Deluxe bumpers

[Nick Webster]

Here's a bit of a flippant chicken and egg question for the weekend. Javelin owners have traditionally never been too anxious about originality. Possibly it is the age of the club which has passed through the times when it was all about keeping the car on the road and possibly even making "improvements". Aided by a good supply of spares as rusty cars which are otherwise quite good have been scrapped, seats have changed, early cars acquired later headlights (and some even then back again). The quest for better chrome means bumpers, grilles and sometimes bonnets have been changed for items not of the style originally fitted and so on.

This has generally meant that items are swapped for something that in essence performs the same function and was not an actual addition. In the midst of this there is one thing that has been puzzling me. Disregarding cars fitted with the early style bumpers, if the number plate was on the boot lid there would have been a deluxe type bumper with two over-riders. Later in deluxe days the plate could be found in a chrome surround on the bumper. In this case it seems the over-riders were not fitted. However, looking at various cars in the club, quite a significant number of them (quite random in age) are fitted with both number plate box and over-riders.

Can it be that the bumper bar with both items was available from new or can it be that a significant number of owners have all come to the same conclusion that fitting extra over riders would enhance the look of the car, with no other cosmetic changes? I attach a picture to make my point clearer.

over-riders.jpg

[David Morris]

Hi Nick,

I guess you will gather a lots of replies to your interesting question. Firstly, you say 'Disregarding cars fitted with the early style bumpers, if the number plate was on the boot lid there would have been a deluxe type bumper with two over-riders'. This is not the case with Standard Javelins. They had the number plate fixed to the boot, the lighter bumpers with a ridge along the centre and two over-riders. I know because I have one.

The heavier smooth bumpers were, I believe, kept for the De Luxe versions, as shown in your illustration. As to your question about whether these had over-riders and what type of number plate box was fitted, I leave for others to answer. All I can add is that I believe Jowett's fitted whatever was available that day on the production line. Also, as you rightly say, we are looking at over 60 years of various owners swapping things around as they see fit. Did Jowett's have a 'build register' to rigorously state what each car should leave the factory with? I believe the answer is probably 'no'. As an example, look at the steering wheels and shafts they fitted. My Javelin was built in March 1952 and has a three spoke steering wheel, equally spaced around the circumference and a keyed shaft. John Airey's car left the factory almost at the same time and has, I believe, a splined steering wheel shaft and the three spokes arranged so that you can see the instruments. OK, John's is a Deluxe and mine is a Standard, but why fit different steering shafts? I think it was more a case of whatever was in the box alongside the line at the time of construction!

All the best,

David

[Keith Clements]

Would the advertising literature in the Library shed any light?
The percentage of cars that suffered a dent in the back bumper over 60 years is probably high. Even looking at photos in the Archive of Jowetteers from the 1970s might shed some more light, but not a lot as the cars were then 20 years old.

[paul wilks]

What an interesting question! My Javelin is also a 1952 (de luxe) with the earlier suspension, the splined shaft to the steering wheel with unequally spaced spokes, making reading instruments that bit easier. Re over-riders, when I acquired my car, fitted with number plate box (including number plate and reversing light) she was not fitted with rear over-riders. Whilst on holiday in Cornwall I saw an early Javelin deluxe example with rear over-riders and thought it was rather smart. So I fitted them to mine! It's that simple (but not correct!)

[nigel jarrett]

Paul you were very lucky to see a Javelin in Cornwall ,as far as I am aware there is now only a collection of about 3 in a garage in Launceston and poss one in Truro

[paul wilks]

Hi Nigel. I'm talking about the late 1960s!

[alexander]

Hi Nigel
My late 53 de lux rear bumper has number plate box with built in reversing light and over riders. The over riders are fixed to the bumper using the inner mounting bracket which looks correct but who knows?
Dave

[Alf Heseltine]

I have a 1954 Standard Javelin, it was fitted with deluxe bumpers. I am told that at times Jowett would do this if it
was all they had, more especially in the weeks before closure. Here is Jowetts idea for the 1954 Javelin, the bumper
treatment Is different with a nice clean line, no over-riders. I applied this design change to my Javelin.

F2B1D840-4A57-4A90-AA10-9B6B99B4330D.jpeg

What might have been.

Alf

[Nick Webster]

Thanks everybody so far for your responses. I guess there will never be a definitive answer. I am rather open to the suggestion that what came to hand in those closing months was what was used. I have seen this before (not with Jowett) and the objective was to have empty parts bins when the last car rolled out the door.

Thanks also to Alf for the 1954 picture. I personally prefer the plate on the boot which stops the car looking quite so tall and narrow from the rear. Interestingly it also deals with the issue of the number plate not being vertical - which was the subject of an early techinical bulletin to revise the mounting angle. Something that actually seemed to go unheeded even by the factory. In a similar vein is that in revising the number plate light apparently no thought was given to rear reflectors which by that date were becoming a legal requirement. How did Jowett get away with that?

Nick

[David Morris]

Hi Alf,

Am I correct that your very late Javelin has that rather smart number plate box, as shown in the photo?

In the June 2018 Jowetteer, the inside front cover shows a Standard Javelin, reg. NSL 402, with the narrow bumpers like mine. From the register, it's chassis number is E1/PD/19198S.

I have always felt that almost every Javelin is a little bit different from the one in front of it on the production line!

Our Section visited the BMW/Mini production line at Cowley a few years ago. There, almost every car is built to a different specification, depending on the options selected by the customer, as each car is built to order. They don't build for stock and there could be around 200 variants. Our visit lasted about 2.5 hours and, being a mixed group of wives and partners, I was quietly worried that some of us might find it a bit boring. Not a bit of it! All of us found the time just flew by! It was very interesting to see that one stage on the line included a rotating jig, just like that used by Jowett's! We were told that engine insertion with the car upside down took just minutes, whereas it would take hours with the vehicle upright. Work stations were staffed by a team of 7, each of whom could do every job at that particular station, so that comfort breaks didn't interfere with the speed of the line!

All the parts had to be ready for assembly at each work station for that particular vehicle. If not, the suppliers were slated for an instantaneous £20,000 penalty! It made 'just in time' manufacturing a true reality.

While we still have our dear ex-Jowett employees, it would be interesting to ask them about the Javelin assembly line, if not already recorded?

All the best,

David

[Keith Clements]

I beg to differ on the boot lid numberplate. I prefer the distinctive long sloping back that makes the car look aerodynamic, even though it might be more aerodynamic without the plate on the bumper. The lenses of the rear lights do have some reflectivity which might have met regs but most Javs have separate ones fitted, presumably when they failed the MOT.