Tim's 1973 Jensen Healey - Short Film - a burning desire.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 มิ.ย. 2022
- The Jensen Healey is an undeniably pretty classic. It's a vehicle that exudes British charm by the absolute bucket load. Tim has always been a fan of British sports cars, with an impressive vehicle history which many would describe as the "best of British" - chances are if it's British, Tim's probably driven it. The Jensen Healey however, was never really on the radar...
This Healey came into Tim's ownership by pure serendipity. A barn fire had completely destroyed his caravan, leaving Tim with a cheque and the new-found-desire to purchase yet another British classic - after all, there's still a few to tick off the ol' bucket list!
To be honest the "honeymoon" period of Tim's Healey ownership was more of a nightmare.
After about a year of ownership the engine decided it would like to be reincarnated as a 1000 different engine fragments - the joys of classic car ownership, aye.
Tim - being the stereotypical plucky brit - decided that this was the perfect opportunity to get more power from the engine. After some wizardry installing a new engine Tim's Healey was now producing 219bhp, quite the upgrade from the 140 brake it left the factory with!
Disaster struck once again when it was discovered that the underside of the car resembled a classic alfa left at the bottom of the ocean for 40 years.
This unfortunate discovery led to 1000 hours in the body-shop. Turning a bit of a rusty mess into a fully-fledged-concours-winning Jensen Healey.
This is a story of passion - it really sums up why we have classic cars. Tim could have gone out with that insurance cheque and bought a Honda Jazz (there's still no law against it as far as I'm aware) but he didn't. Tim didn't even just buy a classic car, he SAVED a classic, and for that we say thanks. Be like Tim.
Cheers Tim!
Drive on!
If you've got a cool car/bike/plane you'd like to have filmed then drop me a message via - www.yeahdawgie.com/contact - I'm always on the look out for more cool car projects!
Gear Used:
Panasonic S1
LUMIX S 24-105mm F4 MACRO O.I.S.
Panasonic GH5
Panasonic Lumix G X Vario Zoom 12-35mm F/2.8
Assets from Envato Elements
Edited on Adobe Premiere Pro & Adobe After Effects
Zhuyin Weebill-S
Deity V-Mic D3 Pro
Tascam DR-10L
The Jensen-Healey (1972-76) is a British two-seater convertible sports car, the best-selling Jensen of all time. In total 10,503 (10 prototypes, 3,347 Mk.1 and 7,146 Mk.2) were produced by Jensen Motors Ltd. in West Bromwich, England. A related fastback, the Jensen GT, was introduced in 1975.
Launched in 1972 as a fast, luxurious and competent convertible sports car, it was positioned in the market between the Triumph TR6 and the Jaguar E-Type. The 50/50 weight balance achieved by the use of the all alloy Lotus 907 engine led to universal praise for the car's excellent handling.
When production of the Austin-Healey 3000 ended, Donald Healey opened discussions with Jensen Motors, who had built the bodies for Healey's Austin-Healey cars. The largest Austin-Healey dealer in the U.S., San Francisco-based Kjell Qvale, was also keen to find a replacement to the Austin-Healey 3000; Qvale would become a major shareholder of Jensen, making Donald Healey the chairman. The Jensen-Healey was developed in a joint venture by Donald Healey, his son Geoffrey, and Jensen Motors. Hugo Poole did the styling of the body, the front, and back of which were later modified by William Towns to take advantage of the low profile engine and to allow cars for the U.S. market to be fitted with bumpers to meet increasingly strict U.S. safety regulations. The unitary body understructure was designed by Barry Bilbie, who had been responsible for the Austin-Healey 100, 100-6 and 3000 as well as the Sprite. It was designed to be easy to repair, with bolt-on panels, to keep insurance premiums down.
The oil crisis hit Jensen Motors hard, greatly damaging the sales of its very large V8 Interceptor model and thus degrading its financial condition as a whole. The Jensen GT was then hurriedly brought to market, requiring massive labour expense and taxing the firm's budget even further. By 1974 Lotus was able to supply the required number of engines and production reached 86 cars a week but despite this, the overall situation proved to be too much for the company, which, amid strike action, component shortages and inflation, proceeded to liquidate in 1975 and then close in May 1976.
