Jensen Healey prices

[timmo]

What is the price nowadays for a nice Healey? I would prefer a Mk1 as I'm thinking of selling the beemer and getting something a little more interesting to complement the cv8. Would around £8000 buy a nice one ?

[kees]

Get an MkII or at least a late MkI with the MkII engine. They are a lot better than early MkI´s. A rust free ex-California J-H in very good condition will set you back about £10.000-12.000. A good restored J-H should cost £6.000-10.000. A mint concourse car can be as much as £25.000 or even more.
Look on the Continent for a RHD car, they are a lot cheaper than in the UK.
Kees Oudesluijs

[clivey]

Hi
My estimates are little more modest than Kees but of course opinions will vary as well as different people will have different ideas on what constitutes a good car plus sellers will advertise an optimistic price to test buyers, so given that I've not bought one recently, I would estimate that £5k should get you a reasonable one, so anything up from that should be good, £8k should buy you a very nice one, but of course whether a car actually lives up its advertised 'good' description can be tricky. I'm near Cambridge and would be happy to help you assess whether any JH you look at is actually good or not if you need any assistance.
All the best
Clive

[timmo]

That's great Clive, I may well take you up on your offer. I know the cv8 inside out, but Healeys are new to me. The hardest part maybe finding one, but I'm happy to wait for the right car to come up.
Anyone fancy a mint bmw750?

[Helen]

I was interested to see the values quoted and feel that Kees is more realistic, although Jensen-Healeys are more appreciated in Europe. The recent article in Classic Car Weekly also underestimated the current value suggesting that Jensen-Healeys are worth £6,000 compared to £9,500 for an MGB! Projects are now advertised for £4-5,000 and good cars are selling for £13,500 and more. The main problem is rarety. £8,000 should buy a reasonably good car but may need some work.

I wish owners would put a higher value on their cars. Also remember to get an up-to-date insurance valuation.

[jensen907_123]

Hi
I have a few words to say on Jensen-Healey values!
One ‘75 Mk2 I spotted recently for sale in Brussels was sold very quickly with an asking price of 28,000€!
Having imported over 20 JH’s from the States the supply is drying up and even project cars out there are rising in value!
I have an interesting link (from Hagerty USA)to share which came out just this week.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos ... -succeeded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I agree with Helen, lets all try harder to place a current market value that reflects the rarity!
Looks like our favorite roadster is finally being recognized as a sound and enjoyable investment!

I’ll be back shortly for an update on my RSR project!

[ChrisP]

A couple of years ago i bought my J-H project, I paid £1500 for a car without the original Lotus engine it has a Ford V6
i needed to replace all 4 wings, bonnet, floors,door sils,in fact most of the car,I still think the price was fair.
At the time i was offered a California import for £4500. The guy selling got upset because i described his car as a wreak.
The cost of restoring the import may have been slightly less than mine but i doubt the difference in price would cover it.
So back to the subject, the value of a J-H
If a US import with matching numbers with dents in every panel,no roof or bumpers and an engine of unknown condition
is worth £4500 then a decent runner must double that.
As for my one if i was to be paid 10p per hour for all the time i spend restoring her, i would still probably be out of pocket
buts that not why we do it.
I work all day on my computer but at the first chance when the missus isn't looking i sneak out to my garage
If someone offered £10000 for my project car i would have to say no.

[clivey]

Hi All
At the risk of sounding controversial, I disagree with owners promoting higher and higher values for their cars. I do understand the consideration in relation to insurance valuations, heaven forbid we should ever need to claim on insurance, but many people say that they do it for the love of the car, so why are people so focused on appreciating the value of the car as much as possible.

I also understand that it may be nice to think that our beloved cars are an appreciating asset but in my opinion there is a very real downside in relation to club membership. At this years International, club committee members voiced concerns about difficulties with attracting new members and asked for help. Interceptors and earlier cars are now aspirational cars for many and as older club members decide that they no longer wish to maintain their cars and sell them, more and more cars are going into "collections" as investments where the owner has no interest in the club because the car is just a locked away and protected investment vehicle.

