Liphook Community Magazine - Autumn 2015

The Deer's Hut Charity
Good weather again blessed the 2015 classic car gathering at the
Deer's Hut. The event must rank as the most successful yet, with
a huge diversity of vehicles from Motor Cycles to a Steam
Traction Engine from the Hollycombe collection. Some £10,000
was raised for Liphook Charities including Peak Centre, Fire
Service, Carnival, Scouts and Guides. None of this would have
been possible without the unstinting help from the huge
number of Volunteers involved and special mention must also be
made of The Northcott Trust , sponsors Clarke Gammon Wellers
and the Robert Lewis Collection who brought along some very
special cars. Thank you to one and all.
Here are just a few of of the more unusual cars at the event.
Despite the success of the cars, Jowett were not financially stable,
a situation exasperated by warranty claims relating to headgasket
failures and an initially disastrous move into making their
own gearboxes. Sales of the Javelin fell away, yet bodies still
arrived (Jowett bought-in their body shells) and with the bankers
in control the writing was on the wall. Although new models
were under development they came to nothing and things were
really over by late 1953.
TVR Vixen
Jowett Jupiter
Superb TVR Vixen S2
Rare Jowett Jupiter
Jowett was one of the many smaller British makes to emerge for
WWII with initial optimism, only to stutter and disappear. The
company could trace its car-making history back to the early
1900's and by the 1930's had built a reputation for making
strong, straight-forward, workman-like vehicles which perhaps
reflected the Yorkshire roots of the marque.
Their post-war car was to be very different - the all new Javelin,
an advanced mid-market car with stylish unitary body/chassis,
torsion bar springing and 1.5 litre, water-cooled flat-four - with
the radiator behind the engine. The new car was received to very
enthusiastic reviews and additionally proved itself to be a very
able rally and saloon-car racing machine.
The competition success of the Javelin was, in part, influential in
the creation of the sports two-seater Jupiter. The main Javelin
mechanical components were housed in a completely new
tubular chassis drawn by pre-war Auto Union designer Eberan
von Eberhorst, plus a Jowett designed body frame with
aluminium panels. Although the car was a comfortable and well
equipped sporting model, in stripped-out trim it proved a very
successful race and rally machine with many major successes to
its name, including a class victory in the 1951 Le Mans 24 hours.
Approx 900 Jupiter chassis were built, some being finished with
special, usually enclosed, coachwork.
TVR are one of those firms that refuse to die! Since their
foundation in the late 1940's they have been through so many
financial crises - and different owners - it is difficult to count.
One thing that has stayed constant throughout however, is the
production of quick sports cars. Initially models were only
produced in penny numbers but the short, stubby Grantura of
the late 1950's marked a move to more serious manufacture.
The basic design was then progressively developed over the next
20 years and took production through one of the more stable
periods in the history of the company.
The first Vixens were produced in 1967 and marked a further
step-up in product quality and production numbers. With their
fully independent coil spring suspension, Ford Cortina GT
engines, low weight and compact size, they were real sports cars.
The S2 Vixen was further improved with a longer wheelbase
chassis making it much more habitable. The lineage of the Vixen
was carried through until the end of the 1970's with the last of
the 'M' series cars before replacement by the very different-tolook-at,
angular, Tasmin models.
From the early 1960's TVR had also produced some ultra high
performance models by inserting much more powerful V8
engines into mildly reworked versions of their 4 cylinder cars and
this perhaps influenced the line the company was to follow in
later years, when once again under new ownership. More headline-grabbing
models followed before further management
upheaval and the sad disappearance of new cars from sale. That
is not however the end: the intention to relaunch the marque
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