Being a convertible two-seater performance sports car from a prestige car builder the Jensen-Healey scores highly as a collectible car. In recent years the majority of cars advertised for sale in the UK have been imported from the US, with the number of registered cars in the UK rising from 330 in 2014 to 420 in late 2019.
Restoration and maintenance costs are comparatively low for such a rare car, with many parts being available as all the tooling and parts stock was bought from Jensen by a UK company. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
So back in the 70's, I worked at a Jensen dealer. The parts manager's demo. was a Jensen Healey JH5. One day I was told to follow a fellow employee in a customers MGB that needed a new door glass so we had to sublet it. Now Anaheim Blvd. back in those days was a narrow two lane. The kid driving the MGB made the light but I had to stop for the red. I also didn't know were the vendor was. So when the light turned green, I took off in hot pursuit. I got up into 3rd gear not quite to redline, looked at the speedo and was shocked to see I was doing 90mph. I of course backed off but I will never forget that Healey. What a car.
Great story! LOOOOVE the color combo!!!
Thanks, it was a big decision, I was going black inside & then changed at the last minute. I’m glad I did👍
Awesome, I did the same and restored mine during mid 2020 covid. She came out great and I won a prize in my Jensen class. Beautiful car and a very tasteful restoration! They will eventually get the credit they deserve.
That's great to hear Chris! We have to keep these old girls' on the road!
Thankyou Tim. Had a 1973 2 x dual throat delorto carbs. Hand tuned by ear every Saturday. A SWEET piece of Kit. Appreciate the memories. Warwick
She's a beaut fella..... well done.... 👍😎
Awesome video Tim. Magic car and stunning countryside !
Thanks for watching buddy!
Having owned a TR-6 and a TR-5 (TR-250 in the States), There is no way i would trade a Jensen-Healey for one of those tractor-engine driven machines! Yes, The J-H has bugs, but they can be taken out. You did a fantastic job. Congratulations!
Thanks for watching buddy!
Thanks for the fantastic story! In March '22 I bought a 1974 JH that has been hidden in and old garage for 32 years. My first order of business is to replace the cam belt before I attempt to start her. I'll certainly remember your story as I bring this special car back on the road. Thanks again Tim!
Thanks you. Well done on saving one, we look forward to welcoming you. Join the Jensen Owner's Club forum for great advice, also the Jensen-Healey Facebook page is very useful.
As well as the cam belt take a careful look at the tees taking petrol into the carburettors, originally these were plastic and have a tendency to break over time spilling petrol over the nice sparky distributor leading to inevitable consequences. Change them for metal ones if they are still the originals.
I had a 73. I worked in a body shop and painted it Porsche Indian red. I had the rims polished and had the square details painted red. Also polished the intake manifold. She was a looker like yours. But I didn’t have the 5 speed nor that 220hp motor nor the interior…WOW you sir have a beautiful car.
This has been one of my favorite cars to film for sure! A real lairy ride!
Thank you, really lovely story and video on our favourite car maker Jensen.
Thanks Neil!
Brilliant photography and editing - nice work James!
Thanks guys!
One of the nicest JH's I've ever seen. The restoration is beautiful, no cutting corners, you did it right.
219 hp is nothing to be sniffed at in such a light car. I bet she is real blast to drive. No wonder you love it so. Congratulations.
Thank you, I’m glad you appreciate her. She is great fun to drive and surprises a lot of modern cars. She’ll do 0-60 in a smidge under 6 seconds, not too shabby for a car that is almost 50 years old😁
Love it, always liked them as a kid.
This is a fabulous piece of work, I really will treasure it. Thank you so much.
It was a pleasure Tim!
Great video!
I test-drove a few back in the mid-eighties, I never forgot the feeling. It had this raw power and was a little wild. I have wanted one since. Maybe I will get lucky still. I really like what you have done with the engine and the interior.
Absolutely! I couldn't believe how visceral the experience was - probably the most lairy car I've filmed so far!
Thank you, every drive of it makes me smile. After we filmed this I did some proper 0-60 timings. She just squeaks in under 6 seconds. Not too shabby for a car that’s 50 years old next year.😁
Really cool car makes me jealous!
Cheers for watching Brendan!
A nicely put together video featuring a great car! Thanks. I’m going to subscribe now.
