Jowett car lovers head for club reunion (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Owners of Jowett cars, once made in the district, celebrate motoring heritage

9:00am Tuesday 7th August 2012 in News By Tanya O'Rourke

Bradford’s rich heritage of motor manufacturing will be celebrated with a reunion of the Jowett Car Club on Saturday.

This year marks half a century since the northern section of the club was set up, a milestone which will be celebrated by a convoy of 20 Jowetts making their way from the former factory site in Idle – now a Morrisons supermarket – to Bradford Industrial Museum, where the reunion will be taking place.

More than 60 cars will be on display at the event, which will attract visitors from across the UK.

Everyone is welcome to attend and visitors are encouraged to bring along Jowett memorabilia to share with other enthusiasts.

Keith Wear and Ian Priestley are joint organisers for the club.

Mr Wear, who is originally from Fagley and owns a 1952 Jowett Javelin, said: “It’s going to be a very big event, it’s going to be absolutely full.”

He added: “It’s a social occasion and an opportunity for members who drive the cars to meet up with some of the people who built the cars or worked for Jowett Cars Ltd in Idle. It is about nostalgia.

“They are cars which, when people see them, it will evoke memories of their childhood. There are still many families who are in Bradford whose fathers, brothers, uncles and grandfathers worked for the company.

Mr Wear said the Jowett Car Club is the oldest one-make car club in the world, having been founded in 1923.

In 1906, Bradford brothers Benjamin and William Jowett designed and built their first car.

Early Jowetts were built in Girlington , Bradford, before the company moved to Idle in 1920, where it stayed until 1954.

On Saturday the cars will make their way from Morrisons to the Industrial Museum at about 11am, via Norman Lane, Victoria Road, Harrogate Road and Moorside Road. The reunion will run from 1pm to 4.30pm.