Mike Grant

[Grant]

There was a chap back in the 80's and 90's called Mike Grant who was into his Jensens..I wanted to try to make contact with him about a Convertible that a friend of mine has, I know John W remembers him, not sure if Mike is still around, if so does anyone have an contact details for him please?..Grant

[regb2004]

Thanks Grant! It's me trying to find the history of my convertible!
If anyone else has any old photos /knowledge etc, my car is 2340-1023, is now on registration KLL536N, and was previously on RPL2 (and something unknown prior to that).
It was originally sold to a Mr MP Collins in Stourbridge.
Whilst factory records show it as being built in Brienz, the car clearly changed colour to Chocolate Brown very early in its life (possibly even before it first sold to Mr Collins in March 75). In the mid 80s, it changed to Maroon, and then back to Brown.
Any help or info very gratefully received! Thanks

[regb2004]

I should perhaps also add that whilst originally registered in Stourbridge, the car was in Lichfield in the mid 80s, and then spent most of its life in London. Much of its recent life was in the ownership of a number of Indian families, including an ex-Rolls-Royce engineer who owned it for many years before he moved back to India to retire.

[Peter Rothery]

I bought a tan coloured convertible roof cover from Mike in the late 1990's from his home in Surrey which he advised had been made by ex-Jensen worker Eric Ward as a personal favour. He had decided not to fit it to his convertible (although I never saw the car). I would dearly love to be proved wrong.....but believe Michael Murray Grant is no longer with us....

[Grant]

....but believe Michael Murray Grant is no longer with us....

Thanks Pete..I did find out earlier from Carl that he had passed away in 2007 ..Many thanks anyway Peter

[Series3Jensen]

Hi

I believe that Michael Murray Grant of Shepperton died on 25.09.2006
He owned at least three Jensen's including Chassis Nos 115/3515, 119/183 and 127/279 - the latter two both being FF's

In respect of your car i believe that it was sold new by Newbury Motors of Halesowen
The previous owner to you being Taj Singh Bhogal JOC Mem No 10822
No other earlier information on your car yet except as you have stated

Kind regards

JIm Smith
Mem No 1639
136/8791 RJF 17 owned since September 1978

[johnw]

I was good friends with Mike and visited him quite often during the 10 years he owned 119/183. We both bought Mk1 FFs and we met when he was after a Maxaret. I would often visit after a trip to Medway and the coffee pot was always on and I quite often stayed for a meal. He helped me with material for the FF pages (later jensenff.com). He had a front wheel drive BSA scout, and an Alvis as well as an FF. One of his earlier Jensens was a concourse winner, the convertible which he then sold! His FF mk2 was road tested by The Times, I mentioned how I discovered the FF after reading an article in the weekend FT (sister paper to the Times), one of the few English publications on sale at the train station in Zurich. It turned out that was Mike's very car, which he then shrewdly sold. Murray Grant a true Scott . He then bought 183 and brought it up to be the spectacular car in the Ash video Wild Surf.

[Grant]

I was good friends with Mike and visited him quite often during the 10 years he owned 119/183. We both bought Mk1 FFs and we met when he was after a Maxaret. I would often visit after a trip to Medway and the coffee pot was always on and I quite often stayed for a meal. He helped me with material for the FF pages (later jensenff.com). He had a front wheel drive BSA scout, and an Alvis as well as an FF. One of his earlier Jensens was a concourse winner, the convertible which he then sold! His FF mk2 was road tested by The Times, I mentioned how I discovered the FF after reading an article in the weekend FT (sister paper to the Times), one of the few English publications on sale at the train station in Zurich. It turned out that was Mike's very car, which he then shrewdly sold. Murray Grant a true Scott . He then bought 183 and brought it up to be the spectacular car in the Ash video Wild Surf.

Nice one John..The Convert was brown wasn't it?..Paul said he had a brown convertible there that was owned by Tom and he felt Mike Bought it from Tom, hence why we thought it may have been the one which Reg now has..this was m reason for asking on behalf of Reg you see John

[Peter Rothery]

With reference to the "true scot" comment I recall Tom quoted Mike £500 to properly repair his FF bonnet on 279 at the time. Mike's budget was somewhat smaller than that....so he ended up with a repair more akin to his lower budget. Needless to say a few years later, his FF (which I recall was briefly re-registered 577UK...now on an Aston Martin) acquired a weird aluminium skinned bonnet that appeared to have no "returns" around the edges into the gutter rails ie it was flat. I also sold Tom a rusty brown convertible shell....but not the one we are considering here.

[Grant]

a weird aluminium skinned bonnet that appeared to have no "returns" around the edges into the gutter rails ie it was flat.

I've seen those Aluminum bonnets Pete that were being made by a colleague of Colin Holley, there are a few around with the exact flat edge returns as you speak of, I tried to find the Ole Boy that was doing them,..it turned out he was about 110 years old at the time of making them and subsequently chucked it all in to go and get married..apart from the flat returns you mentioned they were a beautiful bonnet for £1000, very cleverly made. Paul does some work on a sort of Metallic Black FF(I don't know the chassis #) but it lives in Purley and that has one on that too

[johnw]

It was around 2000 when the old guy was making those. A few years before, Dave Barnet had a blue FF with an aluminium bonnet skin that looked totally normal. I always wondered if there would be a reaction with the steel frame with those.

On the subject of bonnet skins there is a video of Jacek making an Interceptor bonnet on his Pullmax power hammer. He takes steel with the correct curve wheeled in already, then power hammers the two lengthways creases in perfectly. He fabricated a depth control jig specially, so it adjusts the depth of crease as he moves along the bonnet. It looks like it takes him 10 minutes to put both creases in! Pullmax's are most famous for putting in bonnet vents as well. An FF bonnet skin from one piece mild steel should be doable like that!