Author Topic: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars  (Read 34531 times)

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Offline barrett

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Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« on: October 27, 2010, 05:39:34 AM »
Part One

Following the end of WWII, Bradford's Jowett car company were seemingly on a path to great success. In an attempt to shake off the company's staid image brought on by years of worthy but rather dull light cars and commercials, new managing director Charles Calcott Reilly had hired stylist/engineer Gerald Palmer in 1942 to design a modern new saloon car, to be called the Javelin. Palmer not only drew the car's stylish, wind-cheating shape but also designed its radical water-cooled flat-four engine and independent front suspension set up. The car was a moderate success despite it's high price and reliability issues caused by the new engine. Jowett were approached by ERA who wanted to build a small sporting car based on Javelin mechanicals. Palmer was on his way out, so ERA hired famous Austrian engineer Robert Eberan von Eberhorst to design the new car's chassis.
 In 1949, the motoring press announced that there would be a joint ERA-Jowett 'high performance car' available soon, but when the unclothed tubular chassis appeared at that years Earl's Court show later that year, no mention was made of the ERA connection. This chassis was bodied by the newly formed Harold Radford ltd, but Jowett wanted an open car and an in-house design was chosen for the production models.
 The new car, christened the Jupiter, began series production in late 1950. The styling was fairly elegant from some angles, but the rather bluff front-end and fussy detailing detracted somewhat. The car itself was a confusing halfway-house between true sports car and tourer, the 1486cc Javelin engine producing a tame 60bhp, albeit with rather nimble handling from both Palmer's torsion bar suspension and Eberhorst's chassis.
 After production had begun in earnest, Jowett were faced with a problem; They had decided to build the entire car themselves (a wise move in fact, as Briggs Motor Bodies, builders of the Javelin, were soon to be swallowed up by Ford), and they were not geared up to produce both the tubular chassis and the part-steel, part-aluminium body at the speed needed to meet demand. Most of the cars they built were sent to America, and the wait for completed European-market cars was long, so the company dispatched a number of rolling chassis to foreign coachbuilders to be bodied individually in the 'European style'. These cars were the first of 75 Jupiter chassis, out of a total production run of 899, to carry non-standard bodywork. These cars were built by firms in the UK, Europe and Australia.
 Five years after the first Jupiter chassis was built, the end of the road finally came for Jowett. Even after the teething troubles of both Javelin and Jupiter had been ironed out, the company was never quite able to meet demand, and by now other British marques were producing technologically inferior but more reliable, and cheaper, 'proper' sportscars, and firms like Aston-Martin and Bristol were refining the 'grand tourer' to near perfection. Up until the end, Jowett still offered rolling chassis to specialist coachbuilders, the last one being dispatched in 1953, with the final standard Jupiter rolling off the production line in November 1954.
 In this feature I will try to bring together as many of these special-bodied Jupiters as I can. The subject is particularly fascinating as, almost accidentally, this one low-volume semi-sporting car from Bradford can be seen as a perfect cross section of British and European coachbuilding style in the 1950s, taking in everything from the tiniest independent firms to famous Italian carrozzeria.

Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #1 on: October 27, 2010, 05:48:41 AM »
Part Two

Here is a list of the companies responsible for special-bodied Jupiters, along with production figures where known. This list only covers 48 of the 75 cars built, and is the most complete I have managed to compile to date.

Richard Mead -6 

Stabilimenti Farina - 4

Harold Radford - 2

Ghia-Aigle - 2, possibly 3

Adams & Robinson - 1 

Frank Grounds - 1

J.E.Farr & Sons - 4

Coachcraft - 3

Beverly - 1, possibly 2

Maurice Gomm - 2

Sommer - 1 

Beutler - 2
 
Abbott - 4

J.J Armstrong - 1

Lionel Rawson - 4
 
Worblaufen - 1

KW Bodies - 3

Leacroft - 1

Duckett - 1

Flewitt - 1

Armstrong and Fleming - 1

Steinmann - possibly 1

Unidentified French coachbuilder - 1


Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #2 on: October 27, 2010, 05:51:27 AM »
Part Three

The Grounds coupe

 This car, chassis number 29R, was built in Birmingham during 1952 by Frank Grounds, who had previously converted a handful of Jowett Bradfords into shooting breaks for local owners.
 This car, which carried the distinctive registration LOL 1, used the standard front-hinged bonnet of the factory Jupiter, Morris Minor doors and the windscreen from a Javelin. A handmade rear section was built in aluminium, and the car took on a slightly hunchbacked look, not dissimilar to contemporary Allards and Healeys. Though not a particularly attractive design, the car was built for a purpose - not to win concourse events but to compete in various motor races throughout Britain and the continent, and also double as a practical family car - Frank Grounds' wife Lola used it as her road car.
 The new regulations on the Rallye Monte Carlo, banning open cars, which precipitated the creation of both the Adams & Robinson and J.E Farr bodied cars, inspired Grounds to enter the car for the 1953 event. With co-drivers Ken Rawlings and Jack Hay, Grounds managed a creditable 4th in class and 36th overall. Back in the UK, the car participated in many smaller events but eventually became uncompetitive and vanished. It was discovered many years later in sound but tatty condition, and still survives to this day.

Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #3 on: October 27, 2010, 05:55:03 AM »
The Farr coupes

Jupiter chassis 81R was built for Robert Ellison by J.E. Farr & Sons for the 1952 Rallye Monte Carlo. Mr. Ellison was already a veteran of 3 Montes, the previous year he had driven a works Jupiter, finishing 1st in class and 6th overall.
 The 1952 event was less successful however, when the Jupiter coupe, co-driven with Walter Mason, crashed badly and had to be repaired ad hoc. They did make it to Monaco a day late, and were not classed as an official finisher. The car was driven home, repaired at Farrs and later sold. It still exists in the hands of enthusiasts.
 This is the only example of J.E. Farr coachwork I have seen, and the car is definitely one of the less attractive Jupiter specials, although it has a certain functional presence that you would expect from a dedicated rally car.
Farr bodied 4 Jupiters in total, but I have no information about the other cars.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 01:02:39 PM by barrett »

Offline Otto Puzzell

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2010, 05:57:34 AM »
Wow - very cool!

I've always liked these quirky cars (and have puzzled a couple here). Keep 'em coming!
You wanna be the man, you gotta Name That Car!

Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2010, 05:57:58 AM »
The Abbott Cars

E.D Abbott of Farnham had a long tradition of coachbuilding, going back to the pre-WW1 era, but by the time the Jupiter was launched, after a takeover by ex-Aston Martin owner Gordon Sutherland, the company was struggling to find work. Sutherland was looking for small series production contracts over one-off builds, and it was with this in mind that Abbotts created two special Jupiters in 1951, both with attractive DHC bodies. The cars were numbers 32 and 89, and at least one - registered RPA 7 - was rallied by it's first owner in period.
The following year Abbott built another 2 cars, 105 and 247, this time with fixed hardtops but otherwise the same as the previous cars, save for a one piece flat 'screen in place of the DHCs split items.  The styling was slightly compromised by the addition of the roof, accentuating the car's long bonnet and short cabin area, a styling trend that was already fairly out of date by the 1950s.
 Although Abbotts only built 4 Jupiters, by the time production ended in 1954 they were busy converting Ford saloons into stylish estate cars, which saw them into the late 1960s, long after most British coachbuilders had closed.
At least three of these cars survive, two open and one closed, and the surviving FHC has been totally restored.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 12:59:43 PM by barrett »

Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2010, 06:02:23 AM »
The Mead Cars

In the early 1950s Richard Mead had been building the bodies for the first Rover-based Marauders at his works in the West Midlands, before production of that car was moved Coventry. At the same time he took on a small series of Jupiter bodies, building 6 in total - the largest run of coachbuilt Jupiters, and also one of the most attractive. From a distance the cars are quite similar to the Abbott Jupiters, but the swage line that sweeps down from the front wheelarch really helps to break up the 'slab-sided' look that many mid-50s cars suffer from, but is infact just the panel gap between the huge bonnet and the wing. The steeply raked windscreen - split on 5 cars, one-piece on the other - gave a genuinely sporty look, even if the standard Jupiter engine didn't quite deliver. The neat tail shared a quirk of the early production cars in that it had no external boot access.
 Out of the 6 cars built, 4 are known to survive today, 3 of them in good running condition.


Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2010, 06:18:48 AM »
The Sommer Car

Danish coachbuilder Ole Sommer had, at one point, attempted to kick-start the Danish car industry by building a couple of ugly but imposing saloon cars based on Jowett running gear, therefore it was logical that he would build a special-bodied Jupiter when that car became available. Although now a totally forgotten name in the history of motoring, Sommer should be remembered for designing and building one of the most beautiful bodies to ever grace a Jupiter chassis. The car was a wonderfully simple fastback coupe design, a mix between XK120 and Bentley Continental. It featured a standard Jupiter bonnet which was ordered from the factory along with the chassis, which itself is notable for being the only left-hand drive chassis that Jowett sent to an outside coachbuilder.
 The car exists today in perfectly restored condition, and is still in Denmark.   

Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2010, 07:25:19 AM »
The Ghia-Aigle Cars

Amongst the great number of varied projects undertaken in the early days of Swiss firm Ghia-Aigle, the two Jupiter chassis they clothed in 1950 were some of the least exotic in terms of pedigree, but stylistically they were a match for anything else they made at this time.
 The first car was a drop-head coupe, very much in the 'Italian style', with the familiar upright grille and 'nostrils' that many of the unique Jupiters seem to carry.
 The second car, chassis no. 56R, was an FHC but otherwise identical. This car was entered in the 1952 Rallye Monte Carlo, but did not start the race. It was presumed lost for many years before it surfaced in the infamous Dovaz collection in the 1980s, and still awaits restoration. The open car is presumed lost.
 These cars are part of the first batch of Jupiter chassis that Jowett sent to outside coachbuilders in 1950, and make up 2 (or 3, see below) of the 4 Swiss built cars.

