Lot Ended
Description
Bodywork restored and repainted about 10 years ago; recent new cambelt
and carburettor rebuild; only 29,500 miles indicated; hard top and soft top;
runs and drives; for recommissioning following 25+ years in
storage
The Jensen-Healey convertible was
launched in March 1972 when Donald Healey was chairman of the Jensen board.
Aimed mainly at the American market, the West Bromwich-built sportscar was
intended to be a modern interpretation of the Healey 3000.
Bluffly handsome with sharp-edged Sixties lines, it was styled by
Hugo Poole with input from William Towns (of Aston Martin Lagonda and DBS fame)
and possessed a notably stiff bodyshell thanks to its Barry Bilbie-designed
unibody.
It was powered by Colin Chapman's
brand new 2-litre, 16-valve Lotus 907 twin cam engine. Pushing out 144bhp in
European-spec Dellorto carburettor form and driving through a 4-speed gearbox,
it was good for 120mph, could sprint to 60 in 7.8 secs and returned 30mpg on a
run.
Although the car enjoyed reasonable
success, selling some 8,000 examples to America and 2,000 to Europe, it was not
enough to save Jensen who finally shut up shop in 1976, weighed down by debts
and industrial unrest.
Dating from January
1973, this particular Jensen-Healey MkI comes with only a small amount of
history but was acquired by our vendor back in 2015 in part-ex for a Ford Escort
MkI. At this point the Jensen had been in storage for at least 20 years but the
previous owner had carried out some localised repairs to the bodywork and
repainted the car, as shown in photos on file.
Shortly
after acquiring the car our vendor fitted a new cambelt and overhauled the
carbs, getting them ultrasonically cleaned and rebuilt. He also fitted Accuspark
electronic ignition, new spark plugs, fresh coolant and a new battery. He also
had the compressions tested, reporting that they were all healthy at around
170psi on all four cylinders.
As he also owns
several other classics, the Jensen then got rather forgotten about and has been
kept in dry storage ever since. Shortly before the auction the car was got
running again and the oil and filter were renewed, the vendor reporting that it
runs, drives, steers and stops but will doubtless benefit from some
precautionary checks before any long journeys are undertaken.
As you can see in the photos, it looks very
sound both above and below with good Tangerine Orange paintwork, the only real
blemish we noted being a small rust patch on the boot lid. The interior looks to
be in very good shape, as does the canvas soft top, and a black hard top is also
included. The odometer shows only 29,430 miles but there is no history to
warrant this figure.
Starting promptly and
running well as we have moved it around on site, with good 70psi oil pressure,
this interesting and handsome sportscar is on offer here as a straightforward
recommissioning project and shouldn’t take much to get it back on the road where
it belongs.
These Jensen-Healeys are getting
thin on the ground now, with only 255 still licensed in the UK, with another 186
on SORN, according to the howmanyleft website. Given that the last one we sold
made over £14,000 in 2022, this one looks good value at the sensible guide price
suggested.
For more information contact
James on 07970 309907 or email [email protected]