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Jarvis & Sons Limited were South London-based motor dealers for Morris and MG, and latterly coachworks providing special bodies for various car chassis until after World War II.
Like many similar UK motor dealers and coachworks, they started out in the late 19th century as bicycle manufacturers, later incorporated as Jarvis & Sons Limited. [1]
From the 1920s, they founded coachworks, operating from premises in both Victoria Crescent and Hartfield Road in Wimbledon, and a motor dealership known as Jarvis of Wimbledon based at Morris House in Morden Road SW 19, on the borders between Wimbledon and Morden which was then located in Surrey. [2]
Coachbuilding operations utilised a variety of chassis, including Rolls-Royce and the then Cricklewood-based Bentley Motors, and at least one Bugatti Type 30. [3] and a type 40 (chassis # 40470). However, due to the resultant volume of orders many of the projects were subcontracted to other coachworks, in particular Abbey Coachworks of Merton. [1]
Post-WW2, having acted as a shadow factory during hostilities, the company continued as a car dealership. Today the 1937 art-deco inspired building with clock tower has been demolished, and the former site has been redeveloped and is presently used by a Peugeot cars dealership.
Designed and driven by H.M. Walters who was a director of Jarvis of Wimbledon, he was also a works rider for Zenith and Panther , the Jappic was advertised as the "world's smallest racecar". [1] [4] Built by Jarvis, the two-seater cyclecar used an air-cooled two-port overhead-valve 74x80mm single-cylinder 344cc JA Prestwich "JAP" motorcycle engine, sat in an ash wood frame covered with 3/32 inch steel flitch plates and tubular cross-members. [4] A three-speed gearbox used a chain-drive to the rear axle, with only the rear live axle equipped with brakes, with all four wheels using 650x65 motorcycle tyres. [4] Weighing in at only 4 long hundredweight (450 lb; 200 kg) and costing just £150 to buy, the car was aimed at competing in the holiday-handicap races. [5] After Walters broke the Class J flying mile record in the car at a speed of 70.33 miles per hour (113.19 km/h), [4] it was subsequently advertised being able to lap Brooklands at over 68 miles per hour (109 km/h). [5]
Jarvis had planned to commercially produce the small racing car, but as the venture never took off commercially, they tried to re-market the vehicle again in 1926 with a larger 495cc JAP engine. [4] [5] But again the venture failed, and so in late 1926 they sold the sole prototype vehicle to noted WW1 ambulance driver and then racing driver Mrs Gwenda Stewart. Under copyright agreement with JAP/Walters/Jarvis, she had to change the name to Hawkes-Stewart, and then retro-fitted the vehicle with an original 344cc engine. The car went on to break 50kms and 100kms records at an average speed of nearly 70 mph , and was destroyed by a fire at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in 1932. [4] [5]
Jarvis built a reputation for building several successful, aerodynamic design concept bodies, for several well-known 1920s racing drivers.
At the start of the 1924 season Woolf Barnato swapped his racing Wolseley Racing Moth for an eight-litre Hispano-Suiza H6C, which he commissioned Jarvis to build a suitable racing body for. Barnato then established an eight-litre class racing record for the car. In late 1924 he obtained a prototype Bentley 3 Litre chassis, which was subsequently fitted with a boat-tail body by Jarvis for a cost of £400. [6] [7] Partnered in 1925 by John Duff, Barnato used the car to win several major Brooklands races, and set a new 3 Litre 24-hour record averaging 95.03 miles per hour (152.94 km/h) in 1925. [6] [7] Barnato continued to race the Jarvis-bodied Bentley into 1926, in which he obtained a first and a second at the Easter 1926 BARC races, but then unexpectedly sold it to J. G. Parry-Thomas, who intended to modify it and use it to compete in 1927. However, having modified his land speed record car Babs over the winter, Parry-Thomas was killed in Babs at Pendine Sands, Wales on 3 March 1927. His estate sold the car, and it then next competed in the 1928 season equipped with a Parry Thomas frontal cowling, driven by Dudley Froy. [7]
The noted racing driver and later World land speed record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell had both his own garage at the Brooklands racing circuit, as well as a motor dealership, Bluebird Garage on Chelsea's fashionable King's Road. After he took on the new franchise of selling American-built Chrysler Corporation vehicles from 1925, he commissioned his regular racing mechanic Leo Villa to take a Chrysler Model 70 chassis (actually a re-badged Maxwell automobile design), and build him a new racing car under the guises of a marketing exercise. [8] Villa reworked the chassis and engine, and then commissioned Jarvis to build a suitable aerodynamic body. [8] Driven by Campbell, the original Chrysler Bluebird won the Short Handicap at Brooklands on 12 September 1925, at an average speed of 99.61 miles per hour (160.31 km/h). [8] [9]
In the same year, having realised that his Sunbeam car would then quickly restrict his world record speed attempts above 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), Campbell commissioned C. Amherst Villiers at the Robin Hood Engineering Works in Putney Vale to build the first of his Bluebird record-breaking cars. [8] Taking two years to construct under the supervision of Villa, [8] the Napier-Campbell Blue Bird was designed by Villiers to reach 200 miles per hour (320 km/h). [8] The 1927 original version contained a Napier Lion aero-engine within a custom-design chassis, encased in an aerodynamic body co-designed and then built by Jarvis. [8] In its later second and third guises, Villers improved the aerodynamic efficiency of the Jarvis bodywork within a wind tunnel. [8]
In the 1930s, Jarvis was the main sponsor of the EX-type Magic Midget's record-breaking cars.
