Yorkshire brothers, Ben and William Jowett, started building V-twin engines for cars and Scott motorcycles in 1904, and they turned to complete cars in 1910.
While they were no oddity at the time, as years passed Jowett's affinity for "flat" engines persisted.
The Jowett brothers, Ben and William, first built engines for motorcycles. In 1910 they began to build a completely Jowett-engineered light car using a proprietary L-head opposed twin engine of 816 and eventually 907cc displacement. Largely aluminum, the long stroke and low center of gravity of the Jowett engine and its 3-speed selective shift gearbox proved, among other things, ideal for hillclimbs and for rapid motoring through narrow, winding lanes.
While cataloged as a "7" the 907cc Jowett twin made some 17 brake horsepower. The Jowett brothers insisted upon rigorous testing and development before releasing their lightweight cars to the public, reportedly accumulating some 25,000 miles of it prior to shipping their first automobile, something that at the time was nearly unprecedented.
The Jowett 7 remained in production until it was succeeded in 1936 by the Eight, a 936cc opposed twin, and the Ten, an 1,166cc opposed four. Over 11,000 examples of the 7 are believed to have been built, including in 1928 a limited run of 15 Sports models with narrow aluminum bodywork that competed at legendary venues like Brooklands.
The brothers most successful design, perfected after World War I, was the Jowett 7, a light, economical two-seater that was powered by a water-cooled, opposed, twin-cylinder engine. The brothers made thousands of these little cars, including, in 1928, 15 two-seater sports racer models with special doorless aluminum racing bodies, which were used primarily for publicity purposes. These were the forerunners of the great sporting Jowetts that would come in decades to follow, of which the most famous being the Javelin Sedan and Jupiter Roadster that were so successful in 1950s racing.
The engine is an air-cooled opposed twin-cylinder engine displacing 907cc and offering 7/17 horsepower.
The pre-war Jowetts are much loved as quirky and distinctive motor cars but not everyone knows of their amazing provenance in 1920’s competition. In 1926 they set a new standard in long distance travel by being the first cars to complete the gruelling journey from one side of the African continent to the other. With their high ground clearance, rear-biased weight distribution and a unique, horizontally-opposed, twin cylinder engine that delivered loads of low-rev grunt, they soon became a firm favourite with trials drivers, setting many new record ascents. And then they also made a startling appearance at Brooklands in speed trials.... read on you disbelievers!
It’s the mid to late 1920’s your name is J.J.Hall (Jim), motorsport is your life and your entire meagre wage is spent on garaging your car and racing fees at Brooklands....to the point, you work out, that if you don’t pay your timing fee they impound your car until payment is made, thus getting free garaging... a result!
Almost on a weekly basis Jim was breaking record after world record, with advertisements running slogans stating ‘J.J. Hall breaks 22 world records using R.O.P oil and Petrol……’ Quite often it was his own spurious record from the previous weekend!
In 1928 after studying record lists Jim observed that the International G Class 12 hour record stood at only 54.25mph and held by a Grand Sport Amilcar. Inspired by a 12 hour record attempt, Jim wrote a letter to the Jowett factory at Idle Bradford, saying he thought that there was a fair chance of breaking the record in one of their cars. Jowett were more than helpful to the point they developed a special car for the job with a stripped two seater body…. The car was good for 70mph over a flying mile with a good tail wind, lapping Brooklands on a still day at an average of 64/65mph.
On the 8th August 1928 Jim, in conjunction with Jowett development engineer A.H. Grimley, started their record attempt. For the first 4 hours all went well lapping at a steady 60mph. As Jim passed the pits on this 4th hour a puff of steam was seen from the engine bay. Grimley set off in chase, a blown head gasket was diagnosed. After a short time, with burned fingers this was soon replaced. The cause of the head gasket failure was quickly traced to blocked radiator fins, blocked by dead wasp bodies! This happened twice more during the record attempt.
The existing record holders had heard about Jowett and J.J. Hall’s attempt on their record, and paid a visit during the final hours, whilst they were fixing their 3rd head gasket. They then slipped away quietly, positive that their record was safe! From that moment onwards the Jowett and Mssrs Hall and Grimley got the bit between their teeth and pushed their lap speed to 63mph. The last hour was nail biting stuff. Would the head gasket hold? … it did! Jowett were the holders of the International G Class 12 hour at a staggering 54.86mph up from 54.25mph! Then on the 17th October of that same year Jim without any Jowett works support set a new 200km record in his Jowett Sports. At the 130km mark Jim realised he was running short of oil and got permission to leave the track, drive to his shed in the paddock, top up the oil and continue on his record attempt which he duly set at 98.9kph….
