The company history of Jago Automotive has been very well documented over the years that it has been in existance, but for those of you who do not know the history, we will give you a brief resumé. We have also included some personal information on the company's founder, Geoffrey Jago, for further reading pleasure.

Geoff was born in 1936 in the then small village of Purbook, near Havant in Hampshire. His mother was Scottish and his father was English. After his apprenticeship in mechanical and body engineering, Geoff started his own business in March 1960 in Porchester - a small town between Portsmouth and Southampton. In 1969, the landlord sold the site for redevelopment and has been a supermarket since that time.

In 1969 Geoff met with Richard Park and the two decided to open up a joint venture in Quarry Lane, Chichester, under the collective title of the "Rodding Scene". Richard ran Custom City and dealt with customised motor cycles and custom painting and Geoff continued his business of building street rods, kits and associated components.

Amongst other notable achievements, Geoff Jago was the first person to introduce the American metalflake paint system into this country and this was used to good effect on his first Model T Hot Rod, which he used to regularly drag race. This particular Model T is now being restored - a true mark of respect for the father of Street Rodding this side of the Atlantic.

Always eager to introduce new lines and expand the business, Geoff put in hundreds of hours of work to introduce one of the first kit cars in this country - now known as theJago Sandero. This first saw the light of day in 1971 and was based on the Ford Anglia 105E mechanical parts, as they were low of cost, reliable and in plentiful supply.

In 1975, a revised version was introduced that could take Ford Escort Mk1 mechanical components and this was followed by a version suitable to take Mk2 Escort components within months.

Between the two, Jago Automotive introduced a further variant based on the Morris 1000, but this conversion received a lot of adverse publicity from the 'keep the Morris 1000s on the road' fraternity and never sold particularly well. There are however, several examples of this conversion still on the road today.

Returning to the company history, very regrettably Richard Park became ill in the early 1980's and was forced to sell his half of the land and buildings.

Always wishing to look ahead, plans were laid by Geoff and in 1985, during the company's 25th anniversary year, a brand new building was designed and built on Geoff's land in Quarry Lane Industrial Estate.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary further, the Jago '85 - a special version of the Sandero - was introduced. There were only 25 produced and they are rapidly becoming collector's items.

Corgi Toys Ltd were commissioned to produce a commemorative Escort Van for the collectors market, the number of these being limited to 1000. These models are now very much in demand and are fetching around eight times their original cost!