Morgan Plus 8

Paul Katsus is an Electric Service Consultant for a large electrically utility company. Paul Katsus loves sports cars and sometimes loves to share information on little known car manufacturers and rare car models. One of these is the British car manufacturer; Morgan Car Company which has been building cars for one hundred years. The Morgan Plus 8 model is a sports car built in Malvern, Worcestershire, England by the specialty car maker beginning in 1968. The Morgan Plus 8 gained an instant following and its enduring popularity has been credited with saving the company and keeping the company famous. There Morgan Plus 8 doesn’t look like any other sports car being built today. It is a carryover of the long lost era of basic, road legal race cars. Its appeal lays in the fact it is unique and very British in character.

In its present form, it is powered by a BMW sourced V-8 with 362 horsepower and 370 ft. lb. of torque. With its advertised curb weight of 1,876 lb., it is easy to see why the Morgan Plus 8 is one of the fastest British sports cars. It has an advertised 0-62 mph of 4.2 secs and an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph. On top of all that performance, the Morgan Plus 8 can still return a 32.2 mpg rating on the highway.

Determined US Morgan fans were not deterred by US Emission standards roadblocks to buying their beloved Morgan’s. As a result, from 1974 to 1992 cars were converted to run on propane as a way to pass the strict US emissions standards. In 1993 when Rover Group had re-certified their V-8 engine for use in the Range Rover SUV sold in the U.S. Morgan decided to use this engine in the same tune and with the same anti-emission devices. But, as US safety regulations continue to change, Morgan was again challenged in 2006 to meet stricter structural requirements which were announced by the NHTSA in 2000.  The final nail in the coffin came when the law on airbags would not be exempted for Morgan and their appeal was denied and the importation of traditional (classic) Morgan’s ceased.

Jensen Healy – British Sports Car Classic

 

Paul Katsus is an electrical utility professional employed by a large electrical utility in the Houston Texas area. Although not a professional car collector, Paul Katsus has enjoyed sharing his knowledge of sports and muscle cars. One such interesting sports car from the past, the Jensen Healey deserves not to be a footnote in automobile history. Produced in the 1970’s, the Jensen Healy was a British 2-seater convertible sports car produced by Jensen Motors in West Bromwich, England. The Jensen Healy was produced from 1972 thru 1976. There was a fastback version of the car, known as the Jensen GT which was produced from 1975 -1976. The first Jensen Healy model was the Mark 1 and was manufactured from March 1972 through May 1973, with a total of 3,347 Mark 1’s produced.  The second model followed was the Mark 2 Jensen Healy and was produced from August 1973 through August 1975, a total of 7142 Mark 2 were sold making it the highest sales volume Jensen of all time. A grand total of 10,503 (10 prototypes, 3,347 Mk.1 and 7,146 Mk.2) were produced by Jensen Motors. The last Jensen Healy was the Jensen GT Fastback mad from 1975 to 1976 which had a total output of 473 examples.

When it was launched in 1972 the Jensen Healy was a fast luxurious convertible sports car that was positioned in the automotive market between the Triumph TR6 (it was lighter and had 40 more horsepower than the TR6) and the Jaguar E-Type. With its 50/50 weight balance, the car was well received by the automotive industry for its exceptional handling. It was powered by a lightweight high output (for the time period) Lotus engine. The lightweight all alloy Lotus 907 engine not only attributed to the ideal weight balance but also provided more than ample acceleration. The engine that was produced by Lotus and suppled to Jensen was a two liter, dual overhead cam; sixteen valve all alloy power plants with a 7,000 RPM redline. The engine produced 144 horsepower and would had a zero to 60 mph sprint in 8.1 seconds and a top speed of 119 mph. The cars curb weight was at 2,408 pounds, with a wheel base of 92 inches. This Jensen engine produced by Lotus was the first mass produced multi-valve engine in the world.

The world-wide financial crises combined with the 1975 oil crises caused tremendous financial strain on Jensen Motors. The sales of the much larger and high end Chrysler V-8 powered Jensen Interceptor model crashed due to the dual financial crises. To compound Jensen Motors problems even further, in 1975 the Jensen Healy GT fastback model was rushed into the market. The expenses of bringing this new model market created a strain to the already cash strapped company. Jensen Motors could not recover from all of the financial setbacks and was forced to liquidate in 1975 and close forever in May 1976. Paul Katsus would remind readers that Jensen Motors not only created the Lotus powered Jensen Healy but also the Chrysler V-8 powered Jensen Interceptor. Paul Katsus would like to encourage readers to read up on other British cars such as MG’s, Jaguars, Triumphs, Aston Martins, Rolls Royce’s, and Bentleys, just to name a few.

Jensen Interceptor

Paul Katsus is a Service Consultant for Centerpoint Energy based in Houston, Texas. Paul Katsus is not an expert on classic cars but he has done a lot of research on all types of muscle and classic cars. The Jensen Interceptor is a little known British car  produced by the Jensen Motors Company, that produced hand built cars with American V-8 engines. Jensen Motors used Chrysler V8 engines for the Interceptor, starting with the 383 cubic inch with four barrel carburetor. Most were produced with the Chrysler TorqueFlight automatic transmission but 22 were built with the optional 4 speed manual. Both came standard with a limited slip differential. in a conventional Salisbury rear axle. In 1970 the 383 c.i. produced 335 hp, but in 1971 the engine was detuned to run on regular gas and the horsepower dropped to 270 hp . So in 1971, Jensen chose to use the 440 cubic inch V-8.

For 1971, Jensen offered two 440 c.i. engines. The standard engine came with a 4-barrel carburetor and produced 305 hp . The optional engine was a 440 cubic inch engine sporting three 2-barrel carburetors and produced 330 hp. This engine was only offered in 1971 and was the most car Jensen ever produced. There were only 232 cars ever built with the 440 “Six Pack” making this one of the most collectable models ever made by Jensen.

Change came again in 1972,  when the 440 c.i. engine with three 2-barrel carburetors were no longer produced by Chrysler Corp.  Once again a high performance Chrysler V-8 engine was de-tuned. The 440 c.i. engine the detuned  440 was reduced to 280 hp. This horsepower reduction continued throughout the 1970’s as Chrysler continued to offer a high performance 440 c.i. engine, up to 1976 when it only produced 255 hp.

Combined with problems with its Jensen Healy sports car and a world-wide recession in 1975, the company had fallen on hard times. The Jensen Motors Company  was eventually  placed into receivership. The remaining collectable of cars and parts were used by build out the 1976 model year. The production of the Jensen Interceptor ended in 1976.Paul Katsus would hope that this automobile blend of American muscle and hand built British luxury will not be lost to history.