Swallow Sidecars was founded on 2 September 1922 in Blackpool, England, and incorporated 26 October 1933 by William Walmsley and William Lyons.

In 1921, converting surplus army motorcycles for civilian use and making sidecars. Lyons and Walmsley obtained from their fathers a substantial £500 bank guarantee to go into business. Their plans were delayed as Lyons was under the legal age, but on his 21st birthday he formed a partnership with Walmsley. It was called Swallow Sidecars and had a staff of “three men and a boy”. The company manufactured stylish sidecars, but after 1927 made increasing numbers of low cost coach-built cars, especially the Austin Swallow which the Blackpool factory produced at the rate of 12 per week. In 1928 Lyons moved the company and his family to Coventry. Production increased to 50 cars each week. The name was changed to SS Cars Ltd.

In 1931 they began selling the SS1, which then became company name in 1933. The following year, William Walmsley left the company. The first “Jaguar” model was offered in 1935. SS Cars Ltd changed its name to Jaguar after WW2 to avoid confusion with the Nazi “SS”. During his time as managing director of Jaguar, Lyons kept a tight rein on the company and was responsible for the styling of every new model introduced (except for the C-type, D-type, E-type and XJ-S which were designed by Malcolm Sayer).