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- E.R.A.-Javelin -

(Photograph - Copyright Acknowledged - The Autocar of 30 September 1949)
Also see my Flickr album - My ERA odds and ends

In the late 1940s Jowett Cars of Bradford and ERA Ltd. of Dunstable combined to produce a sporting version of the Jowett Javelin.

The E.R.A.-Javelin was displayed at the 1949 Motor Show.
The partnership did not last long and Jowett took over full production of the car which morphed into the Jowett Jupiter.
Only about half a dozen of the true "ERA-Javelin" were made.

MotorSport - November 1949 - Page 13,
Rumblings ------ E.R.A.-Javelin
"The announcement of a new tubular-chassis high-performance version of the well-established Jowett Javelin, to be built by E.R.A. and powered and serviced by Jowett, was one of September's greater excitements. The new car, rightly called the E.R.A. Javelin, was displayed to a gathering of Pressmen at Jowett's Albemarle Street showrooms on September 27th, after which a cheery luncheon celebration was staged at Brown's Restaurant." ..............

"This E.R.A.-Javelin interested us very much indeed, for at last Motor Sport's plea for a lightweight British tubular-chassis high-performance car seemed to have been answered, although the engine is of 1,500 c.c., whereas 1,100 c.c. is effectively employed in such chassis on the Continent.

Indeed, this new Jowett seemed so promising at this preview that we were led to remark that at Earls Court it ought to be labelled clearly: "THIS IS A BRITISH CAR," in case foreign visitors glanced at it and passed it by, as something they must have seen at Turin and Paris!
But our interest was more keenly aroused when we discovered that, far from E.R.A. Ltd. merely contracting to design and build the chassis for Jowett, the car is a personal interest of Leslie Johnson himself. He told us he is determined to produce a British car capable of competing with modern high-performance small Continentals and that, as far as chassis-testing can tell, he thought his objective had been achieved. "

(Photograph - Copyright Acknowledged - The Autocar of 30 September 1949)
Also see my Flickr album - My ERA odds and ends

The was intended to be available without a body - still common at the time - for those who would have their preferred coach-builder provide roadster, coupe or saloon as requested. The frame was designed with enough rigidity and mounting points to allow light bodywork of the owner's choice.

Jowett were also developing thier own bodies to be able to sell complete cars.

MotorSport - November 1949 - Page 13,
Rumblings ------ E.R.A.-Javelin
"Its chassis price of £495 seems modest in the extreme and, while we prefer to reserve judgment until we have driven this exciting new car, Leslie Johnson's interest in its well-being suggests that Britain now has a car able to compete on level terms with the best of the small, high-performance Continentals, incidentally, thanks to a German engineer. For we owe the E.R.A.-Javelin's design to Prof. Dr./Ing. Eberan von Eberhorst, late of Auto-Union and today Chief Engineer to E.R.A. Ltd."

(Photograph - Copyright Acknowledged - The Autocar of 30 September 1949)
Also see my Flickr album - My ERA odds and ends

MotorSport - November 1949 - Page 13,
Rumblings ------ E.R.A.-Javelin
"...... As we were discussing this brilliant new chassis with Johnson, the prototype coupé made its entry on the showroom lift, amongst the assembled journalists. It had been sprayed only the night before, but so trim, so refreshingly different did the car look, prompting thoughts of Simca, Cisitalia, F.I.A.T., that those privileged to set eyes on the first complete E.R.A.-Javelin were captivated. We asked Johnson who was responsible for the body styling and he said that no one person had designed it but that some years ago he brought from Italy the drawings of a F.I.A.T. coupé that had taken his fancy, declaring that one day he would build just such a body. The prototype E.R.A.-Javelin three-seater coupé is the result. It is daring in conception, with its all-enveloping style, sunk lamps, low air-entry, and high, rounded roof, terminating in a comparatively low tail incorporating a shallow luggage boot."

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