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, North London, and became widely known for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930. Bentley has been a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1998 and consolidated under VW's premium brand arm Audi since 2022.
Walter Owen Bentley, (16 September 1888 – 13 August 1971 was an English engineer who founded Bentley in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft and automobile engines, Bentley established his own firm in 1919. He built the firm into one of the world's premier luxury and performance auto manufacturers, and led the marque to multiple victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After selling his namesake company to Rolls-Royce in 1931, he was employed as a designer for Lagonda, Aston Martin and Armstrong Siddeley.
Sydney Charles Houghton "Sammy" Davis was a British racing motorist, journalist, graphic artist and clubman.
Sir Henry Ralph Stanley Birkin, 3rd Baronet, known as Tim Birkin, was a British racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s.
The Bentley 4½ Litre is a British car based on a rolling chassis built by Bentley Motors. Walter Owen Bentley replaced the Bentley 3 Litre with a more powerful car by increasing its engine displacement to 4.4 litres. A racing variant was known as the Blower Bentley.
The Bentley 6½ Litre and the high-performance Bentley Speed Six were rolling chassis produced by Bentley from 1926 to 1930. The Speed Six, introduced in 1928, became the most successful racing Bentley. Two Bentley Speed Sixes became known as the Blue Train Bentleys after their owner Woolf Barnato raced the Blue Train in 1930.
The Bentley 3½ Litre was a luxury car produced by Bentley from 1933 to 1939. It was presented to the public in September 1933, shortly after the death of Henry Royce, and was the first new Bentley model following Rolls-Royce's acquisition of the Bentley brand in 1931.
Joel Woolf Barnato was a British financier and racing driver, one of the "Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. He achieved three consecutive wins out of three entries in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Walter Thomas Frederick Hassan OBE, C.Eng., M.I. Mech.E. was a distinguished UK automotive engineer who took part in the design and development of three very successful engines: Jaguar XK, Coventry Climax and Jaguar V12, as well as the ERA racing car.
The 1930 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 8th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 21 and 22 June 1930. It saw the first appearance of a German car and the first entry from female drivers.
The 1929 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 7th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 15 and 16 June 1929.
The 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 6th Grand Prix of Endurance that took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 16 and 17 June 1928.
The 1926 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 4th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1926. It was the first Le Mans race where the winner's average speed was over 100 km/h (62 mph), and also the first to break the 24-hour distance record set by Selwyn Edge at Brooklands in 1907.
John Francis Duff was a Canadian racing driver. He is best known for winning the 1924 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ernest Arthur Douglas Eldridge was a British racing driver who broke the world land speed record in 1924. His was the last land speed record set on an open road.
The Campbell-Railton Blue Bird was Sir Malcolm Campbell's final land speed record car.
Bentley Blower No.1 is a racing car developed from the Bentley 4½ Litre by Sir Henry "Tim" Birkin to win the Le Mans twenty-four-hour race. The car was developed into its current form for racing at Brooklands.
Colonel Reginald Clive Gallop was an engineer, racing driver and First World War pilot. He was one of the team which developed their first engine for Bentley Motors.
An aero-engined car is an automobile powered by an engine designed for aircraft use. Most such cars have been built for racing, and many have attempted to set world land speed records. While the practice of fitting cars with aircraft engines predates World War I by a few years, it was most popular in the interwar period between the world wars when military-surplus aircraft engines were readily available and used to power numerous high-performance racing cars. Initially powered by piston aircraft engines, a number of post-World War II aero-engined cars have been powered by aviation turbine and jet engines instead. Piston-engined, turbine-engined, and jet-engined cars have all set world land speed records. There have also been some non-racing automotive applications for aircraft engines, including production vehicles such as the Tucker 48 and prototypes such as the Chrysler Turbine Car, Fiat Turbina, and General Motors Firebirds. In the late 20th century and into the 21st century, there has also been a revival of interest in piston-powered aero-engined racing cars.
The 1921 S.T.D. 'Works' Grand Prix chassis was built to the three-litre and minimum weight of 800 kilogrammes formula for that year's Indianapolis 500 and French Grand Prix de l’A.C.F. These team cars were modified by the Sunbeam Experimental department in Wolverhampton for the 1922 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, which was won by one of the cars. A few months later, and with 1916 4.9-litre engines, two of the T.T. cars competed in the Coppa Florio, Sicily and gained second and fourth position.
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