1951 Jowett Jupiter

Brothers Benjamin and William Jowett, along with Arthur Lamb, established a company in 1901 with the intent of producing motorcycles. The venture evolved into building V-twin engines for larger driving vehicles, and by 1904 they had become the Jowett Motor Manufacturing Company. The first Jowett car was built in 1906.

Just prior to the start of World War II, Jowett Cards, Ltd. introduced a horizontally opposed four-cylinder car, a departure from their traditional two-cylinder models. When peace prevailed, Jowett began offering a fastback saloon powered by a 1,486cc overhead-valve engine. In 1951, a sports two-seater named the Jupiter was introduced, using the Javelin engine placed into a torsion-bar-suspended tubular chassis designed by Austrian engineer Robert Eberan von Eberhorst. Despite its small footprint, the Jupiter achieved a record-breaking class victory at the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hour race and repeated the feat in 1951 and 1952.

The Jupiter was introduced in chassis-only form in October of 1949 at the London Motor Show, with the complete car being shown for the first time in New York in April of 1950. Production lasted from 1950 through 1954, with approximately 900 examples produced. 731 examples were MK1 and 94 were MK1a cars. The MK1a was introduced in late 1952 with a slightly higher horsepower rating and an opening lid to a larger trunk area. The first seventy-five chassis were sent to Stabilimenti Farina, Ghia Suisse, Abbott of Farnham, and others in Britain for coachwork.

By 1955, Jowett had entered into receivership and ceased production.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2019