Jowett Long Four Saloon

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Jowett was founded in 1901 by brothers Benjamin and William Jowett together with Arthur Lamb. They started in the cycle business and went on to make V-twin engines for driving machinery.

In 1904 they became the Jowett Motor Manufacturing Company based in Back Burlington Street, Bradford. The first Jowett light car was produced in February 1906 but various delays meant that it did not go into production until 1910. This car became very popular and used an 816cc flat-twin water-cooled engine of 6.4hp with a three-speed gearbox although it still had tiller steering, somewhat unusual since this was largely obsolete on other cars by 1910.

Jowett Cars Limited, a new private company, was established in June 1919 at Springfield, just outside Bradford, on the site of a disused quarry. Car making started in the new factory in 1920, the first vehicle being the Jowett Seven (sometimes known as the ‘Short 7’) using an enlarged 907cc version of the pre-war flat-twin. Compared to other engines of the day, the Jowett four-stroke horizontally opposed two-cylinder engine was a relatively smooth and powerful unit. Thereafter all Jowetts were Sevens until the introduction of the four-cylinder Eight in 1937.

The Jowett 7hp four-seater, known as the ‘Long Four’, was originally introduced in 1923 in tourer form with a longer wheelbase, priced from £245 and fitted with the 907cc side-valve flat-twin engine driving through a three-speed gearbox. In 1925 a closed Saloon version of the Long Four was available, the previous short-chassis two-seater also continuing in production. In 1929, the engine received removable cylinder heads to ease maintenance and from 1930, braking was on all four wheels. Other body styles were also available on the Long Four chassis, such as the Black Prince, Silverdale and Grey Knight saloons and the oddly named Weasel sports tourer with twin carburettors. 1934 saw the introduction of a four-speed gearbox across the range and in 1937 the Seven range was replaced by the 946cc Eight.

This 1935 Long Four Saloon joined Stondon Museum just over 20 years ago, being purchased for £3,000 (invoice on file). The logbooks indicate that it perhaps had only three owners prior to the museum, based in Aylesbury, Twickenham and Buckinghamshire. The last visit to an MOT station was in 1993 when the odometer was showing 97,959 miles and it has been barely used since so the usual precautionary recommissioning is advised before it sallies forth once more.