It must have been in 1955 or early 1956 that my father bought a 1951 Javelin de luxe to replace a 1940 Austin 10 as our family car. The prices for used Jowetts were depressed following the bankruptcy of the company. I think Dad paid about £400 for a car that cost £1,200 when new. Compared to the Austin, the Javelin was the epitome of luxury! The registration number was KWY 705 and a small plaque on the dashboard identified “Glovers of Ripon” as the dealership that originally sold it.

KWY 705 ready for departure to Vienna in 1958

In the family car role, the Javelin was used for three European trips -- in 1956, 1958 and 1960.  I was present on the first two trips and I recall them as having been uneventful.  I didn’t go on the 1960 trip though, and I understand from my father’s diary that significant problems did arise on it. The diary reports that that they were on the last day of the outgoing trip to Vienna with 350 miles to go in the day.  When they were about 25 miles from Vienna there was a sudden falling off of power.  Practically all the water had gone and there was an ominous tapping in the engine. Nevertheless, they carried on and made it to Vienna. Dad then attempted to fix the problem over the next two days taking off both cylinder heads and resealing the gaskets with gasket cement -- all to no avail. He then called in the Austrian Touring Club and their mechanic felt that a big end bearing had gone.  Consequently the car was then taken to a garage in Vienna where it was found that No. 3 piston was badly damaged, but apparently the big ends were all OK.  The car was in the garage for almost a week for the repairs which turned out to be fully satisfactory. According to the diary, the total cost for the work was a mere £14!          

KWY 705 at our destination in Vienna in 1958

I can’t recall when it was, but I know my father did a complete strip down of the engine at some stage.  Perhaps it was after the 1960 European trip, but I am not sure. I had learned to drive in the Javelin and passed the driving test in the spring of 1959. A few months later, I needed a car to get to work and so I became the proud owner of a brand new Messeschmitt cabriolet. It seems to me that I pretty well wore out the Messerschmitt over the next 15 to 18 months and so when Dad bought a Simca Aronde in late 1960, I took over the Javelin and the Messerschmitt was sold.

The M1 had been opened around 1960 and I found lots of reasons for making use of it! In particular, I made frequent trips between Northwood and Edgbaston.  As I remember it, the distance was 110 miles and I regularly did the trip in two hours plus or minus a minute or two!  On the M1 I could comfortably cruise along at an indicated 80 m.p.h. -- which was legal in those days.  I kept the car for about two years after taking it over, and I think I significantly increased its mileage over that period.  I cannot recall the mileage by the time I sold it, but I suspect it was over 100,000.

As indicated above, my father did a substantial amount of his own maintenance of the car including a major engine rebuild.  The maintenance became my responsibility after the car became mine. During that two year period, I remember that there were quite a few problems to be addressed.  I recall fairly frequent incidences of stuck valves (must have been those M1 trips), and times when the ignition system became waterlogged and shut down, often leaving me in some inconvenient location! I also recall that the crankcase cracked on one occasion and all the water joined the oil.  That problem was fixed using Holt’s Wonder Weld -- it actually held up for the rest of the time that I owned the car! The stuck valves could normally be freed by just rotating the valve stems.  It often took quite few hours to overcome the waterlogging problem through such measures as oven baking the sparking plugs and thorough drying of the ignition cables.  Largely through these experiences I developed a certain confidence (but perhaps limited expertise) to tackle car maintenance problems myself, and I’m having trouble getting over it!     

[Home] [What's New?] [My First Javelin] [As Purchased] [Work Done] [Contact Me] [Pictures]