The original 541 Prototype - 60 years on
Posted: Thu May 01, 2014 7:59 pm
This car featured as Car of the Month way back in 2006, but only in black and white contemporary pictures. It was prepared for the October 1953 London Motor Show, with a handmade body of aluminium. [The following year saw the first glass-fibre 541 at the Motor Show, hence the 60th birthday celebrations this year.]
However, after a hard life and some substantial damage to the front in an accident, the car found its way to Mike Byrne who commenced chassis repairs. Soon, a friend called Russ Grief bought it off him and proceeded to completely restore it. In the process, it was found that most panels were slightly different sized from the production version. The windscreen needed to be specially shaped and the metal grille surround was fabricated from the last genuine one held in stock, which was cut and moulded to shape and rechromed. Notice that the signature rear quarter indicators are omitted, and there are air intakes under the headlights.
The car then made it onto the cover of the Jan 1994 Classic Cars magazine.
A few years ago it was sold at auction and made its way over to Florida where it is on display in a museum. In this view, you can see that there is no recessed mounting for the numberplate, the boot hinges from the top like an 'R' but with hidden hinges and the interior has very neat vertical pleats on the door caps.
Museum site: http://www.tbauto.org/cars/jensen.htm
However, after a hard life and some substantial damage to the front in an accident, the car found its way to Mike Byrne who commenced chassis repairs. Soon, a friend called Russ Grief bought it off him and proceeded to completely restore it. In the process, it was found that most panels were slightly different sized from the production version. The windscreen needed to be specially shaped and the metal grille surround was fabricated from the last genuine one held in stock, which was cut and moulded to shape and rechromed. Notice that the signature rear quarter indicators are omitted, and there are air intakes under the headlights.
The car then made it onto the cover of the Jan 1994 Classic Cars magazine.
A few years ago it was sold at auction and made its way over to Florida where it is on display in a museum. In this view, you can see that there is no recessed mounting for the numberplate, the boot hinges from the top like an 'R' but with hidden hinges and the interior has very neat vertical pleats on the door caps.
Museum site: http://www.tbauto.org/cars/jensen.htm