It was on this day in 1990 that, after much speculation, Ford finally gained outright ownership of struggling luxury brand Jaguar Cars for a multi-billion pounds fee.

Originally founded in 1922 as the Swallow Sidecar Company (SSC), the company changed its name to Jaguar in 1945 and really established its brand reputation over the next 20 years by producing a series of iconic sports vehicles under a slogan of “Grace, Space, Pace”.

The company lost its way as part of British Leyland in the 1970’s and, though it regained its independence, it had limped along until the sale to Ford who were hoping to use the brand for an aggressive, global push into the booming luxury sector.

Jaguar soon became part of Ford's new Premier Automative Group (PAG) along with Aston Martin, Volvo Cars and Land Rover but, despite expanding its product range, never made a profit under Ford’s ownership.

In March 2008, Ford announced that it had agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover operations to Tata Motors of India for a considerable loss.

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