Values

A few years ago, a phenomenal amount of interest in classic cars caused a lot of things to be published and prices to rise beyond belief.

This was at a time when a racing car Aston Martin Zagato (which never won a race) sold for over a million and a half pounds. An ‘E’ type Jaguar cost up to £ 90,000 for what was a mass produced car (and many were built in the 12 years of production). It’s no wonder that many enthusiasts couldn’t afford an interesting classic. Since those heady days, the situation has changed dramatically, the recession, resulting in more sensitive prices for most classic cars.

However, even when the prices were quite ridiculous, there was a remarkable and distinctive car from the early ’60s that was overlooked, available at a very reasonable cost, and still undervalued.

Manufactured by hand, with very few maintenance problems and, best of all, there is no need to worry about rust on the bodywork! It is one of the few classic cars that can really be used as a means of daily transportation; I had been driving one for over 25 years and now my son still uses it.

I’m talking about Jensen cars from the early 1960s, designed by Eric Neale and built around the time Richard and Alan Jensen owned the company. In particular, the Jensen CV8 (this is the pre-Interceptor model) with the massive 6-liter V8 engine and the 541S.

The CV8 was the fastest four-seater of all in 1965, and I drove my special version, commissioned by Hardy Amies, every day until I emigrated from the UK a few years ago. The other favorite is the classic British thoroughbred 541. Especially the last model built before the CV8, with the Austin Princes 4-liter inline six engine, particularly the manual version of the Jensen 541S.

Classic Car Show Awards

For so many years, these Jensen cars have not been expensive compared to other classics of the time. It really is very strange when you consider that, in most of the important classic car shows of the past, Jensen won the best awards.

Against all the prestigious brands, the Jensen Owners Club, along with Dave Horton’s famous CV8, have won; ‘Show car’, or ‘Best of the master class’ and ‘Best club booth’ and so on. There can hardly be a classic car award worthwhile that hasn’t been won by a Jensen!

Pioneers

These awards aren’t really that surprising as the West Bromwich-based Jensen brothers made extremely fine handcrafted cars. They were also pioneers; the first to provide disc brakes everywhere; first with four-wheel drive (we have CV8); one of the first to use the wind tunnel for body design.

They were also well known and respected for their forward thinking ideas on security. The 541S was the first car with seat belts, as standard, they also provided very soft padded areas above and below the dash. The door handles and window rollers were all in recessed panels to prevent damage.

They won the silver medal for coach work at Earls Court, and with the 541R, in 1957, according to the tests of ‘The Autocar’, they had produced the fastest four-seater car of the day.

Over the years, his work as a fiberglass and polyester resin trainer has stood the test of time remarkably well.

Maintenance

These cars are much easier to service and maintain than many other classics, and this statement applies to some of the newer cars. There is a very enthusiastic owners club that provides valuable technical information. Most replacement parts aren’t too hard to find through the Jensen Owners Club, either. The chassis is built like a tank and the fiberglass body eliminates all those rust problems.

High voltage

The proven 4-liter inline six-cylinder engine is one of a kind, fitted with large triple SU carburettors and connected to the Jaguar Moss 4-speed synchromesh gearbox, with overdrive, plus Dunlop servo-assisted disc brakes throughout. . – Provides a lot of car!

The CV8 is an even more powerful car, but not a British thoroughbred, as it has a Chrysler V8 engine. Certainly, there aren’t many cars from the early ’60s that can still be used as an everyday car some 35 years later.

Super luxury

I haven’t mentioned the luxurious interiors yet, but both models provide a luxurious leather chair for four, but also plenty of head and leg room, even in the rear. A lockable glove compartment, a useful container under the center armrest, a deep pocket on both sides of the rear seats for rolled newspapers, as well as large pockets with pleats, at the rear of the front seats. The 541S’s front passenger seat folds flat to allow much easier access to the rear than most other two-door cars, even modern ones.

Both the 541S and CV8, unlike many more modern fast cars, sensibly provide plenty of luggage space in the trunk. I feel like a lot of modern fast car designs don’t provide the head and leg room for taller drivers, and completely fail to provide usable luggage space. As a family man, these are some of the reasons why I prefer the CV8.

An overwhelming amount of standard equipment, at a time when both items and optional extras were loaded, such as: – a Motorola radio (lights up with the Jensen name); the heater a mist and a light bulb; a fire extinguisher; first aid kit; a cigarette lighter; a clock; heated rear window and all the instruments one could want. Plus a very generous set of tools in a snug tray, underneath the 541S dashboard, consisting of (in addition to screwdrivers and wrenches) pliers, an adjustable wrench, even a pressure gauge, spare bulbs, tire valve and cap .

Of all the Jensen cars of this period, the 541S has been the least sought after and the hardest to sell. There is a reason for this, although it is an impressive and beautiful car, it has a reputation for lacking acceleration as a sports car. It has a good top speed and is capable of traveling over 100 mph throughout the day.

The fabulous 541S manual

But all the original road test reports were based on the automatic version (this automatic gearbox, although developed by Rolls Royce, lost a lot of performance). It is a pity that the manual version has never been tested!

Between 1960 and 1962 Jensen manufactured 127, in total 541 cars, of these only 22 were manually operated. The manual is a gem of a car! The most luxurious car in the entire 541 range, and what is not generally known, these manual driving cars with the Lacock-de-Normanville overdrive are very fast cars. They would have earned a much better reputation from a road test than they do from the automatic version.

Additional design features

The 541S has certain unusual design features, adjustable front seat armrests installed in each door, the Bevelift jack, which is stored in the trunk, was designed to be used through the car floor in front of each front seat. Thus, it was possible to lift the front and rear wheels together while sheltering from the rain.

When the boot lid is open, the driver can still see, without any restriction, out the rear window. Very sensibly, the spare wheel valve is accessible, via an accessory at the rear of the boot floor, allowing for easy air pressure control without having to remove the wheel.

Sexy

You could say that the look of these cars when viewed from the side is reminiscent of early Jaguar cars, possibly facing Aston Martin, and from the rear you think of Porsche. However, Jensen developed with the 541S a rather original and distinctive aerodynamic design without sacrificing space or comfort.

I still consider it one of the most attractive four-seater cars of that time and still arouse admiration today. Readers will now realize that I like these cars, that’s true, and we had 5 out of 22 made. It will not be easy to buy a good 541S manual as there are only 15 more at most.

They are identified by the chassis number prefix 102 (two prototypes were made with chassis numbers JM EXP 100 and JM EXP 102).

The search would be worth it, if one could be found, as such a car would cost less than an ordinary ‘E’ type Jaguar in reasonable condition.

My bet is that this situation will change.