Car Sight

Not much is known or has been written about the 541S Jensen British classic car. The classic car that was made in Britain in the sixties is often ignored by the enthusiasts of the classic cars perhaps because not so many of them were made and also because their automatic version earned a very poor reputation as it never performed as it was expected to. The 541S Jensen British classic cars were designed by a Briton, Eric Neale of a company that was at that time owned by Alan Jensen. The first of their models were; Jensen CV8, that was created prior to the Interceptor and with a six-liter V8 engine, as well as 541S. The cars were hand built and had minimal maintenance requirements and in addition, their bodies were rust free. In 1965, CV8 was rated as the speediest four-sitter car. Before the production of the CV8, the other favorite model was the 541 (chiefly the Jensen 541S) that had a four liter straight 6 Austin Princes engine.

It is so surprising that despite the fact that 541S Jensen British classic car received more awards than any other classic cars of the time; it has not been comparatively expensive. The CV8 that was designed by Dave Horton and Jensen Owners club are credited for having won awards such as "Car of the show," "Best club stand, "and "Best of the master class" among other awards. The awards were deserved because the West Bromwich-based Jensen brothers designed and made cars that were extremely good. They are also credited for having being the pioneers of the disk brakes for a four-wheel drive that was the first to utilize the wind tunnel on the car's body design. The brothers are also praised for stressing on the importance of car safety. The fist car to be designed with standard safety belts was the 541S and was also padded with soft material below and above the dashboard. In addition, the window winders and the door handles were made to fit the recessed panels so as to minimize any possible harm.

Jensen brothers also won the "Silver medal for coach work" for producing a four sitter car that was also the fastest then. For a long time afterwards, the Jensen brothers' work on polyester resin coach and glass fiber has continued to stand the challenges of time. The car has a straight six-liter engine that has been designed with three SU huge carburetors and that is also connected to Jaguar Moss synchromesh gearbox which has an override. More over, the car servo works well with Dunlop disk brakes, a combination that places the car in the class of its own. The CV8's power is peculiar as very few cars which were produced in the early 1960's can be utilized as daily cars many years later.

Out of the one hundred and twenty seven 541S cars that were made from 1960 to 1962, only twenty two were of manual drive version. Though the car is little known today, it was at that time regarded as the most luxurious model of 541S.