Classic Jensen Cars for Sale

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Healey (6) Interceptor (2)

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1974 Jensen Healey

$13,495 $15,495 22,000 miles

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United States

Frequently Asked Questions about Classic Jensen

Jensen was founded by brothers Alan and Richard Jensen, born in 1906 and 1909, and the marque carries their family name. They went to work for W. J. Smith & Sons, a motor body builder at Carters Green in West Bromwich, England, and took over the business after William Smith died. In 1934 it became Jensen Motors Limited.

Jensen cars were built in West Bromwich, England. The company began in the former W. J. Smith works at Carters Green and later moved to a new, larger factory on Kelvin Way that was built in the mid-1950s. Jensen also did contract work there, making bodies for the Austin-Healey, finishing Volvo P1800 bodies and building the Sunbeam Tiger for Rootes. The first bodies for the 1966 Interceptor were made in Italy by Vignale.

Jensen had four sets of owners between its founding and its 1976 closure. The Jensen brothers controlled the company until the industrial holding company Norcros bought it in 1959. The merchant bank Brandts took it over in 1968. In 1970 Kjell Qvale, a California importer of British cars, became the majority shareholder and brought in Donald Healey as chairman. A receiver was appointed in 1975.

Jensen put four-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes into a road-going grand tourer with the FF of 1966, which used the Ferguson Formula system and Dunlop Maxaret brakes. Motor Sport magazine describes it as the world's first four-wheel-drive performance car with anti-lock braking. Most sources count 320 built through 1971, all with right-hand drive. Earlier, the Jensen 541, first shown in 1953, went into production with a fiberglass body, and the 541 Deluxe added disc brakes on all four wheels.

The 1966 Jensen Interceptor was styled by Carrozzeria Touring of Italy and powered by a Chrysler V8. Vignale built the first bodies before Jensen took production in-house. Early cars used a 383 cubic inch (6.3-liter) engine and later ones a 440 cubic inch (7.2-liter) unit, most with a TorqueFlite automatic. Jensen built 6,408 Interceptors from 1966 to 1976. An earlier Austin-engined Interceptor, of which 88 were made, was a different car.

The Jensen-Healey was a two-seat convertible sports car that Jensen built in West Bromwich from 1972 to 1976. It was developed with Donald Healey and his son Geoffrey after the Austin-Healey 3000 ended, was aimed at the American market and debuted in March 1972. Power came from a 1,973 cc, 16-valve Lotus 907 twin-cam four. Published totals differ slightly, but more than 10,000 were built, plus 509 or 511 fixed-roof Jensen GTs depending on the source.

Jensen Motors ceased trading in May 1976, after a receiver had been appointed in September 1975. The National Motor Museum attributes the collapse to financial difficulties in the aftermath of the oil crisis. Other accounts add labor disputes at the factory and the early engine and build-quality problems of the Jensen-Healey, which had been meant to replace lost contract work. The remaining assets were auctioned in August 1976.

Yes, the Jensen name returned more than once after the 1976 collapse. The surviving parts and service business, led by Ian Orford, became Jensen Cars Limited and put the Interceptor back into production in 1983 as the Series 4. Only a small number were made. A separate company unveiled a new two-seat convertible, the Jensen S-V8, in 1998, but that venture ended in 2002.

The 8 Jensen listings on Classic Cars Arena right now are priced from $7,500 to $84,995, with a median asking price of $12,998. These are the prices sellers are asking today, not sale prices, and the figures change as cars are listed and sold.

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