Rare Shooting Brake: 1976 Jensen GT
Proof positive that a rare sports car need not break the bank, this 1976 Jensen GT project is located in Winnetka, Illinois, just north of Evanston in Chicagoland. Advertised here on Craigslist, the seller is asking $4,500 for this classic British 2+2.
The story of the Jensen GT begins with the BMC’s absorption/evolution into British Leyland in the late Sixties and the end of Donald Healey’s agreement with Austin. Faced with the demise of the Big Healeys, California importer Kjell Qvale hit on a plan to construct a successor. To this end, he secured a major stake in Jensen Motors, which had built the bodies for the Austin-Healey 3000. Donald Healey was to become the new chairman of Jensen, and with his son, Geoffrey, as design engineer work was begun on the new unibody convertible, the Jensen-Healey. While a GT version of the car was considered almost from the very start, it wasn’t until 1974 that prototypes were constructed on Jensen-Healey chassis. By this point, though, things were looking grim for Jensen. The oil crisis had dealt the whole industry a gut punch, and Jensen’s flagship Interceptor, with its thirsty V8, was a likely casualty. As a result, Qvale sought to position the new GT as a successor to the Interceptor, stripping the Healey name from the car in an attempt to move it upmarket. Donald Healey was, of course, not amused and resigned the chairmanship in 1973. By September of 1975, the creditors had come calling– by August of the following year, the company was no more.
This GT is one of only 509 examples produced between September of 1975 and May of 1976. Counting the two prototypes built in 1974, that’s a total of 511 cars, with only 293 being left-hand drive. If we get deep into the weeds on this one– taking into account the specific year, paint, interior, and other options– it’s more and more likely that it’s a unique vehicle. All Jensen GTs were equipped with versions of the Lotus 907 twin-cam inline-four, making somewhere in the neighborhood of 140 bhp, depending on carburetors and whether the car had been de-tuned to meet various American emissions requirements. Power was routed through a Gertag close-ratio five-speed to the rear wheels, where it delivered a zero-to-sixty of around eight seconds and a top speed of 119 mph.
The car before us is a picture of contrasts. On the one hand, there is the rust, and being a British car that made its home in Chicago, it’s a fair bet that there’s more rust than meets the eye. On the other hand, the seller claims that it’s running and driving, and the interior looks amazing for a 45 year-old machine. This is one of those quirky classics that evoke either fierce devotion or immediate dismissal. Even the engine is, to a degree, controversial: for some, it’s the best part of the car, while for others, it’s temperamental and difficult to maintain. Considered in the context of a mid-Seventies shooting brake put together while the factory was in receivership, you’ve got the car equivalent of black licorice. But then, for some, no other flavor can compare.
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Comments
I am not passionate or devoted to any brand !
I love driving a car that handles , looks good , is reliable and parts are easy or relatively easy to get
So this beauty would need to be resto modded to get me going and i am not the chosen one for the task !
Well, I owned a Jensen Healey convertible back when it was only 10 years old and it was probably the rustiest car I’ve ever owned. In my experience most cars rust in some specific areas that can then be fixed. With the Jensen, there was just nowhere to start as it was terminally rusty from top to bottom. I bought a lot of panels, sills, floors and other parts from a Jensen specialist in the UK before realizing that it was an exercise in futility. No desire to go down that path again.
Clear title in former owners name, sez I picked it up with my trailer for nothing and now it can be a space occupier in your garage for only 4500. Repair the rust as you drive? Where? Up and down your driveway? “Run Forest Run”
Looks like it’s being eaten from the inside out.
Did the Prince of Darkness also find it’s way into Jensens? Between the worms and forty six year old wiring, this is a part out and recycle job.
Please explain “shooting brake”.
Thanks
A British phrase, it refers to a wagon style roof on a sporty 2 door. Other examples include the Volvo P1800ES and BMW Z3 Coupe (also called the “Clown Shoe”).
Title in the former owners name? Is Illinois a Notary required to sell state? If the notary on it has expired the title is worthless. These cars are all cancer buckets. Maybe just buy it and drive it until it fails.
I also had a JH, i thought what a great price till i looked at the photos, parts car would be best.
Must be a powerful engine to idle at 3,000 rpm or the tach is not working. If the engine is working get the car as cheap as you can and put it in the Lotus Europa project. That’s not just a little rust, that’s a whole bunch of rust in all the wrong places. Like the man said, parts.
Not sure you’re story about DMH’s involvement with Jensen is entirely correct but when I met Geoffrey Healey in about 1989 the one car he would not discuss, beyond saying it embarrassed his entire family, was the Jensen Healey so the discussion was dropped. When the cars were new, I worked for one of the biggest dealers in Socal . . . rather than unnecessarily trash the cars, I will merely point out that I’ve never ever been tempted to buy one!
Peter K – you suggest driving it until it fails – haha! I remember William Conrad came into our store. His son wanted to test drive a Jensen Healey. After about a 45 minute absence, Conrad asked me if such a long test drive was normal. Being a brash 19 year old I replied that on test drives that long, we should expect a tow truck any minute, and, two minutes later, what did we see? The salesman and the son pushing the little roadster down Van Nuys Blvd!
A shooting brake is broadly two door station wagon usually made on a higher priced car. The Volvo 1800 wagon, the 55-57 Nomads are examples you may be familiar with. Also-If he is dumping this for $4500, considering the make and model a giveaway price he probably got some estimates and peed himself.
Not every 2-door wagon is a shooting brake — e.g., I wouldn’t call the ’55-57 Nomads that. A shooting brake is simply a wagon variant derived from a sporting coupe, and not all 2-doors are coupes.
The distinction relates to that between a 2-door sedan vs. a coupe; the former retains the full wheelbase, roofline, and most body panels of the 4-door version, whereas the latter is “cut down” in some dimension(s), usually a shorter wheelbase, sleeker roofline, and usually other body panel differences or even an entirely different body.
TL;DR: As a wagon/estate car is to a sedan, so a shooting brake is to a sport coupe.
Run away! It’s a money-pit.
~breadvan~