After years of experimentation, brothers William and Benjamin Jowett produced their first cars in Bradford in 1910, powered by the lightweight flat-twin engine that would still be used in their Bradford van after World War Two. The cars gained a steady reputation for humble durability, and a four-cylinder version was finally added to the range in 1937.

Postwar, the company moved up market with the Javelin ‘executive’ saloon and Jupiter sportscar, which raced at Le Mans. Unreliability of early versions hurt the company, but it was ultimately killed off when its body supplier, Briggs, was taken over by rivals Ford in 1953.