The Jensen Story Part–1

Alan and Richard Jensen produced their first car in 1928 when they converted a five year old Austin 7 Chummy saloon into a very stylish two seater. The car had cycle mudguards, a louvered bonnet and boat–tail. The vehicle was then sold and replaced with another Austin 7, after which another car was produced, this time on a Standard chassis. There followed a series of specials based on the Wolseley Hornet, this being a popular sporting small car of the time.

In the early 1930’s saw the Jensen brothers becoming joint managing directors of commercial coachbuilders, W. J. Smith & Sons, and in 1934 the name was changed to Jensen Motors Limited. Soon, a thriving business was underway, providing bodywork conversions for readily available chassis from Morris, Singer, Standard as well as Wolseley.

Jensen Motors Build a Car for Actor, Clark Gable

Jensen’s work did not go unnoticed, as the company received a commission from actor Clark Gable to produced a car based upon a US Ford chassis, a Ford V8 engine coupled to a three–speed Ford transmissions. This stylish car was exhibited at the 1934 Ford Motor show before being shipped out to Gable.

This link to a world class celebrity led to orders for Clark Gable replicas, but there was a problem. Ford had never given Jensen Motors permission to use their components and so Jensen had to apprach Ford to seek permission to build the car. With access to the necessary parts, 20 Clark Gable replica cars were made to order.

Next came a series of sporting cars powered by the twin–ignition straight–eight Nash engine, such as the Jensen Model H, or a Lincoln V12 unit. Despite the success of building cars it was still the commercial vehicle side of the business that was the most profitable. Here, Jensen Motors was a leader in the field of design and construction of high–strength light alloys and produced a range of alloy bodied trucks and buses.

World War Two saw car production put aside as attention was turned to more appropriate activities to support the war effort. At this time, Jensen Motors became involved in the production of ambulances, fire appliances, as well as revolving tank gun turrets, explosives and converting the Sherman Tank for amphibious use for the D–Day invasion of Europe.

The Launch of The Jensen PW

After the war, and in August 1946, Jensen launched their entirely new model, the PW. This car was originally powered by a Meadows straight–eight cylinder 3,860cc engine and was shown with some success at the London Motor Show that year.

The Meadows engine was found to suffer from excessive vibration so Jensen had to fall back on a stock pile of pre–war Nash engines to stem complaints from customers. However, this was a short term solution to a problem that was likely to be long term if another engine could not be found.

Shortly after the launch, Richard Jensen saw what looked like another Jensen PW on the streets of London, but the car turned out to be the new four–litre Austin Sheerline. It was discovered that Leonard Lord of Austin had been so impressed with the Jensen PW, having seen it at the motor show, he had the Austin plant produce a car that was similar in appearance.

An Urgent Meeting is Called

The Jensen’s were not happy, and so an urgent meeting was called between Leonard Lord and the somewhat aggrieved Richard Jensen to discuss the issue. In an effort to placate Jensen, Lord offered the supply of the Austin four–litre six–cylinder engine. As Jensen was being backed into a corner through not having a suitable engine, the offer was accepted. This marked the beginning of an association between Austin and Jensen Motors Ltd. that spanned twenty–years.

Having now got the new engine needed for the Jensen PW, the company turned its attention to the production of another car, the Jensen Interceptor. Designer, Eric Neale, wanted to use Leonard Lord’s Austin A70 chassis up which an all aluminium body would be built.

Lord readily agreed to this, but only on the understanding that Jensen produce a special sports body for Austin in return.

In 1952 the British Motor Corporation was formed (BMC) which amalgamated the two car manufacturers, Austin and Morris. During preparation for the 1952 London Motor Show at Earls Court, it is said that Leonard Lord, head of the Austin division of BMC, set up an unofficial competition between Jensen Motors, the Donald Healey Motor Company and Frazer–Nash for each build a sports car. Lord would then decide which one he would he liked best and so invest in.

The Jensen car was a two–seater open top sports model that already been commissioned by Lord and built on the Austin A40 chassis. Unfortunately, the car wasn’t finished in time and so put Jensen out of the running.

Out of the two remaining cars, Leonard Lord chose to offer the contract to Donald Healey to build his car, the Healey 100.

However, production of the Jensen car did go ahead, appearing very similar to the Austin A40 Sport; a car that was also built on behalf of Austin by Jensen. Some 3,200 Austin versions were produced, with 643 being exported to the United States.

Jensen Motors Bid to Build Austin Healey 100 Bodies

Production of the car provided Jensen Motors with the opportunity to bid for other projects, such as to manufacture the body for the new Austin Healey 100.

A meeting was arranged between Leonard Lord and Richard Jensen, during which Jensen gave assurances that his company could produce up to 150 car per week.

Having been impressed with the Jensen prototype of the Austin A40 based sports car, taking this as an example of their work, Leonard Lord awarded Jensen Motors the contract to build bodies for the new Austin Healey 100.

As a consequence, all subsequent styling and body engineering of the Austin Healey 100, including the production of competition vehicles, was undertaken by Jensen in partnership with Donald Healey and BMC.

