The Jowett Javelin was an

executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car which is equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and the non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars), and small ...

produced from 1947 to 1953 by Jowett Cars Ltd of

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, near

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in England. The model went through five variants coded PA to PE, each having a standard and "de luxe" option. The car was designed by Gerald Palmer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was intended to be a major leap forward from the relatively staid designs of pre-war Jowetts. Just over 23,000 units were produced.

All steel and new right through

The new Javelin, not yet in full production, made its first public appearance on Saturday 27 July 1946 in a cavalcade to celebrate 60 years of the British Motor Industry organised by the

SMMT The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is the trade association for the United Kingdom motor industry. Its role is to "promote the interests of the UK automotive industry at home and abroad." History SMMT was founded by Frede ...

. Started by the King in Regent's Park the cavalcade passed through Marble Arch around London's West End and Piccadilly Circus and back up to Regent's Park. Series production was not fully under way until November 1947. In a 1949 road test report ''The Times correspondent welcomed the Javelin's good performance and original design. The engine mounted ahead of the front axle briskly accelerates (to nearly 80 mph) a body which could carry six persons. The moderate size of the engine, the car's light weight and good streamlining all contribute to its excellent performance. Controls were all light to operate and it was a restful car to drive.

Powertrain

The

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the boxer-four engine, ...

overhead valve engine of 1486 cc with a compression ratio of 7.2:1 was

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and had an aluminium block and wet

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...

liners. It developed at 4100 rpm (52.5 bhp in the case of the PE) giving the car a maximum speed of and a 0- time of 13.4 seconds. Two

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carburettors A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

were fitted and PA and PB versions had hydraulic tappets. The radiator was behind the engine. A four-speed gearbox with column change was used. Early cars had gearboxes made by the

Henry Meadows Henry Meadows, usually known simply as Meadows, of Wolverhampton, England were major suppliers of engines and transmissions to the smaller companies in the British motor industry. Founded in 1920 in Park Lane, Wolverhampton, as a car gearbox mak ...

company. Later, Jowett made the gearboxes, but the decision to make the gearboxes in-house proved to be a costly mistake. Even though Jowett had some experience in transmission manufacturing, the project went disastrously wrong; powertrainless bodies stacked up in the assembly line because of problems in gearbox production.

Design features

Design features included

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styling with the

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faired into the wings and, for the time, a steeply sloped, curved windscreen. The body was of pressed steel, incorporating a box-section chassis, and was made for Jowett by Briggs Motor Bodies in their

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factory. The suspension used torsion-bars on all wheels (independent at the front) and internal gear-and-pinion steering. PA and PB models had mixed Girling hydraulic brakes at the front and mechanical braking at the rear. Later versions were fully hydraulic. Jowett Javelin 1952 (9018455502).jpg Jowett Javelin 1952 (9017268445).jpg Jowett Javelin 1952 (9017256129).jpg Javelin script (9017253483).jpg Boot Lid Handle - Jowett Javelin (9017250805).jpg

Dimensions

The car had a wheelbase of and a track of . Overall the car was long, wide and weighed about 1 tonne depending on model and year. The car was expensive, costing £819 at launch. The Jowett was competing against cars such as the Jaguar 1½ litre (£953), Lanchester LD10 (£927), Riley RM 1½ litre (£863) and the Singer Super 12 (£768).

Performance

Jowett Javelin Dash & Interior (9018432396)

A de-luxe saloon version tested by

The Motor ''The Motor'' (later, just ''Motor'') was a British weekly car magazine ''Car'' is a British automotive enthusiast magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. International editions are published by Bauer Automotive in Republi ...

magazine in 1953 had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0- in 20.9 seconds. A fuel consumption of was recorded. The test car cost £1207 including taxes.

Sporting achievements

An early example won in its class at the 1949

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and another won the 2-litre touring-car class at the

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24-hour race in the same year. In the 1952 International RAC Rally a Javelin again won its class and also took the "Best Closed Car" award, and in 1953 the

International Tulip Rally The Tulip Rally (Dutch: ''Tulpenrallye''), first held in 1949, is the oldest Dutch rally competition. The teams are divided into three classes: Tour, Sport and Expert. The Expert Class is for the navigators which in the past 2–6 years in the To ...

was won outright by a privately entered Javelin.

Popular culture

* A Javelin features in ''

How to Irritate People ''How to Irritate People'' is a US television broadcast filmed in the UK at LWT on 14 November 1968 and written by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Cleese, Chapman, and Brooke-Taylor also feature in it, along wit ...

'' sketch "Car Salesman". *In the film ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abor ...

'', Vera's car is a Javelin. * In episode 104, "

Fallen Angel In the Abrahamic religions, fallen angels are angels who were expelled from heaven. The literal term "fallen angel" never appears in any Abrahamic religious texts, but is used to describe angels cast out of heaven"Mehdi Azaiez, Gabriel Said R ...

", of the television series ''

Ballykissangel ''Ballykissangel'' is a BBC television drama created by Kieran Prendiville and set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural comm ...

'', Father Clifford inherits a Jowett Javelin. The car was used throughout the rest of Series One and all of Series Two, until it went off a cliff in episode 301 " As Happy As A Turkey On Boxing Day". the car still survives in Co westmeath, a prop was used for the car at bottom of the cliff. * The song "Jowett Javelin" appears on the

Harvey Andrews Harvey John Andrews (born 7 May 1943 in Stechford, Birmingham) is an English singer-songwriter and poet. Andrews has produced 16 albums singing his own songs, many of which have also been recorded by other artists. Career From 1964, Andrews su ...

album "Snaps" and describes a ride in the automobile. * A Jowett Javelin is used in the

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

music video for "See the Lights" from the album ''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on the ...

''.

References

External links

Javelin videoJowett Car Club Limited SiteJowett North West Section Site
{{Use British English, date=June 2016

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

Executive cars Sedans Cars powered by boxer engines Cars introduced in 1947 1950s cars