Absolutely treat of car mate.👍
This is a guy who loves his car!🤓
What an absolute beauty. Congrats but v. Jealous!
BEAUTIFUL CAR !!! THANKS NICE VIDEO !!😃
Thanks for watching!
Fabulous really good stuff 👍👌
Cheers Lee!
Great Video Tim and good to talk to you in the office, !
Nice car Mine is a 1973 in Jaquar BRG with mini lite spoke wheels. My sons is a 74 same color as yours.
Really nice video of a great car!
Great video! Lovely car!
I remember the "car" magazine review of this car when new - they illustrated it with a bouquet of flowers blossoming out of the exhaust endpipe because the engine supposedly burnt so cleanly.
A car with very slow creeping along looks it took years to become appreciated, at least forty. After all this time I still find myself being shocked by the news it is not GRP. Out of the factory they certainly looked it. I never understood why it took Lotus so long to sort that engine, you would have thought that they might have had a little more incentive. But my memories of this car back in the seventies was of grass growing around their wheels parked outside peoples houses. You might be forgiven for thinking that I don't much like this car, back in the seventies you would have been right, I mean who in their right mind would build a car fitted with an engine of such poor repute, that had it's tail end stolen from Triumph, pity they didn't fit the Sprint engine. And built in steel to look like fiberglass it might have sold better if it had been. Yet all these years later I can truthfully say Yes I like it. But wasn't it too dammed expensive. Back then I could have bought a second hand frogeye,a Europa and a seven and had enough change left over for a mini marcos and a years boozing down the pub. No contest.
Lotus did sort the engine - but only for use in their own cars. They sold the untried 907 to Jensen (who were desperate for a performance engine for their new car) without a warranty. They did sort it sufficiently to be reasonably reliable for the Mark II version, but by then it was too late and the loss of sales and cost of warranty repairs (coupled with the OPEC oil crisis killing Interceptor sales) caused Jensen to fold. The 900-series engine then powered Lotuses in various forms until the V8 came along.
The bodies were no worse than other British cars of the time, they all rusted. The rear styling was common on many cars, not just Triumphs, Kamm tails were "in". The worst application was on the Aston Martin DB6 - just didn't match the old DB5 front. I don't know what you mean by "looked like fibreglass", I've never had that comment. Perhaps because people didn't know what it was, they assumed it was some low-volume kit car.
Now that the engines are sorted, spare parts are readily available from several suppliers, Jensen Healeys are gaining appreciation as a stylish, fast, tunable classic. More comfortable and spacious than more vintage offerings. And, at the moment, still reasonably affordable.
@@Titanium59 I find it difficult to believe that you dont get the GRP reference at anything over two feet away they look just like a molded job. and I did know what this car was, the area I lived in was chock a block with exotica.Interestingly a good friend of mine has recently bought one have not seen it yet it will be interesting to see how it stacks up against my memories.
@@davidprocter3578 Must be a very subjective appearance David, as in 10 years of ownership of my JH I have never had this said to me and I certainly have never thought that. You can believe what you like, but in my experience you are the only person to have made that comment!
Very nicely presented! What a beautiful car !! Can you please let me know which company has provided the new upgraded engine for this Jensen Healey ?
Martin Shirley built the engine. If you are a member of the Jensen Owner’s Club his details are in the magazine as J-H technical advisor.
Thanks to top gear I want one of these and I’m not even in the same continent
They're ultra cool!
What model or size battery does it take?
Bravo ! très beau travail. Vous avez raison d'en être fier !
Thanks for watching!
@@ShiftDawgie I have a Sunbeam Lotus. So I know this engine very well and I appreciate it.
@@DL-ls5sy Lovely cars! Are you based in France?
@@ShiftDawgie Yes, near Château de Vincennes, near Paris.
Only 377 Sunbeam Lotus sold during 3 years..
I like cruising @3000/3500 ..not so thirsty
@@ShiftDawgie "Driving gently and comprehensively" is my motto.
When I drive it in France, I am not in France, I am in GB, in another world
brilliant car with the worst seats ever
nuts
Beautiful video of a great car. Your production quality is top drawer too! Subbed too BTW! Can't wait to see your other productions! 219hp!!! Wow!
Thanks Shawn, it's greatly appreciated!