The JH is now the only affordable Jensen for new members to buy into the club and for me, the club and driving the car are the 2 key reasons for owning a Jensen. The more we push up valuations, the more we make it harder for people to join our wonderful club, which could be viewed as putting your own desires for appreciation above the needs of the club.

The club needs a certain membership base to cover all that they provide with the magazine and events, so endangering this for the sake of higher car values could be described as selfish. That may sound extreme but sometimes that what's needed to draw to people's attention the fact that there is a very real danger to the longevity of such an active and well supported club if values rise to such a degree that it precludes the kind of members that have made the club so good. Many are lucky to have bought their Jensens at affordable prices, I would like to see others have a similar chance. Just my opinion.

All the best
Clive

[JHV8]

My pet peeve is seeing a basket case of a Mk1 Capri and the like, which were turned out in the millions on a production line, having a higher value than a good condition Jensen Healey which was a low volume somewhat hand built car from a prestigious Mark. Don't get me wrong I have a soft spot for the MK1 Capri as It was may 1st, second and third car.
It always baffles me why the Jensen Healey is so un-appreciated, especially compared to MGB's and the like. It ticks more boxes for being a sought after classic than quite a few cars around it's type, vintage and performance. It was from a prestigious manufacturer coupled with the Healey name, low volume and has racing pedigree (SCCA champion 1st time out).
If you go to any meet you will probably be the only example present but if pictures are taken and posted to the web after there will be hundreds of a MK1 Escort Mexico wanna be but none of the Healey, which pretty much says it all for the general public opinion of the Jensen Healey and that is why you could ask £10,000 for a good example all day long, you won't get many calls because not many people want them and price is all about supply and DEMAND.

[timmo]

I hope prices stay reasonable until I can find a decent one, unappreciated at the moment maybe, but I suspect not for too long. Just look at the interceptor, not that many years ago they were rotting on driveways. Most people who are long in the tooth classic car fans are getting pretty bored with the mgb,s spitfires etc you see at every show. Even though I grew up in the Ford escort era, I have no desire for one, to me they are just cheap mass produced cars with a (slightly) more powerful engine stuck in and fancy bodywork to make em look special. I know it worked for Ford, they sold millions of them....

[kenny38]

Maybe Interceptor prices have risen over past 3 years but nowhere near other "class brands" especially the dreaded E Type which confounds any classic expert. Thousands were made for as I remember the newly arrived post war lower middle class (see hair dressers) at a price that reflected that market in the early 60's. in those days you would never see a middle class guy in an EType he was in a Austin Healy as he drove to his uni. However the prices E type today are stunning even for a heap. Something future sad old git buyers lusted over when they wore polyester everything to the polytecnic (remember them?) Regrettably the JH has suffered enormously with early severe problems still remembered by old gits like me and I am sure has been passed on to every relative. Fact is the JH never had the cachet as did the Triumph and ......you take your pick of all the others. Younger men see themselves in "Ledgen" cars that took their poverty stricken fancy back in the day and now at last.........(wots a JH then?). Life is unfair and then you die.Kenny38

[jensen907_123]

