Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Blame it on Rick

In the comments Rick smart remarked "A Jensen who?" To prove my store of useless information, I choose to answer here.

Austin Healey made some of the most beloved sports cars in history. Good original or restored examples go for a lot of money. The bodies for these cars were made by The Jensen Brothers. When they quit making Austin Healeys, Jensen Bros. looked around for something to do.

They made a partnesrship with the son of the original Healey. They produced bodies, and Healey helped acquire engines and assemble the cars. They started out using Vauxhall engines, but they were underpowered, and wouldn't meet US emissions standards.

They ordered 2.0 liter 4 cylinder 16 valve engines from Lotus. The engines were still in development, but working with Lotus they ironed out the kinks, and the result was the Jensen Healey. The engines were originally developed for sports car racing, and they detuned them to make them more reliable.

They hoped that the new sports cacr would be as popular as the Austin Healey, but it never caught on, and it was only produced for a few years.

There were only 3,000 and a couple hundred produced in 1973, and I now own two of them.

4 comments:

Rick said...

And Austin Healey was Austin Power's half-brother by way of Fat Bastard. Oh, beHAVE.

Michael said...

They look like fun to me, seems like you got another great deal!

Anonymous said...

Woo Hoo!

My current obsession is wanting sooooo bad to have an original Mini. Leyland, Rover, I don't care which. I just want me one of them teeny cars!

Unfortnately, I don't know how to tinker with cars, so it might be a bad idea.

Al said...

Rick: And Jensen Healey was Austins half brother on the other side by way of Wonder Woman.

Michael. If I can't have some fun and make some money, I will not have been trying.

NCP: I have had a couple of semi-mini originals. A couple of Austin Americas and a MG1300. But I tend to buy cars (the more obscure the better) fix them up and sell them. I would offer my services as a mechanic, but the portal to portal travel time would be a bitch.