Featuring specially commissioned photography, the book is arranged in chronological order, starting with Sir William Lyons' nascent marque of the 1930s.

It was only after the war when the work of aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer created the beautiful curves of the XK120 that the company became a world beater.

The D-type brought the company sporting success at Le Mans, leading to a car that became emblematic of London in the swinging 60s, the E-type Jaguar. Production increased in the 1960s with the Mark I and Mark II saloons, latterly adopted by Inspector Morse.

The Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9 repeated the Le Mans success in the 1980s, but it was the sale of the company to Ford in 1990 that produced new models, the retrostyled S-type saloon and the E-type inspired XK8 sportscar.

Sold to Tata Motors in 2008, the company has gone on to release more premium sportscars and prestige saloons, the Jaguar XF, the new XJ-series and the muchdesired Jaguar F-type R.