JensenC-V8

01

Origins

In 1962 Jensen replaced the 541's Austin six with Chrysler V8s — first 5.9, then 6.3 litres — and created the C-V8: one of the fastest four-seaters on earth, capable of over 130 mph and built in West Bromwich at the rate of a couple a week. The engineering was thoroughly sensible — the same glassfibre-over-tube construction as the 541, now with muscle that made the weight irrelevant. The styling was not. The slanted quad headlamps, set in angled pods, drew ridicule that the car never escaped, and barely 500 were built in four years. Under the skin, though, the C-V8 was the complete Interceptor formula waiting for a prettier body: big American power, British chassis manners, four seats. In 1966 Jensen commissioned exactly that from Touring of Milan, and the C-V8's successor became famous.