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All you need to know about Jensen

All you need to know about Jensen

Born: 1934 Nationality: British

The first true Jensen car didn't appear until 1935, although Alan and Richard Jensen had been in the business since 1928 when, as apprentices, they built a Special on an Austin Seven chassis. After a short period designing cars for the Standard company, they joined bodybuilders W J Smith in 1931, and took over the company in 1936 on the death of the owner.

The "White Lady" open tourer of 1935, built on a lengthened Ford chassis, was the beginning of a relatively tiny car building operation attached to the brothers' main business of building bodies for vans, lorries and buses. They were innovators in this area, introducing an alloy-bodied truck in 1939 which gave considerably increased economy.

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Car-building stopped during the war, but military contracts kept the firm quite profitable. Then, in 1946, the large luxury Jensen PW saloon, was revealed. It was built in only small numbers because of restrictions on raw materials.

In 1950, the brothers drew on their light alloy expertise and produced the first of arguably the most beautiful Jensens ever, the Austin-powered Interceptor which remained in production until 1958. In the meantime, the company experimented with fibreglass, and the 541 touring car went into production in 1955.

The C-V8, with a 6-litre Chrysler engine, brought the brand into the supercar league in 1962. Some 500 of them had been built by the time production ceased in 1966.

The Jensen brothers resigned from the company the same year, after a decision by the board to contract out the next design to Italian designers Vignale. That car was to be the Interceptor with the massive rear "glasshouse" that is the style most remembered today. A version of that model revealed at the same time was the FF, the first car to use the innovative 4WD system developed by tractor maker Harry Ferguson. The FF also had ABS.

It became the "in" car for emerging 1960s celebrities - entertainers, football managers, golfers (Jack Niklaus) and actors. Yet, the Interceptor had problems which cost the company more than it could afford, especially as important contract work on building the Austin-Healey sports car ended.

Although a succession of heavy-hitting US carmen - Carl Duerr and, after him, Kjell Qvale - were brought in to sort the company out, by 1970 Jensen Motors Ltd was owned by its bankers.

In 1971, a decision was made to build a brand new car designed by Donald Healey. The Jensen-Healey, aimed at the US market, went into production a year later. At the same time, a more powerful version of the Interceptor was produced, though without the FF 4WD.

Then the 1973 oil crisis joined problems with the Jensen-Healey to push the firm further down the financial ladder. Receivers were called in in 1975 and in May 1976 the company ceased trading.

Although it failed as a brand in its own right, Jensen's collaborations with other carmakers were well considered. The brands included Austin, Sunbeam, Rolls-Royce and Lotus - and Volvo with its iconic P1800 sports car which will be for ever linked with The Saint.

In the 1980s, limited production was revived by the operator of a hived-off business set up to source spares for Jensens. Ian Orford sold on to engineering consultancy Unicon Holdings in 1988, and development work on a Series 5 Interceptor was put in train. But by 1992, the receivers were in again, and the Jensen assets were bought by Martin Robey, a manufacturer of body spares for classic cars.

A new Jensen concept, the S-V8 roadster, was built in 1998 by Creative Design of Redditch. This group also brought out a coupé version in 2000, under the banner of a revived Jensen Motors. Only a dozen or so cars for demonstration purposes were ever built, and in 2002 this company was also wound up.

BEST CAR: The Interceptor of the mid-1950s for style, or the 330bhp C-V8 of the early 60s for sheer power

WORST CAR: The Jensen-Healey of 1972 - pictured

WEIRDEST CAR: The 1976 Jensen GT, an estate version of the Jensen-Healey.