the standard wheelbase. A glass-topped partition and front bench
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they created their own honours; the five classes of appointment to the Order are, in descending order of precedence: Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross, Knight or Dame Commander, entitle their members to use the title of Sir for men and Dame for women before their forename.
Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, may permit use of post-nominal letters but not the title of Sir or Dame. Honorary appointees are, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bob Geldof, for example. Honorary appointees who become a citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. An example is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan, appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship, was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan. King George V founded the Order to fill gaps in the British honours system: The Orders of the Garter, of St Patrick honoured royals, peers and eminent military commanders.
In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War. When first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was formally divided into Military and Civil Divisions; the Order's motto is For the Empire. At the foundation of the Order, the'Medal of the Order of the British Empire' was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the'British Empire Medal', it stopped being awarded by the United Kingdom as part of the 1993 reforms to the honours system, but was again awarded beginning in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. In addition, the BEM is awarded by some other Commonwealth nations. In 2004, a report entitled "A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System" by a Commons committee recommended to phase out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of the country's population".
The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, appoints all other members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales; the Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 Officers and 1,464 Members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British Orders of Chivalry, with over 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, second-lowest of knighthood.
Because of this, an appointment as Dame Commander is made in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor. For example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges
Humber Pullman
The Humber Pullman is a four-door limousine, introduced by the British Humber company in 1930 as a successor to the Humber 20/65 hp and long-wheelbase version of the Humber Snipe. In 1939 an upgraded version was launched badged as the Humber Imperial, but postwar the car reverted to the Pullman name. Between 1948 and 1954 the car was offered with a central partition as the Pullman, but without a partition was badged as the Humber Imperial for owner-drivers; the Pullman / Imperial was not offered for sale to the public during the Second World War. It returned to the market in 1945 and remained in production till 1954. At the present time only eight units of this vehicle are still extant; the 1930 car came with a 3498cc straight six cylinder overhead inlet side exhaust valve engine and a claimed power output of 80 hp. The classic limousine style body featured rear- hinged doors and in some respects resembled the Humber Snipe 80 with which it shared its engine, but the Pullman was longer and wider.
For this heavy car Humber claimed a top speed of 73 mph. As well as the limousine and Sedanca de Ville bodies were available. Humber, the manufacturer lost its independence in 1931 when the Rootes Group acquired a majority share holding in it. A coupé was added to the body range in 1935 for one year only. A rebodied Pullman with two-piece V windscreen appeared in 1936, sharing the 132 in wheelbase of its predecessor, but with the overall length of the car increased to 196 in. Engine size was now raised to 4086cc; the power increase was evident from the claimed top speed which now edged up to 75 mph. The chassis gained independent front suspension, hydraulic brakes were fitted in 1940; as well as the factory body options, some cars were supplied in chassis form to independent coachbuilders Thrupp & Maberly. In 1939 the Pullman was joined by the Humber Imperial or Snipe Imperial which shared the engine with the Pullman, but was built on the 4 in shorter Snipe chassis and correspondingly brisker, with an advertised top speed of 81 mph.
The car remained spacious, was favoured for use by British government ministers during the 1940s. Four and Six-light drophead coupé bodies were available. Civilian availability ended in 1940 when the factory was given over to production of the ’Ironside’ Reconnaissance Car. However, production of the newly introduced "razor-edge" Pullman continued throughout the war for the government and the military; the Pullman returned to the market in 1945 with seven-seat limousine and landaulette bodies, to be replaced in 1948 by a reworked and lengthened version on a lengthened chassis and designated the Humber Pullman Mk II. From 1948 the car was available without a partition between the front and rear of the cabin; the version with a division retained the Pullman name, while for the mechanically identical owner-driver version the Humber Imperial name was now revived. The headlamps were no longer fitted into the wings; the Mark III version introduced in 1951 was little changed from the Mark II, apart from being longer and having an all-synchromesh gearbox.
At 212 in the Mk III Humber Pullman was the same length as the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud which would emerge from Crewe in 1955. A total of 2200 Mk II and III Pullmans, 1526 Imperials, were manufactured. In 1953 more power was offered for the Mark IV Pullmans and Imperials, still with straight six cylinder engines, but now of 4139cc with overhead valves, published power output of 113 hp or 116 hp. Production ended in 1954. In 1964 the company revived the Humber Imperial name for a top-of-the-line Humber Super Snipe, distinguished by a lower different-shaped coupé-like vinyl-clad roof. Automatic transmission was standard and there was a more luxuriously appointed interior; the range of large Humbers, including the Imperial, was withdrawn by Rootes in 1967
