Right now’s Good Value or No Cube Jensen Healey affords the British roadster expertise with a facet order of quirkiness not out there in mainstream MGs and Triumphs. Let’s see if this one, which has misplaced its authentic Lotus motor for a V6 out of a Ford, isn’t too oddly priced.
Ought to a V-twin bike be within the playing cards however not a giant thumper like a Harley, one can at all times flip to Italy because the bikes from Ducati and Moto Guzzi supply stable choices. We checked out a kind of yesterday, a 2009 Moto Guzzi V7 Basic, which, at $3,900, supplied not solely the joys of a pair of pounding pistons between the knees but additionally, in line with the 75 % of you who awarded it a Good Value win, good worth as effectively.
These days, there’s been a number of discuss nepotism within the leisure trade and whether or not the children of trade stalwarts have an unfair benefit over those that metaphorically simply fell off the turnip truck. This appears ridiculous, as anybody raised with a household craft will most certainly be inclined to affix that craft and have an inside edge. It’s the identical for entertainers as for electricians.
That was simply the case with Geoffrey Healey, who, after serving as a mechanical engineer for the British Military throughout WWII, joined his father, Donald Healey, within the household enterprise, spending the subsequent 30 years designing and constructing a number of the most legendary sports activities automobiles of all time. Oh yeah, and the Jensen Healey.
The story of Jensen goes again over a century and can be a household affair. Based in 1922 by two brothers, Alan and Richard Jensen, the corporate’s first order of enterprise was to educate craft our bodies for sports activities automobiles and business automobiles. Following WWII, that developed into constructing Jensen sports activities automobiles and consignment work for different producers. By the late Nineteen Sixties, neither of these efforts was paying the payments, and Jensen wanted the next quantity mannequin to generate much-needed money.
On the similar time, Donald Healey was on the lookout for a brand new undertaking after leaving the lately restructured British Leyland. Because of this, Jensen and The Donald Healey Motor Firm collaborated on a brand new small sports activities automobile referred to as the Jensen Healey, whereas Donald Healey took on the roll of Jensen’s director.
Launched in 1972, the Jensen Healey used a metal monocoque construction and leveraged mechanical bits from the Vauxhall Viva. For an engine, Jensen employed the then-new Lotus 2.0-liter twin-cam 4. Canted at 45°, that afforded the automobile a low bonnet line that works effectively with the remainder of the automobile’s William Towne styling. Initially, a four-speed guide sourced from Sunbeam was the transmission of selection. The ultimate yr of manufacturing noticed that changed by a Getrag five-speed and a reputation change for the automobile to JH5 after Donald Healey left Jensen attributable to disagreements over how the corporate was being run.
When it debuted within the Jensen Healey, Lotus’ 907 motor was untested and underdeveloped. Lotus hadn’t even began utilizing the engine in its personal automobiles. That led to teething points that damage Jensen’s funds additional.
This 1975 Jensen Healey doesn’t undergo from points with the Lotus engine because it has apparently been given the heave-ho and changed by what the vendor says is a Ford “Cologne V6.”
What’s the displacement of that V6? The advert doesn’t say, however the commonest dimension from this Jensen’s period would have been the two.8 right here within the States. That has had a ton of labor completed, together with new head gaskets, carburetor and alternator replacements, and a bunch of fiddly upkeep work. In accordance with the advert, it now “Runs and drives nice!” and is “good for honest climate drives with the highest down!”
Aesthetically, it appears stable however removed from good. The bodywork is straight, the trim seems intact (essential on a hodgepodge automobile), and the highest goes up and down because it ought to. It additionally has a clear title and is sufficiently old to not fear about passing its smog check.
On the draw back, we don’t get any photographs of the inside, so anyone’s guess as to what’s happening there. We additionally don’t know the automobile’s precise mileage because the speedo has not been related, a lot much less calibrated for the brand new drivetrain. Are these massive offers? In all probability not. One thing that could be is the $7,900 asking worth. Solely about 10,000 of those automobiles had been ever constructed, and whereas a membership helps the marque, this isn’t the most certainly automobile somebody available in the market for an previous British roadster would possibly select, contemplating the choices from MG and Triumph on this worth vary. Add to that the dearth of originality within the Ford engine, and now we have fairly a quandary on this automobile.
What’s your tackle this Jensen Healey with a Ford V6 and that $7,900 asking? Does that appear like a good deal, contemplating the automobile’s possible higher reliability and general situation? Or is that too dang a lot for such a mutt of a automobile?
You determine!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
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