The Jensen Information Pages
by
John Neville Cohen

Page 1 (of 2)

Information Page 2.

A Rare, British, Super Classic . . . Surprisingly Undervalued!

John's Article
 

 
THE JENSEN OWNER'S CLUB

Now well over 40 years old (formed in 1971) to join write to Keith Andrews membership secretary, 2 Westgate, Fullshaw Park, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 1QQ or phone (01625) 525699.

A New Jensen Sports Car to be known as the JENSEN S-V8 was first revealed at the Motor Show in October 1998 at the NEC in Birmingham. The Jensen Owners Club had been informed that some of the UK's most talented, respected engineers and designers had been involved in creating this exciting new car. We were also told that quite a good number of orders (about 300) had already been placed and that this car should be seen on the roads early in 1999.  

Unveiled Another New Jensen!
17th October 2000 - The Jensen C-V8 coupe was shown at the Motor show, NEC Birmingham - styled and designed by 'Design Q' the same team that designed the S-V8.

But it is sad to learn now that there is no future for the production of these newer cars - historically in the past Jensen had faced so many problems and now it has failed to survive again as a manufacturer. But the name lives proudly on in the Classic car scene.

 

 
John & Trudy Cohen - A Private Classic Collection

Our very first Jensen - the CV8 mkII

A private collection that once consisted of 5 manual drive 541S Jensen cars, 3 automatic, and a very special CV8, a one off Jensen, commissioned by Hardy Amies.

The quality of this collection is obvious for out of the nine cars, six have been Jensen Owner's Club Concourse winners.  

We soon discovered that; the first James Bond 007 Sean Connery owned a green CV8 mkII, Steve Forrest as John Mannering drove a CV8 mkII registration 'BAR 1' for the TV series 'The Baron', also Mick Fleetwood of 'Fleetwood Mac' owned a dark blue CV8 mkIII.

Front Cover for Issue No. 100, October 1991
of The Jensen Owners Club Magazine

History of Our CV8

 This CV8 is an exclusive "one off" especially built by Jensen, for Hardy Amies Esq., and it was first registered in December 1964.

Hardy Amies of Saville Row were engaged by Jensen to advise on the choice of materials, and colour combinations. The brief was to improve the looks of the CV8, for the mark III, that was soon to be released.

The mark III has quite a lot of changed exterior features and a far more luxurious interior than the mark II. Hardy Amies decided to order one (possibly part of the deal) anyway the car he commissioned surprisingly was not the latest mark III. His car is a mixture - a mark II with the new mark III interior. I must say that I agree with his choice as I prefer the mark II shape myself.

The result was this special car, indigo blue with a camel coloured pigskin, interior. It is also one of very few CV8 cars fitted with a large Webasco sunshine roof. This car also has the larger 6276cc Chrysler V8 engine.

Hardy Amies must have enjoyed this car as he kept it for well over 5 years.

Front Cover of The Jensen Owners Club 
for the 25th Anniversary Issue
July 1996
 

We are the sixth owner and a few years ago I had the car completely rebuilt. It was resprayed the original colour and the interior replaced by camel leather, rather than pigskin, - not a kosher material for my use!

But we had all the leather, and the matching carpets piped in dark blue leather to match the paintwork.  

One other improvement was the beautiful walnut dashboard to replace the original formica one.

So I am guilty, this car is no longer in original condition, instead it became a Cohen original!

 


Our New Interior

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Jensen CV8 Road Test Information

 

According to THE MOTOR 24th July 1963

"... maximum speed of 136 mph ... one of the fastest cars we have ever road tested and certainly the fastest full four seater."


THE AUTOCAR 16th April 1965

Comparing with Aston Martin DB5, Ford Galaxie, Ford Mustang V8, Gordon Keeble, the CV8 was the fastest car from 0 - 60 and the quickest to cover 1/4 mile from a standing start.

Road test 2023

0 - 50 mph 5.0 secs.

0 - 60 mph 6.7 secs.

0 - 100 mph 17.6 secs.

Standing 1/4 mile 14.6 secs.


 

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