PC Pops In To…
Jowett died 69 years ago, here’s how the club keep the cars going
The world’s oldest one-make car club, The Jowett Car Club is 100 this year. It’s continued success is down to many things, one of which is an absolutely fabulous spares service. Still keeping the cars going strong almost 70 years after the company ceased trading, and still based in Bradford, without the spares service any Jowett would soon become an expensive ornament. As it is, the cars are on the road, the club is active, thriving even, with thousands of members around the globe still flying the flag for West Yorkshire. Being given a tour of the stores by club members Chris Spencer and Paul Beaumont, it is a lesson in organisation and the art of the possible, with volunteers using their individual skills and contacts to source, make, catalogue and process parts.
The spares service is owned and run by the club and caters for all 20 models made by Jowett. It was established in 1980 as part of the club and is as busy today as it has ever been. The General Manager is Robert Meakins who stops picking parts for orders to have a quick chat: ‘It’s a fitting building being a Victorian factory site and it is secure and dry. We make sure service parts are all freely available, with other parts and panels being remanufactured, modified or sourced secondhand. We still come across stocks of Jowett parts from time to time.’
With remade patterns, ingenious u
