Jowett was a car marque from Bradford, England from 1906 to 1954.
The company was founded by the brothers Benjamin and William Jowett who started
in the cycle business and went on to make V-twin engines for driving machinery;
some found their way locally into other makes of cars as replacements. In 1904
they became the Jowett Motor Manufacturing Company based in Back Burlington Street,
Bradford. They designed their first car in 1906 but as their little workshop was
fully occupied in general engineering activities, experiments with different engine
configurations, and making the first six Scott motor cycles, it did not go into
production until 1910. This car used an 816 cc flat twin water-cooled engine and
three-speed gearbox with tiller steering. The body was a lightweight open two seater.
Twelve vehicles were made before an improved version with wheel steering was launched
in 1913 and a further 36 were made before the outbreak of the First World War when the
factory was turned over to munitions manufacture. Two tiller steerers still survive.
After the war the company moved to the Springfield Works, Bradford Road, Idle, outside
Bradford, and they changed the company name to Jowett Cars Ltd. Car making started at
the new factory in 1920. The first vehicle was the Jowett Seven using an enlarged
version of the pre-war flat twin first to 831 cc and then to 907cc in 1921. The
engine developed its maximum torque at low revs and was soon famed for its pulling
power, reliability and economy. Commercial vehicles based on the car chassis were
also built from 1922 and became an increasingly important part of the company's output.
Jowett first exhibited at the London Motor Show in 1921 and gradually broke out of
their previous local market. In 1923 coil ignition and electric starting were added
and the four-seater "Long Four" was introduced in tourer form priced from £245
followed in 1925 by a closed saloon model, the previous short-chassis two-seater
continuing in production. In 1929, the engine received removable cylinder heads
to ease maintenance and braking was on all four wheels. Production was briefly
suspended in September 1931 when fire swept through the works...