Sybil Lupp

Sybil Audrey Marie Lupp (later Archer, née Colley; 1 August 1916 – 26 December 1994) was a New Zealand mechanic, motor-racing driver, garage proprietor and motor vehicle dealer, known as the Jaguar Lady.

Early life Sybil Audrey Marie Colley was born in Clive, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand on 1 August 1916. Her parents Ethel Violet Mary Goulter and Joseph Wellesley Colley owned Greenfields, a sheep farm. Her father was declared bankrupt in February 1923 and the family moved to Marlborough where her mother had roots dating back to the foundation of the province. She was educated at home by governesses and competed at country shows on ponies.

Career In 1936 she took a job at the canning factory in Nelson run by S. Kirkpatrick and Company and persuaded the chief engineer to let her work in the machine workshop. He helped her get a job at J. G. Ingram and Company’s garage in 1938. She worked there until 1940 when she had her first child, after marrying the sales manager in 1939.

During World War II, Sybil Lupp was a driver in the New Zealand Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She worked on vehicle maintenance, and trained on diesel engines.

Lupp and her second husband were amongst the founders the Otago Sports Car Club and she raced in their events for the next decade. In 1947-8 she was the club’s delegate and first woman member of the executive of the new Association of New Zealand Car Clubs.

Lupp won several Otago championship trophies in hill-climbing and the standing-start quarter-mile sprints, including South Island hill-climb champion in 1949. In 1951 and 1952 she was the first woman to win the Otago Automobile Association’s Sundstrum Memorial Trophy. She usually raced in overalls but wore a dress underneath.

From the 1950, Lupp focussed on Jaguar cars, and ultimately owned 15 of the vehicles. She built a successful business based on her skills in tuning and mechanical work in high-performance motors. What started as a backyard business grew into a travelling tuning and repair service across both islands of New Zealand and expanded into selling used Jaguars. She met Lionel George Archer, a Jaguar engineer from England, and they built the business further, registering Jag Service as a company in 1958. By 1961, Lupp employed seven full time mechanics and in 1966 set up Archer and Lupp to sell Jaguars.

Legacy In 2024, as part of International Women's Day, Jaguar Heritage Trust launched an exhibition called "The Women Who Made Their Marque". The exhibition included Lupp in its celebration of women who had contributed to Jaguar and the other marques associated with the brand. Other women featured included: