Jensen Owners’ Club
Regalia
A History of Jensen - All The Models
by Richard Calver
Richard Calver is probably the world's best known Jensen historian - this is the third book in his continuing History of Jensen series - the first and second being the Chassis Data and Service Bulletins respectively, both of which are available from club regalia.
All The Models provides what is believed to be an essentially complete reference to the range of cars, trucks, buses, vans, pick-ups, trailers and sundry other contraptions manufactured or worked on by the various Jensen firms over a period of 80 years, from the first experimental runabouts built by Richard and Alan Jensen in the late 1920s through to the short-lived venture with the S-V8, which came to an end in 2005.
This book is intended as a highly readable and well illustrated general history of the Jensen marque. The text runs to about 85,000 words — about twice the size of any general treatment published in the past — and contains about 430 pictures, 300 of which have never before been published. Besides those, another 40 are so rare that they will be new to most readers. As another first for the Jensen book world, this volume is printed in colour throughout (except where the original photos are in black and white) and runs to 448 pages. Those club members who have seen it agree that it sets new standards for published Jensen history.
The book also has a preface by Richard Graves, Jensen's
Marketing Director (and later Executive Director) from 1966 to 1975.
Aside from the Jensen name cars, the book also covers essentially all of the other makes with which the factory became involved in some shape or form, including (but not limited to) Austin, Austin-Healey, Ford, Morris, Wolseley, BSA, Bentley, Barclay, Rolls-Royce, Riley, Alvis, Lea-Francis, Invicta, Stonefield, MG, Triumph, Standard, Chevrolet, Allard, Killeen and some other little surprise items. I doubt that there's anyone left alive who will know all of what's written in this book, so if you think you know this stuff already, think again.
The book is available in two editions - the soft cover as shown above and leather-bound with slip case as shown below
The flattering review published in March 2008 edition of
New Zealand
Classic Car reads as follows:
In his quest to fully document the history of Jensen, Richard Calver
weighs in with his third volume on the marque. His previous books were A
History of Jensen: The Chassis Data (1991) and A History of Jensen: The
Service
Bulletins, Volume 1 (2004).
Like Calver's earlier books, this new offering is pack full of Jensen
information - detailing the complete history of the marque through every single
model ever
produced - and the model range is impressive, ranging from Jensen's
own cars,
to commercial vehicles, special one-off models and, of course, the
company's
involvement with other marques.
This latter aspect produces facts relating to Jensen's cooperation with a
large number of car manufacturers. Some of these projects will be
well-known to most readers - the Jensen-built Volvo P1800,
development work for the
Rootes Group on the Sunbeam Tiger and, of course, its long association with
Austin-Healey,
a relationship which would eventually culminate in the Jensen-Healey.
However, there's also a huge amount of information relating to less
well-known cars -
I was not aware that Jensen had developed the > prototype Lynx D-Type replica
(one of the most respected replicas of this model) or that it had built a series
of
impressive convertibles for Austin, including a very stylish A40
Farina cabriolet.
Surprisingly, Jensen once also worked with a caravan company to develop an
embryonic but sadly
stillborn luxury motor home - the Phantom Lounge Car. Naturally, every
Jensen-badged car is
included - a timely reminder of just how innovative
Jensen was. This aspect is best exemplified by the very first 4WD
Jensen, a special CV8 which featured Ferguson Formula 4WD allied to
Maxaret
anti-lock braking - a pioneering system further refined for the
Interceptor FF.
There's even some Kiwi content, with a photograph and brief information
on the late Ross Jensen's Jensen GT - a car which I once drove briefly.
Calver's book culminates with the story of the modern day S-V8 and C-V8,
while an In Memoriam section pays tribute to the men behind the marque
who are no longer with us, including company founders Richard and Alan
Jensen.
An absolute must-have for all Jensen enthusiasts and Calver promises
even more Jensen books in future - if only all classic marques could
have such a meticulous and passionate chronicler.
Alan Walton,
Editor New Zealand Classic Car Magazine
for more details about the author and to learn more about the history of Jensen (until you buy this book!) see http://www.richardcalver.com
all images supplied by Richard Calver