The Income From the Austin Healey Contract Financed a New Model

Aided by the immense popularity of the Austin Healey 100, and with full order books for Healey car bodies, Jensen established sufficient financial resources to develop a new GT model of their own and as a successor to the Interceptor.

This vehicle was the Jensen 541 and it first went on sale in 1954. It was the first British production saloon car to be fitted with disc brakes to all four wheels. Another ground breaking aspect of the car was that of the body being constructed from fibreglass.

The Jensen 541 was a very attractive coupe and had a chassis that was designed by Jensen, but still with the Austin drive train and suspension.

Donald Healey was certainly impressed with the Jensen 541 and he placed an order for one, but without an engine! When the car was delivered, Healey fitted to it a small block Chevrolet V8 engine, making a very fast and mechanically robust motorcar that he used as his personal transport on a daily basis.

Jensen Motors is Sold to The Norcross Group

From 1959, Jensen Motors became the property of the Norcross Group. Both brothers were not in the best of health at this time, a side effect of being over worked and the worry of several industrial disputes. This arrangement would give them financial security as well as a sound backing for the business.

When the deal between Jensen and The Norcross Group was struck it was agreed Alan and Richard Jensen would stay on for another 5–years to manage the company, each one taking it in turns to be Chairman on an annual basis. However, it is said there was a tetchy relationship between the Jensen brothers, and new Norcross appointed Managing Director, Brian Owen.

In 1961 Jensen Motors won a contract to assemble, paint and finish the new Volvo P1800 sports coupe, the bodies for which were produced by Pressed Steel in Scotland. After completion, the bodies were then shipped to Sweden to be made into the competed car.

The arrangement didn’t work out as planned as the Pressed Steel work turned out not to be of the required high standard expected by Volvo, as the cars were often arriving in Sweden with substantial damage. Pressed Steel were producing 130–bodies per week until Volvo bought themselves out of the contract and built the vehicles on their own.

While Jensen continued to build bodies for the Austin Healey 100, the company discontinued the use of Austin components for their own cars. In 1962, the Jensen CV–8 was launched. The car was powered by a Chrysler V8 engine, supplied direct by Chrysler, complete with their excellent Torqueflite automatic transmission.

From 1963 to 1967, Jensen was commissioned to build the Sunbeam Tiger for the Rootes Group. The purpose of the car was to show the buying public the Sunbeam Alpine could be a serious sports car.

This was a stylish two–seater using the body of the standard Sunbeam Alpine, but with a Ford V8 engine squeezed in under the bonnet. 7,067 of Sunbeam Tiger’s were built until Rootes were taken over by Chrysler. At that point the car was discontinued on account of Chrysler’s refusal to allow the use of a Ford engine in what was now one of their cars.

British Motor Corporation Becomes British Motor Holdings

In 1966, British Motor Corporation absorbed Jaguar and became British Motor Holdings (BMH), an event that put George Harriman in charge of Austin and in place of Leonard Lord.

As the Austin Healey contract was the main source of income for Jensen Motors, this relied totally upon a good working relationship being maintained between Donald Healey and British Motor Holdings. However, Donald Healey was having a battle with George Harriman over the distribution of finances earned from the manufacture of the Austin Healey 3000, the 3–litre version of the 100.

An Austin Healey 3000 MkIV is Planned

George Harriman also made it known to Donald Healey it was his intention to end the production of the car and replace it with a new model. At the time the replacement car was intended to be a MGB, but with the same 3–litre straight six–cylinder engine as the Austin Healey 3000.

It was thought the new car could be marketed as the Austin Healey 3000 Mk IV. However, the dispute effectively marked the beginning of the end of a relationship between Donald Healey and BMH and the would–be Austin Healey 3000 Mk IV was eventually released as the MGC.

The Austin Healey Contract for Jensen Ends

In 1968, BMH was swallowed up by the giant corporation, British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) and the Austin Healey cars discontinued.

As the demise of the Austin Healey 3000 was on the cards, Jensen Motors decided to build a new model of their own as a replacement. Two prototypes of their car were built and powered by a 4.5–litre Chrysler V8 engine, giving a top speed of 140mph.

Jensen planned for this new car, code named the P66, to be aimed at the US market. The thinking behind this was the car would appeal to the Americans on account of it being British built, but with the familiarity of a home–grown engine.

However, the P66 caused monumental arguments between the Jensen brothers and the Norcross Group. Jensen had seen the car as the natural successor to the Austin Healey 3000, but the Norcross Group wanted to design a replacement for the Jensen C–V8 instead.

As they estimated the new P66 would be priced at £2,200 in the UK, against £3,500 for the C–V8, Jensen argued there was great potential for it to be sold in large numbers.

As the Norcross Group was the controlling force over Jensen, and so controlled the purse strings, the P66 project was abandoned and the investment went to the new Italian styled Jensen Interceptor and the 4–wheel drive Jensen FF. Only two prototype P66 cars were made, of which one survives today (above).

Within weeks of the squabble, Eric Neale, Jensen’s chief designer, resigned, as did both Alan and Richard Jensen, although at the time they referred to it as retirement.

The Jensen Story Part–1
The Jensen Story Part–2

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The Jensen Story Part–1