Zac Marshall's FF

FF fresh from 6 year restoration
zacmarshall
Posts: 5223
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:22 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Zac Marshall's FF

Post by zacmarshall »

I know I have a bit of a cheek making my own car the car of the month but thought it a rather good candidate.

Back in 2002 (I think) I had an SP and a Jensen-Healey which were both having paintwork and was assured they would be ready for the forthcoming Dutch event. Needless to say there weren't, and I went in my everyday car. Keith Andrews took pity on me and asked me to drive his FF on the drive out. After that I decided to sell the SP and start looking for an FF.

Fast forward to December 2003 I eventually found a nice looking silver FF II for sale up in Northumberland, and travelled up with Steve Payne to have a look at the car. The day before we were due to go I was told that someone had inspected the car and that it needed chassis tubes and a whole lot of other work. We decided we would go up and have a look anyway.

The chassis tubes had indeed gone, but Steve was of the opinion that they could be patched. There were also a number of other faults that the owner had been trying to get fixed for a while which Steve fixed in about 10 minutes flat....

Queue a silly offer and a drive back down to Steve's place near Oxford in freezing temperatures. Other than the indicators temporarily packing up there were no issues on the way down. Driving down to Steve's I actually did more miles that it had for the previous year.

Steve sorted out a few mechanical niggles, and I used the car until it failed the MOT early in 2004. At this point I had the chassis tubes patched and for the next 5 years drove the car to lots of events all over Europe without many problems (at least far fewer than the SP I had paid top money for at a 'Jensen Specialist'.

This is the car as bought

Image
Martin Richie's photo.
The FF in the hotel carpark at Saarburg. My partner Sarah was pregnant with our son Luke at the time, so we decided to have a tour around Germany before he arrived. 2,500 miles in two weeks taking in the Mosel, the Rhine, the Black Forest, Switzerland, Austria and our favourite Luxembourg (cheep petrol helps). No problems other than some little oik nicking the badge off the front in the short time we were in France.

Image

Image

Image
Andy Brooks with one of the replacement chassis tube sections

Image

Image

This is a car that a year earlier I had been doing a 130mph in on the Autobahn (idiot in BMW behind me).

I would like to point out that Colin could have finished the car more quickly, but I was happy to spread the work over time (and the payments). The car has also gone off for a number of months for mechanical work.

I picked the car up on Saturday, this is the car before leaving Colin's for the trip back.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Under the lights at reading services

Image
Safely back home

The car is now the original Silver Grey.
C-V8 II 104/2146 CHJ 948B
ex FF II, Interceptor I, II and III, SP, GTs and Healeys. You might say I got the bug....
JOC Member No. 5061
cannonball
Posts: 2979
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 11:08 pm
Location: CREWE

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by cannonball »

Beautiful Zac worth the wait,
WATTS RACING TRANSMISSIONS, 07974 088375,
CLOBBER THE COMPETITION
Arcnewal
Posts: 503
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2011 1:17 am
Location: England

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by Arcnewal »

Absolutely beautiful, Zac, your FF has to have one of the best contrasts with the silver paint and red interior.
User avatar
RAP72
V8 Lover
Posts: 4297
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:11 pm
Location: Huntingdon, cambs
Contact:

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by RAP72 »

NEC star car this year?
PaulMcElhinney
Posts: 3684
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:52 pm
Location: Halesowen, West Mids

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by PaulMcElhinney »

That would be good. I'm am amazed that Colin Holley works alone and can produce work like this. Fitting bonnets, tailgates, doors, how does he do it?
Paul McElhinney - Mk I 115/3309 in Positano yellow, FF Mk II 127/289.
zacmarshall
Posts: 5223
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2005 4:22 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by zacmarshall »

Too late to be on the stand this year, I didn't want to put Colin under any pressure to have it done more quickly, I preferred him to take his time and have it right (I've seen other cars where people have rushed things....)

Colin has people he can call on to help with lifting bonnets etc, but at least he is the one that does the actual work. I had issues with my old Interceptor II where different people did the welding and paintwork, so wanted to avoid that. Also had issues with one of the other specialists where I was paying for the guy to learn about Jensens (or not :evil: )
C-V8 II 104/2146 CHJ 948B
ex FF II, Interceptor I, II and III, SP, GTs and Healeys. You might say I got the bug....
JOC Member No. 5061
User avatar
DPP
Posts: 1759
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 12:03 pm
Location: Cornwall

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by DPP »

Well worth the wait Zac the car looks stunning and the colour combination is perfect.
I look forward to seeing it soon.
Dave Pearce
Oily Rag Classics
Jensen FF 119/133
Jensen FF 119/182
Jensen Interceptor III 128/4430
Kieron
Co-Administrator
Posts: 2300
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:40 pm
Location: Peterborough
Contact:

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by Kieron »

That's stunning Zac.. well worth waiting for I bet..
1968 Interceptor Mk 1 115/3012
1971 FF MK 2 127/284
Mark1Stu
Posts: 2472
Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2006 1:30 pm

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by Mark1Stu »

And Colin made a lovely job of your interior too Zac.

A great colour combo.

Looking forward to seeing the finished article.
User avatar
Mr.Mini
Posts: 229
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2013 5:48 pm
Location: Belgium

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by Mr.Mini »

Beautifully made .

I very much like the interior colour !

regs , Harald
Interceptor MkII - 123-3703
BernardT
Posts: 307
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2014 3:23 pm
Location: Harpenden Hertfordshire

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by BernardT »

Great car Great work You deserve your award. Will you present it?

Best wishes
BernardT
Bernard Tominey

541 OEA541 prototype 1st car to have disc brakes
Mercedes 500L reg S500NAK
Daimler V8 250 1967

Location Harpenden Herts
Joined JOC on 15th August 2014
colin7673
now normal...
Posts: 4624
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 11:54 am
Location: Spalding Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by colin7673 »

Looking forward to seeing FJJ again Zac... Looks better in this colour than in red

Hope you enjoyed your drive home on Saturday and didn't get too wet..
Only working half a day now.
http://www.jensensontour.co.uk
montpellier
Posts: 201
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 7:12 pm

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by montpellier »

what a lovely looking car, colour combination is devine.
User avatar
Martin R
Posts: 5932
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 11:04 pm
Location: Chipping Norton, & Sydney Australia

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by Martin R »

Fantastic Zac!
FF MK1 119/100
Interceptor MK3 136/8514
JOC Member 8905
User avatar
Anton001
Posts: 1782
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:04 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Zac Marshall's FF

Post by Anton001 »

Hi Zac
Lot of work with great result: stunning car!!

Anton
Jensen Healey Mk1 1123 / 11016
Jensen C-V8 MK3 112 / 2419
Jensen 541S / S1079


www.jensenholland.nl
Post Reply

Return to “October 2014”