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Went to a Jensen show this last weekend

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J

Jerry

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About 12 Interceptors and 5 Jensen Healeys. Very nice show of cars. We went for a drive, they burned a lot of gas at 9 miles per gallon. One of them raised the horsepower to about 600 HP and burned up his transmission.
Very nice show and people. If you own one, drive it more often. Nobody ever sees them on the road.

Jerry
BJ8
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TR3A
 
GAH! C'mon PC. :lol:

Any drop-tops among the Interceptors, Jerry? I'd swear with all the hydraulics and electrics they used for those tops, the GVW was more than the glass-back version. :wink:
 
3 convertibles among the Interceptors. Makes them look like a very LARGE sportscar. Interesting colors also. One white sedan was all original, nothing changed since the factory. Surprisingly, they said the 383 Series 1 is more valuable than the 440 Series 2.
 
Best version IMHO is a Mk 3, which has all mod cons, but a very early one with the 383 that wasn't yet smogged to death. Not many around - I own one.

Had a convertible but hadn't lowered the top for years (no rear visibility when you do), and sold it.

Most fun is the considerably lighter (fibreglass bodied) CV-8 that preceded the Interceptors.

And you don't normally get 9 mpg. I get 15-20 mpg in my Interceptor and CV-8 and the latter runs a sixpack!
 
I like the look of the 541R but I don't think any were shipped to the US and they were a little underpowered. The lines look a lot like a Healey. Jensen made both cars bodies so that is not a surprise.

Jerry
 
The Jensen 541 is a gorgeous car. Only 200-ish made. There are a few of them in the US, but they are few and far between.

I love both it and the CV8. Wasn't really a huge Interceptor fan until i saw one painted two tone. It totally set off the lines of the car brilliantly.

Jody
 
two tone how? Where was the paint break? I have never seen one with two tone but it looks good on a Healey, why not an interceptor.

Jerry
 
To my knowledge 541's were never sold over here, an old friend in Ontario owns one, been in his family for many years... Not sure when his dad purchased it over in England, but it wasn't purchased new... Then Peter moved to Canada in 1976 and brought the Jensen along with him, drove year-round for two years then retired it for many years doing a very slow restoration... I only met Peter because I worked briefly at a gas station (about 12 years ago), full-serve, he came by in his 1980's Jaguar Sovereign (ie. XJ6) we started chatting cars, off-hand he mentioned about a Jensen he had a home, said it was a 1956 541, as my jaw literally dropped...
grin.gif
He said I was welcome to drop by his place, I sure wasn't going to say no... :yesnod:

I got to know Peter quite well during my three years spent in Ontario, he made quite a bit of progress on the car, just before I moved back to Alberta he told me that my interest was part of what got him going on the restoration again as he hadn't done anything on the Jensen for a long time, I never did get to see it on the road...
 
Jerry said:
two tone how? Where was the paint break? I have never seen one with two tone but it looks good on a Healey, why not an interceptor.

Jerry
Click to expand...

Two toned on the top, rather than bottom:

15995645_boxm.png


Here's his web site about his interceptor: https://www.myclassicjensen.info/
 
Very cool! I have yet to see a 541 in person. I do know of a pair (1 restorable, 2nd for parts) in the southwestern US. They were offered to me a while back, but I simply didn't have neough in the piggy bank to justify them.
 
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