The 'Third' Jupiter
Some mystery surrounds the other Jowett bodied by Ghia-Aigle at this time, which chronologically is the first of the three. Some sources report it to be a Javelin, others a Jupiter. This confusion is exacerbated by the fact that early cars were badged 'Javelin Jupiter'!   In my opinion, this car is not a Jupiter, although I don't have any facts to support this, I would question the motivation for building two near identical cars and one with wildly different bodywork in such a short space of time. If this car is, in fact, a Jupiter, it would be chassis 95, which would mean that the Steinmann-bodied car is not a Jowett at all. More on this later.

Offline Allemano

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2010, 07:27:35 AM »
Such a great article! Very well done barrett! :thumbsup:


Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2010, 07:29:33 AM »
Thank you, it's taken many months for me to get it all together. This is all I have 'finished' at the moment, but expect more very soon!

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2010, 02:09:59 PM »
Superb!
What more can one say.

It just illustrates the scope for future features in a similar vein.

Well done barrett!

Offline Allan L

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #12 on: October 28, 2010, 04:19:20 AM »
A couple of weeks ago, at the autumn seminar of the Society of Automotive Historians in Britain, we were given an illustrated talk on this very subject by Ed Nankivell. I think that, now that most coachbuilt Jupiters have been illustrated here, I can risk posting Ed's website address here:
http://www.jowettjupiter.co.uk/magazine.htm
Also present was Anders Clausager, who had once been the owner of the Sommer Jupiter. Can't remember if that was before or after Anders left Denmark to live in England.
Opinionated but sometimes wrong

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2010, 04:12:31 AM »
Welcome to the ranks of the Feature Writers, barret!

 :grad:
“Honi soit qui mal y pense”


Click the pic....... Name the car

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #14 on: May 30, 2011, 12:26:47 PM »
Another photo of the Ghia-Aigle drop-head coupe
 

Offline barrett

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #15 on: May 31, 2011, 01:45:27 AM »
Wow thanks! I've never seen another image of that car before. I have basically stopped work on this feature as Ed Nankivell is about to publish an authoritative book on this subject (hopefully published this year) which will be the culmination of 40 years of research. Should be a fascinating read. I do have a few more pictures and such to post when I get home, meanwhile I managed to find some nice period shots of the Sommer Jupiter, during construction and finished -

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #16 on: May 31, 2011, 02:17:59 AM »
Great to hear about the book Barrett - I'll definitely buy one.
Your feature was very interesting and I often refer to it.
What I'll continue to do is to add further material and photos here as I come across them.

Offline grobmotorix

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #17 on: June 08, 2011, 11:48:17 AM »
I´m not sure if this really fits in your collection:


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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #18 on: June 15, 2011, 07:21:31 AM »
Two more cars -
One by Richard Mead and the other by Adams & Robinson?

Offline Wendax

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #19 on: June 15, 2011, 07:30:53 AM »
I found a picture captioned as being a Jowett Jupiter, and the wheels seem to confirm it. Does anybody know more?

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #20 on: June 15, 2011, 08:11:17 AM »
MJW - Great photos! I've not found any period pics of the Mead cars before so that is nice. The A&R car is owned by Ed Nankivell and has now been painted red. That's a new picture for me too.

Wendax - That is indeed a Jupiter, by an unknown French coachbuilder. I think that is the only 'unknown' car from all the coachbuilt chassis and it doesn't seem like it'll be discovred anytime soon. It has actually appeared as a puzzle here before.

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #21 on: June 24, 2011, 01:59:32 AM »
A view (not very sharp) of the Sommer car when new

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #22 on: August 29, 2011, 02:30:11 PM »
Just came across this Jupiter competing in the 1951 MCC Rally driven by Foulds/Jones.
It is shown at the Manchester starting control.
I have no idea who was responsible for the coachwork.
Over to you Barrett.......

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #23 on: August 30, 2011, 01:10:38 PM »
That's one of the three cars by KW Bodies of Blackpool. It's the only one I've seen before so I'm unsure if they were all the same, or three different styles. I had no idea of the cars provenance so that information is great, as is the picture - thank you.

By the way, I've just added some more images to the Farr and Abbott bodied cars' sections above

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Re: Jowett Jupiter - The Coachbuilt Cars
« Reply #24 on: September 22, 2011, 07:00:09 AM »
barrett,
I was wondering if you were able to figure out what/who the coach builder was for the Jowett Juniper in the picture I sent you a while back?

It looks like there is another Jowett in the back ground of the picture also?

This picture was from the summer of 1951 at a SCCA race, and was at the Harold Vance Studebaker proving grounds in Indiana.
Just curious?
John