Today’s car is a 1965 Jensen C-V8 MkIII that is owned by Dan and Josh Sabah. I saw this car at Hagerty’s first Cars and Caffeine event located at their “Hagerty Garage + Social location” that is located in Van Nuys, CA. The Jensen has just completed a 4 year restoration and is finished in Princess Grey with a grey with black piping Connolly leather interior and grey Wilton wool carpets. The dashboard is burled walnut and the steering wheel is walnut. It is powered by 330 hp high performance Chrysler 383 cu in, V8 with a Carter AFB Carburetor and is mated to a Chrysler 3-speed Torqueflite automatic transmission with a 3.07:1 rear end. To help slow this rare beauty down are dual circuit braking, disc brakes in all 4-corners and Dunlop Maxaret anti-skid braking system. It has independent front suspension with coil springs and in the rear are semi-elliptical leaf springs with De Dion axle and an Armstrong Selectaride adjustable rear dampers. The control switch located in the center console.
The Jensen C-V8 was produced between 1962-66. They produced 500 units, with only 2 left hand drives ever built, there were a total of 118 MKIIIs built in 1965. The car is certified as one of the two left hand drive cars. The MSRP was £3700.00 or US equivalent of $4,188.44 in 1965.
The Jensen C-V8 was one of the fastest four-seat GT cars in the world. It was capable of reaching speeds in excess of 136 mph and accelerating from 0 – 62 mph in 6.7 seconds. Jensen was among the first to embrace composites such as fiberglass far earlier than most automakers. Those of you who know me, know that I can not let a statement like that go with out say this. Kaiser Darrin would have been the first production fiberglass car but, due to production delays they did not reach showroom floors until January 1954, making the Corvette the first mass-produced all-fiberglass body car in 1953.
Since the completion of the restoration, they have only shown this rare car once at the 2022 San Marino Motor Classic Concourse. Where it won a well deserved Best In Class. My prediction is that this is just a look into the future for Dan and Josh. Thanks for riding along. Frank
