Jowett Cars were built in Bradford, from 1906 to 1954. All pre-war cars up to 1935 were powered by a twin-cylinder horizontally opposed 7hp engine. In 1935 a new four-cylinder horizontally opposed engine was introduced with a 10hp rating running alongside the original twin-cylinder model which had been increased to an 8hp rating. Little changed during this pre-war period, many of the models were made in very small numbers, and sadly, there are no survivors today. The Jowett brothers experimented in the mid-1930's with a new in-line power unit which did not go into production. The post-war period saw massive changes in the Jowett company, with both Jowett brothers retiring by the end of the war. The first all-new model was the Javelin saloon, launched in 1947 and the Jupiter sportscar in 1950. By 1951 there should have led to a completely new range of cars, vans, pick-up and estate cars, known as the Bradford CD range. There were plans for a racing Jupiter known as the R1 and to re-vamp the Jupiter for road use known as the R4. Sadly, none of these models materialised and Jowett's history could have been so different had fate been kinder to them.

Brothers William and Ben Jowett, of Bradford, Yorkshire, built their first car in 1906 and tested it for four years before going into car production in 1910. By the time the factory switched to First World War munitions work, in 1916, forty-eight cars had been built. They resumed car production in 1920, and sales went from strength to strength. The 1930s proved to be a much more difficult time for Jowett, as a devastating fire in 1930 destroyed the factory and almost their entire stock of new cars. The brothers then had to decide whether or not they should rebuild the factory and start car manufacturing again-luckily, they did, as many interesting models were produced during this decade. From the first car in 1906, all cars the Jowetts produced were powered by the famous flat-twin engine known as 'the little engine with the big pull' that was used in all cars and light commercial vehicles. In 1935, the range was expanded to include a four-cylinder horizontally opposed engine, and they used these two engines in various models until the Second World War.

The Jowett Motor Manufacturing Company was founded in Bradford in 1901 by Benjamin, Ruth and William Jowett. Their first product was a V-twin engine which proved to be successful in various cars. In 1906 a prototype car was built using a new design of engine. The first of a long line of Jowetts was born! After a few years of tinkering, the car was ready for production. While few Jowetts were made during the First World War, expansion took place during the war and production restarted in 1920. By 1927, over 3,000 Jowetts were leaving the factory per year with their owners enjoying reliable, economical motoring. By the end of the Second World War, Jowett had modified the pre-war commercial and re-named it the Bradford. The van was a success and helped keep the company busy while it readied itself for production of the Javelin, a unitary construction saloon with a flat-four engine. More successes followed and they led to the Jupiter sports model being developed by ERA. But the company was in trouble by the early 1950s. Not enough sales of the Javelin and development costs of new models led to the sale of the factory in early 1954. A few Jupiters were made out of spare parts but the end was in sight. Spare parts continued to be supplied till 1963 and this led indirectly to a relatively large number of cars surviving. Today they are catered for by the longest running one-make car club in the world, the Jowett Car Club, which was founded in 1923.