Jowetts In The Press - Loads of them!

[Jack]

Well, a chance purchase for me in Oban of this month's Practical Classics (listed as May 2011 but on sale now) revealed a surprising number of Jowetts.

On page 19 there is a large ad for the Classic Car of the Year competition for 2011, featuring a big picture of Amy's SC from the Classic Motor Show in November.

Flicking through to page 34 there is the rear of a Javelin spotted in New Zealand - anyone know whose car this is? Reg JH 1951, photo taken in Lyttelton near Christchurch on the day before the earthquake. Perhaps worth a letter/e-mail to the editors as the photographer asked after the safety of the owner and car following the quake.

On to page 164, and there is an update to the listed pricing of Javelins, £6250 for A1 condition, 3250 for average, and 1600 for a rough car. The average condition price seems a little low, but then average condition for a Jowett is probably significantly better than average for many other marques

On the same page there is a short note about the Javelin, showing a picture of RPF 399, and the review looks good - "For a taste of executive motoring from the early post-war years" and "The back-up is all there for running one of these cars" which is good to read from the team at PC, and very definitely true.

I thought we had got a lot of coverage from the above, but then got home to be shown this month's Classic Cars magazine. And what a revelation - from page 86 through to 90, a main feature shows a number of large photos and a lot of information (all seems very positive so far) featuring a silver SA, reg MCD 545. And on the front cover a great line "Jowett Jupiter - Heading for the hills in Yorkshire's Porsche-beater"

Great work from those who have facilitated this exposure and made their cars and information available, it seems like Jowetts are everywhere this month, and definitely worth running out to buy Classic Cars (note, not Classic & Sports Car, it is the one which has a silver Merc on the front) to support publishers doing a bit for us, the article looks to be worth the cover price for the Jupiter feature alone - the Jensen Interceptor also in the same issue is a category winner from the Classic Car of the Year 2010, and a very nice car with a good story.

Jack.

[Forumadmin]

Yes , I sat reading it in the sun whilst Amy painted the hood metalwork having been chopping down trees and hedges in the morning and supervising a pair of enthusiastic Junior Jowetteers who managed to get one front door off Project B in the afternoon. The glass of scrumpy that came from the flagon collected early morning from a Somereset farm on the way to Exeter Rugby last week went down very well. I was told to drink within 10 days so am doing my best as nobody else likes it!

On beating Porsche, if only that were true! The arrival of the Porsche in 1953 brought a new dimension to 1500cc sports cars. Not that I do not prefer the Jowett.

The comment about Reg Korner being asked to legally design the Jup as close to a Jag XK120 is hopefully some poetic license. Obviously the designs are similar, but so are other features of the Jup and Javelin and I doubt if such statements were made. There is fashion, combination of ideas and contemporay solutions to problems fitting around what was available. In this case the headlights perhaps?

[Jack]

Interesting that the Classic Cars feature shows an SA, but refers to it several times as a MK1A - is this a typo? I thought that the SC was a MK1A, and the SA a MK1.

Jack.

[Jack]

Update - Leo very helpfully advised the owner of the NZ Javelin on page 34 of Practical Classics, and we have made contact with them. Quite a story has emerged about the earthquake, which has been forwarded with photos to the editors of the magazine.

I won't spoil the surprise, as hopefully the follow up will make it into the magazine. I can confirm for any concerned members that the owners, family and car are fine.

Jack.

[Amy]

Well, we're in Practical Classics again - our response to the photo taken in Lyttelton, NZ has been published and is very complimentary.

From Bradford to New Zealand Earthquake Zone

My wife Denise and I are the owners of the 1951 Jowett Javelin , JH 1951, mentioned on page 34 of your May issue. The photograph was taken in Lyttelton, Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year.

I'm pleased to report that our family and the car are fine after the devastating earthquake on Feb 22 - just two days after the photo was taken. With the roads still badly damaged, the most comfortable car at the moment is the Jowett. With 16-inch wheels, high ground clearance and De Dion suspension, it handles it like it was built for it.

But the Jowett wasn't unscathed by the earthquake. My Vespa scooter fell onto the driver's side ofthe car, damaging the rear and front foors and front mudguard. These have since been repaired and she is now back to her original condition.

Ian Wilson, Jowett Car Club of New Zealand

Not a bad little write up. They have edited the information given quite heavily to fit it in, but great to see the magazine following up on a Jowett story that started with a small photograph and has lead to a good endorsement of the handling capabilities of our cars!

[Amy]

And in the same magazine, flick to page 65 for a readers question from Graham Thorp, by e-mail, who asks about positive markings on the coil of his Javelin, and includes a small photo of the engine bay.

Aren't we popular at the moment!

[Jack]

Further article has appeared as mentioned in the Jowetteer in the August edition of "Soft Top Hard Top" - the magazine for the MX5 Owners Club.

Given the link between the roadsters of the 50s and the designs that they inspired in the 80s and beyond, becoming the biggest selling sports car of all time, it seemed like a natural collaboration.

We hope to get permission to scan the article and include in the Gallery soon - I will post a link as soon as we can. The article is an impressive full colour, 3 page, 2,000 word affair, warts and all, with photos of the work in progress, the Jupiter alongside a MK1 Eunos Roadster (Japanese name for an MX5) and several mentions of the JCC.

The MX5 Owners Club has 5,000 members - so lots of people exposed to Jowetts that perhaps hadn't heard of them or considered them before. I strongly believe that our future members are mostly already in the classic car community, and the sooner (and younger!) they consider a Jowett the better. Our cars don't have to be the car that people decide to own after 30 years of driving classic Mazda, Ford, Rover or MG, it could be one of the first classics they consider.

Perhaps others can respond to Noel's appeal in this month's Jowetteer and contact members clubs that they are involved with, see if they are interested in a 50/50 article similar to the one we have produced for the MX5OC and its readers? I know some have already, let's show everyone just how active and forward thinking we really are. Everything from a local group with 30 members to a national organisation with thousands is good publicity for us.

Jack.

[Chris Spencer]

Everything from a local group with 30 members to a national organisation with thousands is good publicity for us.

Jack - I would like to correct you on one minor point we need to treat everyone as a potential new member so clubs with 1 member to national organisations is good publicity for us!

Moving on with the same theme - should you be a member of any other clubs forums you can add a link to the JCC website in your signature box - should anyone be curious about the cars one click of the mouse and up comes the JCC site and what we are about - another very easy way of marketing the club. I have posted my forum signature below as a example from the 'Practically Classics' forum

1973 Rover P6 V8 - Original / 20,000 miles
1937 Jowett 8 HP - Under restoration http://Jowett.org/

[ian Howell]

The current issue of The automobile (September issue) has a picture and a brief mention of the Kestrel for sale elsewhere and the comment by Michael Worthington-Williams ' I rather fancy a Jowett'.

I wonder if we may soon have another club member - WITH ADVANTAGES! (W Shakespear).

[Jack]

I must have missed this at the time (busy working on the car I expect) but a nice article from BBC Bradfrod & West Yorkshire: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bradford/hi ... 005181.stm

Good work from Michael Booth to get the photos and information about the club in there.

Jack.