A WARM GOODBYE TO ANDREW CASSAR

[Grant]

A dear friend of mine for the past 35 years so sadly & so suddenly passed away last Friday evening just over a week ago
Andrew rang me that week to tell me about a manual Jensen he had bought and we chatted for probably 30 minutes about his plans for 20/20 etc.. then on the Saturday I got a call telling me of this sad sad news..I kept saying to the caller "it can't be true, I only spoke to him a couple of days ago", to be honest it is very difficult to digest any news like this and I have constantly thought about it all week
As many of you may know Andrew and his brothers have been involved in Jensens all their lives. Frank(Andrews brother) and Andrew used to be picked up from School by their Uncle in his FF when they were young and then followed was their interest in Jensens.
Andrew then continued with his "Wheeler Dealer" nature dealing in all models of Jensens, many of them(the same cars) passing through his hands two or three times over the years. He really was a pleasure to talk to, extremely knowledgeable and interesting, Andrew was the youngest of 4 brothers and 1 sister and had this posh speaking voice as he was sent to boarding school which I had asked him about.. he said he absolutely loved his time there
One story that always makes me chuckle was this... Andrew asked me if I knew Karan(from this forum) and could I pass Karans number onto him as he was interested to buy an Interior that Karan had for sale, anyway I did and off went Andrew to see Karan, when he got back I asked him about how he got on.. >>> Andrew said this >> "Well we couldn't agree on a price and Karan wouldn't budge from his £1000, I offered him £800 and he said no, I said look Karan,.. I want to buy it, you want to sell it but we can't agree, so lets flip a coin" and then Andrew and I burst out laughing because he & I knew this just wouldn't be how Karan would see the solution .. When I asked him what Karan said he replied "Well he wouldn't do it and said certainly not" .. That funny story has always stuck in my mind.. but that was Andrew.
Frank asked me to post something on here as many would have known Andrew, emailed him or in someway dealt with him over the years with various things Jensen related.
Andrew was from a Maltese family and the funeral gathering will be in Malta, this a very sad loss for anyone that knew him and his family at such a time of the year
RIP Andrew Cassar

[cannonball]

Very very sad news indeed, had some communication with Andrew over the yrs seemed a decnt enough guy and one who pushed for higher prices on Jensen car,s not a bad thing by any means he bought and sold them but obviously had a strong love for the marque, RIP matey taken much to young life really is a bitch and then we die,,

[garyc]

Hello Grant

Yes very sad news
My condolences to his family and friends. RIP Andrew

GaryC

[VFK44]

Andrew is the only car dealer (not counting the Jensen specialist businesses) experienced enough in Jensens for me to pass his name on to prospective purchasers. I never heard any bad feedback. Sadly missed.

[Grant]

Yes.. Extremely sad & such a young age
Frank called today and said Andrew passed away from an Aneurysm in his main supply to the heart, me being the pea brain that I am asked Frank what that was, Frank said... "Granty... its the same as the main oil feed bursting at 100mph on your Jensen..it's going to start knocking instantly and never run again".. that's what happened to Andrew Granty"

[Harley]

RIP Andrew a legend in the Jensen world you will be sadly missed a true entrepreneur in the classic car world.

[KaranMK2]

Nice fella, I remember well the meeting I had with him Grant! RIP Andrew.

Kr
Karan

[RockyUSA]

Thanks Grant, for posting this up.

It's nice to hear about someone so committed to the marque, and nice to hear good word about him.

Best regards, and my condolences to his friends, and to his family.

Rocky

[ajc9415]

Well written Grant. I didn’t know the gentleman but he was clearly a big part of the Jensen community. RIP.

[Frankoid]

What a shock, hard to take in - very sad news. I bought my second FF of Andrew and he was a smashing fella. He was right when he said that I would not part with that car even when he offered me more than what I bought it for a year later! He told me as a child he would visit my great uncle Charlie Pullen, a local eccentric who kept American cars and whos house was like the menagerie of Wandsworth park. Small world. Andrew was a real Jensen enthusiast, will be missed.

[rudidl]

Andrew will be missed in the Jensen community. I talked to him when searching for my first Interceptor and visited his garage in London. What a place to visit, breathing Jensen, and filled with a lot of knowledgable craftsmen. A few years later Andrew bought the manual Jensen, I guess the one Grant is referring too, I wanted to buy. I remember him as a polite very English elegant sales person. My condolences on the loss to his family.

[Grant]

A few years later Andrew bought the manual Jensen, I guess the one Grant is referring too, I wanted to buy.

Hi Rudidl,, Andrew did buy a Manual Interceptor that I did actually want to buy from him too, probably 5 years ago now was it, but when he went to collect it it was already spoken for, Andrew had bought it knowing the person he had in mind would buy it from him.. that person still has it now, I went to see it last year and it is in good hands, the one Andrew rang me about just before his sad passing was a Manual CV8 , regarding his accent, yes, I always used to rib him about speaking so "Posh", I always said to him that it was to help his sales , but it was because he went to a private boarding school, his sales pitches were never anything really, I remember him selling a convertible that hadn't been started or run for many years and when someone raised a query about it he simply replied "Don't worry about the engine running.. that'l be the least of your problems with it"

[Frankoid]

I remember him selling a convertible that hadn't been started or run for many years and when someone raised a query about it he simply replied "Don't worry about the engine running.. that'l be the least of your problems with it"

.. He was selling a radio and I asked "Is it possible to change the polarity from negative to positive earth?" and he replied quite disarmingly "I haven't got a clue!" . I think Jensen only made 1 CV8 manual, a red MkIII. Is this the one Andrew bought?

[Grant]

.. He was selling a radio and I asked "Is it possible to change the polarity from negative to positive earth?" and he replied quite disarmingly "I haven't got a clue!" . I think Jensen only made 1 CV8 manual, a red MkIII. Is this the one Andrew bought?

Yeh he was funny Francis with his replies
No to CV8 manuals being only one made.. I believe they made a few Francis.. how many I don't know but no it's not the red one,.. I didn't get to see the Manual CV8 Francis.. he told where it was and to go and look at it and then this happened so shortly after

[John Staddon]

JML made 10 manual C-V8s. I'm not aware that Andrew bought any of them, but 113/2366 sold recently (grey with a red interior) and I wonder if Andrew bought it, if he did he didn't tell me but I don't know who did buy it and it was the sort of car Andrew would buy.

A couple of years ago Andrew had one of those mad moments when after sending me a photo of a C-V8 he had found he decided to go through all of his old mobile phones (which he seemed to have kept as a sort of back up filing system) and forward from them every photo of a C-V8 he had found and then sold and with a little explanation - sold to Kuwait, sold to USA, stayed in the UK, that sort of thing, though he would never divulge the identity of the buyer. Over the course of an evening I received 72 photos on 72 emails (but not 72 C-V8s, some cars were photographed more than once)! There were some photos of cars that neither he nor I could identify and we always said that one day we would get together and try and work out which cars they were, but now we never will.

John