Jowett Vehicles Undergo a
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War Office Test.
Striking Achievements by Small-powered Vans and Cars Running Over Rough Surfaces.
Itbe Jowett vehicles which were recently put through an Army-type test had been large six-wheelers, all who witnessed the test would have said that the performance was just what they expected. Far from being large, Lowever, the Jowett is one of the smallest and least expensive types of commercial vehicle on the British market. The achievement, therefore, of passing a Service test is all the more creditable, especially when it is Lorne in mind that these vehicles were, to all intents and purposes, standard production models. Minor modifications have, of course, been made to the normal layout in order to suit certain special Army requirements; but in the main all components used are identical with those of the ordinary chassis.
Before going on to describe the test it would seem opportune to give readers of The Commercial Motor a brief idea of the size of the vehicle and the general build of the chassis. In the first place, it may be mentioned that the "long" chassia is employed, the wheelbase being 8 ft. 6 its. and the track 3 ft. 9 ins. By virtue of the fact that a horizontally opposed two-cylindered engine is used instead of the normal four-cylindered or six-cylindered type, the body
accommodation is increased accordingly. Indeed, the vans without any material overhang beyond the rear axle, have a capacity of GO cubic ft., in addition to a reasonable roomy cab, capable of carrying at least one passenger in addition to the driver. Special mention should be made of the ground clearance, which, by the way, is no less than 8i ins.—a very important point when Colonial or Service conditions are
included in the ordinary daily work of any vehicle. ,
As already mentioned, the power unit includes the somewhat unusual feature nowadays of having only two cylinders. These, however, are placed athwart the main crankcase and have a bore of 75.4 mm., whilst the piston stroke is 101.5 mm. These figures give a total piston-swept volume of 907 cubic ems. T e clutch and gearbox are mounted unitwise with the engine, the drive being conveyed to a spiralbevel rear axle by means of an open propeller shaft equipped with fabric joints front and rerr.
Turning now to the test, the first item on the programme was a hill-climb. The particular hill chosen could not : ave been better suited to give both engine and chassis a thorough tryout, for the surface was 'appallingly bad and the gradient particularly severe. Both the touring cars and the vans, despite the obvious newness and consequent stiffness of the engines, romped up quite easily with the drivers only aboard, the wheels in. many instances bouncing nearly a foot off the ground after a particularly rough stretch had been negotiated. We should estimate that the average gradient of this particular incline would be in the neighbourhood
of 1 in 4 probably steeper—so that the feat of climbing cuch a hill, even with the driver only aboard, was distinctly
meritorious, especially considering the fact that the capacity of the engine is less than 1 litre.
The second test included another hill-climb, where t Ii egradient, although not so severe as on the first hill, proved to be very difficult owing to its " sticky " nature. The vehicles fitted with chains climbed easily, but those not so equipped experienced a certain amount of
difficulty, which was only to be expected on such ground.
The " rodeo " section must be recorded as the most impressive sight of all. A portion of the ground behind the aowett works at Idle, near Bradford, had been transformed into what might be termed an arena, a track having been made over waste land which appeared at one time to have been a rubbish tip. Banks 4 ft. or 5 ft. high were dotted about the " course," the gradient of approach and fall being in the neighbourhood of 1 in Vs. At the word " go " the six vans and live tourers were sent off over their bumpy journey, first in one direction and then the opposite way
around. All the vehicles were on the course at the same time, the sight being one which impressed us very forcibly. The capacity of these small vehicles for withstanding exceptionally arduous conditions is certainly very great.
The demonstration was concluded by one of the touring cars making a climb of a bank about 5 ft. high and sloped at an angle of something approaching 45 degrees. Even to the discriminating eye the bank looked utterly impossible, but approaching at a moderately high speed the Jewett bumped over (there is no better term) the ridge, to the amazement of all who were present.