Let’s put the Jensen-Healey in the context of todays desire to discover the classic scene without falling into the museum piece, hedge investment, that’s admired but hardly ever driven!
Firstly the JH is not the prettiest of roadsters and for those who do fall under their charm, it’s due to the Lotus 907 with it’s addictive induction roar, handling (especially when uprated!) and decent boot, a true practical classic!
Compared with it’s predecessor “Auntie Austin” the JH really does present an affordable alternative.
I have a friends 100/6 in my custody at present and apart from looking at it and moving it 50 yards occasionally to juggle the JH’s around in the workshop, I don’t feel the urge to blast it through the Brittany country roads for fear of my life!
Respect to the “Big Healey” boys n’ girls who do, but putting 60-100k into one is a matter of personal choice and no doubt nostalgia!
I agree that the club aspect of our classic car passion is essential, however keeping an “entry level” model just to attract new members has it’s drawbacks!
Prices in the U.K. generally reflect the adage “you get what you pay for”! That is to say a majority of low budget maintained cars from new and then often poorly restored to sell on later in their lives! Result being that those cars don’t merit higher market values and perpetuates the problem.
The situation in the rest of Europe is significantly different.
The JH was only exported in very small numbers (little more than 200 cars! See Richard Calvar’s site) and here in France it’s a real first time discovery for 95% of classic enthusiasts!
Hence the need to present the Jensen-Healey here in a new light, without the heavy ‘bad reputation’ it has carried for all too long!
With the JOC France now finding its feet, thanks to the hard work and motivation of Nigel Pickford, the club will flourish and I, for one, intend to make the JH a major player in recruiting new ‘left hand drive’ members!!
Retromobile 2019 (6-10 February) will be a turning point as we intend to have a club stand and I hope to bring an exceptional Healey to create a more unified Jensen family!
So JH prices will rise and justifiably so!
Of course we don’t wish to see Healey 3000 or Interceptor prices, but values that justify restoring, improving and maintaining our cars to the highest standards.
Just my opinion!
Nigel

[NHK10P]

I think values should be put into context amongst similar 70s 2 seater classics (MGB/MGC/TR6/GT6 etc) it truly amazes me that an MGC can command £25k plus yet some in our own Club will downplay a similar Healey to a below £10k bracket. There is always an awkward balance between a "cheap" purchase price, a value that makes restoration viable (for the private individual) and a value enabling an entry level etc. However I certainly don't think Healey values should be supressed in the hope that an entry level member may migrate to an Interceptor for example. After all a Healey, whilst being a Jensen, is a totally different proposition to any other Jensen model. The difficulty for the JOC attracting members is that it must compete against the MG and TR 2 seaters that are very much better catered for and promoted in their respective Clubs, plus in general terms parts supply and restoration costs are easier and around 25% cheaper respectively.

All the big single marque Clubs (MG Car Club, TR etc) have very active model specific Registers, for example the MGC Register has a summer annual meet over a weekend as well as other model specific "outings", that is not to say that other models and marques are banned but that the "focus" is on one specific model for that event. So how about a yearly Healey/GT focussed event.......

Healeys are now a very rare car at Classic events and the GT even rarer, unfortunately the "issues" that surrounded them when new are still hanging around (unlike the Stag overheating/oil gallery issues of the day for example)but it is up to us to dispel them for what they are i.e the result of a hurried development into production by a small company that was not as financially savvy as most!

So its time to stop downplaying the Healeys and extoll their virtues in comparison to their peer group and part of that process must be to value them correctly for what they offer and their rarity. At least a part of that process falls to us owners and another part falls to the JOC to actively promote the model and at the same level at the other models .

[Michael Richardson]

Tim. One could write a book about the rise and fall of the British 2 seater sportscar,loved and wanted by a young generation in west coast America. Remember the cars you refer to were mainly designed/built in late fifties and the sixties A's B's C's TR's A-H's etc. The J-H arrived in 1972,and in my opinion was too little,too late,and failed to find a new market for the Yanks,whereas the Japs and Germans were moving fast towards a more lux,but still fun open top. Rarity,I believe does not affect prices,and the Healey is rare because,to be honest,very few buyers wanted it.You own a number of timeless classics...the fact that cars such as the 'B' will continue to be sought after worldwide is they still provide cheap/fun motoring. ...Our national speed limit in France is now 50 m.p.h.! so they will be able to keep up with cars built 60 years later.

[kees]

Good cars, in whatever numbers built, will become classics. A good example is the best Elan build by Mazda, the MX5 (perhaps not the latest horrible looking Fiat/Mazda 124/MX5). It has been build by the millions. Fun and easy to drive, impeccable manners, leak proof and easy to handle softtop, utterly reliable, cheap to run. Already a whole classic scene incl. specialist trade in parts and restoration.
The J-H is a classic car but is it a classic? Not for a long while I think.

Kees Oudesluijs