Motorsport Archive

[Richard Calver]

I'm sure it's a CA dealer plate, examples below. The vertical DLR is the giveaway. CALIFORNIA at the top extends from the left edge of the DLR to halfway between the 2nd and 3rd digits of the number.

The car is a pre-J-series Interceptor III, so a 1971 or 1972 build. Readers of the originality guide would know that use of the L766 number plate illuminator ends after the H series on American cars. If someone recognizes the 7A DLR 2215 plate from a published review, that might help identify the car.

[Richard Calver]

>If someone recognizes the 7A DLR 2215 plate from a published review, that might help identify the car.

I'll answer my own question. I thought the plate looked familiar. There it is in Motor Sport, November 1972, a story called Californian Tales written by Assistant Editor Andrew Marriott who was sent over to cover various racing events in Canada, California and New York. One of the Jensen Road images accompanies the text.

The California leg began in San Francisco where the loaner Jensen was collected from Qvale's headquarters. This was at a time when the Jensen-Healeys had not yet arrived (the first bulk shipments for the US didn't leave the factory until October 1972). "The company's Vice-President, Forrest Faulkner, was full of praise for the British products he sold although he complained about XJ6s overheating." Yeah, wait til the Healeys come.

They drove the Interceptor down from San Francisco to Los Angeles on Highway 1 (the scenic coast road) and eventually returned via the I5, the main inland interstate which closely parallels SR33 for much of its length. The photo of Jensen Road is captioned as having been taken on Highway 1 but obviously they got off the I5 at some point for a bit of backroads driving. The reason for this appears to have been the speeding ticket they got for doing 100mph on the I5 - "we took it steadier after that". He did say that the engine didn't seem too happy over 125 mph.

There is not a lot about their impressions of the car - it's more of a travelogue - but the summation was alright. "The Jensen proved to be one of the most comfortable high speed luxury cars I have ever driven or travelled in," although the American weighted power steering didn't impress.

The article was published in b/w so I can't narrow down the possibilities re colours. Except for the Elvis sideburns, indicating a 383, there's nothing more to indicate which car it was.

[colin7673]

Well that's cleared that up then

[felixkk]

Fantastic, Richard. Thank you!

[kenny38]

Hi, Richard. I have sent you one of my prized anoracks. Charming colour......magnolia/purple. Stop burying things on my property......there is a funny smell. Kenny38

[felixkk]

Especially for you Kenny, from the same archive. Taken in '38. Look at the back tires. Who's pilot, who's copilot? He's wearing suit and tie. What an image...

7BDEC603-2C1F-426D-95EB-43D1DED02568.jpeg (91.31 KiB) Viewed 2559 times

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[Richard Calver]

Alan Whiddington again, Lands End Trial, April 1938 and a Premier Award for that performance. At least they got the year right this time.

Kenneth, I shall treat your anorak with all the respect it deserves.

[kees]

>If someone recognizes the 7A DLR 2215 plate from a published review, that might help identify the car.

I'll answer my own question. I thought the plate looked familiar. There it is in Motor Sport, November 1972, a story called Californian Tales written by Assistant Editor Andrew Marriott who was sent over to cover various racing events in Canada, California and New York. One of the Jensen Road images accompanies the text.

The California leg began in San Francisco where the loaner Jensen was collected from Qvale's headquarters. This was at a time when the Jensen-Healeys had not yet arrived (the first bulk shipments for the US didn't leave the factory until October 1972). "The company's Vice-President, Forrest Faulkner, was full of praise for the British products he sold although he complained about XJ6s overheating." Yeah, wait til the Healeys come.

They drove the Interceptor down from San Francisco to Los Angeles on Highway 1 (the scenic coast road) and eventually returned via the I5, the main inland interstate which closely parallels SR33 for much of its length. The photo of Jensen Road is captioned as having been taken on Highway 1 but obviously they got off the I5 at some point for a bit of backroads driving. The reason for this appears to have been the speeding ticket they got for doing 100mph on the I5 - "we took it steadier after that". He did say that the engine didn't seem too happy over 125 mph.

There is not a lot about their impressions of the car - it's more of a travelogue - but the summation was alright. "The Jensen proved to be one of the most comfortable high speed luxury cars I have ever driven or travelled in," although the American weighted power steering didn't impress.

The article was published in b/w so I can't narrow down the possibilities re colours. Except for the Elvis sideburns, indicating a 383, there's nothing more to indicate which car it was.

There is a Jensen Road of Highway 1, however is does not look like the picture on Street View.
Years ago we passed the same sign in the US and I am sure Anne Marie took a picture of it but I am unsure where it was.

[Han Kamp]

A few images I was not aware of from the Motorsport Archive. Better resolution on the website where you can zoom into the pictures quite well.

https://www.motorsportimages.com/photos ... rch=jensen

Images of the London Motorshow 1962, '63, and '65:

Jensen_Motorshow_Stand_01.jpg
Jensen_Motorshow_Stand_02.jpg
Jensen_Motorshow_Stand_03.jpg
Jensen_Motorshow_Stand_04.jpg
Jensen_Motorshow_Stand_05.jpg
CV8 Engine.jpg

Date taken Monday, January 01, 1968:
Int_02.jpg
Int_03.jpg
Int_04.jpg

Pinched from my Facebook group "The other Jensen built vehicles" Felix?

Han Kamp

[felixkk]

Well done for finding and posting them, but no- I didn't see your post as I seldom go on Facebook. I stumbled upon the archive when I was looking up John Coombs from the thread on the 541 restorations (viewtopic.php?p=254137#p254137). I surf the web (not FB) quite a bit for images and have found quite a few which were new to me. Would make little sense for me to repost stuff from FB as plenty of people on here are there also- and if I had I would have credited you, as one does- or should do.

[Han Kamp]

Dear Felix, no harm done, but it seemed a coincidence that I posted these on FB and now you here in the forum. Like you say credit where credit is due.

[felixkk]

When I am on FB the stuff you post usually stands out (post on here more frequently!). Hope all is well, take care, Felix

PS I had already posted some images from that archive in May '21:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=32417&p=245741&hili ... ye#p245741

Edit: I just reread your post:

but it seemed a coincidence that I posted these on FB

Sorry, you did not post these images on FB, these are screenshots I took from the archive. All I could find in your FB posts were links to the archive. I have these images in the original larger resolution (they get downsized when you upload them).

[currywurstcarpaccio]

these are screenshots I took from the archive.

Hi Felix, how did you manage to take the screenshots? The page is well protected.

[Joerg]

There is also a high resolution picture of the White Lady. Seems to be the original as it is different from the one that was used in the sales brochure.

Compare:

[felixkk]

Here's the one with the White Lady

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Hi Felix, how did you manage to take the screenshots? The page is well protected.

Takes a bit of fiddling around. On the iMac it won't let you take a screenshot once you've opened the detailed view of the image- I used Command+ to enlarge images on the screen to take the screeenshots. On the ipad however I think it was possible to take a screenshot of the image, but of course the screen is much smaller. It's worth going onto the archive because the quality of the images is really quite good.

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