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.
Paul Katsus, Service Consultant at CenterPoint Energy 