There are project cars, and there are projects that used to be cars. This may fall into the latter category, as there’s not much left to this 1960 Jensen 541R. This is a rare beast, a grand tourer made in very limited quantities that featured a plethora of advanced features making it a lightweight and luxurious cruiser. The seller clearly embarked on a very ambitious restoration of a car you’re not likely to find two of anytime soon, but it sounds like even he is waving the white flag of exhaustion or fatigue (or both.) Find the Jensen here on eBay with a suggested opening bid of $3,500 and no action yet.
The Jensen 541R utilized fiberglass bodywork to keep the curb weight quite low, clocking in at under 3,000 pounds. The model also featured aluminum doors, front independent suspension, and optional center-lock wheels. You put those details together without knowing the make or model and you might figure it for a road-going version of a LeMans racer. The seller doesn’t offer much in the way of details as to where this Jensen was found, but it clearly had some unfortunate storage arrangements at one point in its life; it also reminds me of a car found in a junkyard based on the damage to the trunk and missing front panels.
The seller clearly started down a path of restoring this car the right way, going so far as to assemble a station buck to hammer out an aluminum hood to replicate the one that has clearly gone missing; for a time, he had access to a spare, no doubt loaned to him by a fellow enthusiast, to base the buck design on, but he apparently got no further than that (the buck will go with the car.) In addition to the hood, the Jensen is also missing both doors and the rockers, along with the engine and transmission. The seller notes there is also extensive rust in the frame, so replicating the hood is the least of your worries.
Still, a fair amount of parts do come with the car, including the luxurious leather seats that were standard when the Jensen was new. The seller notes it will also come with the “…original rear axle, front suspension (missing a hub), radiator, gas tank, rear window, rear trunk pan, steering column, under hood tubing support that wraps around engine bay, inner fenders (one damaged), front fender portions that go behind front wheels, trans cover, steering rack.” The Jensen was the first British four-seater to feature four-wheel disc brakes, and combined with the lightweight construction, there’s little doubt this was a game-changing model – but will those features and its rarity be enough to bring this 541 back from the dead?
Big deal- just buy a 3D printer and get to work. We’ll see you in about 20 years…
I work on Bugeye Sprites and one day many years ago (30+) I went to look at a collection a guy had in his yard. He had about eight cars (shells) that were sitting in the dirt. There was nothing left below the ground line. The bottom of the tubs were gone!. He wanted big money. I said to him there was nothing there.. and of course he disagreed. That is what this car is….. It is a shell of what it once was. Good luck to the restorer who takes this on. He will need to be a true lover of pure metal work! Once he has that done, where does he find every thing else?
This 541 can’t be brought back from the dead, but might it possibly help bring another back to life? There isn’t much here, and what there is needs refurbishing itself.
The bonnet of the 541 is fiberglass, seller suggests the buck could be used to lay the ‘glass. This would be a right hand drive car. The engine is an Austin Princess six. This is no better than a parts car and even at that some of the parts are too rusty to be useful. Here’s mine.
That is a good looking car right there!
Where would find the rear glass? That alone looks like a major project!!
Absolutely beautiful. Thanks for posting that picture of yours Michelle, thats definitely got to be your pride and joy for sure. Absolutely beautiful car.
Indeed, it’s a wonderful driver, spritely enough to rally and long-legged enough for the highway. Too bad more of these early Jensens didn’t make it to our shores.
Beautiful car Michelle. How did you manage to come up with a car that rare?
Bought it from Russo & Steele back when there was a Russo & Steele. No one knew what it was. Also we had previewed it a couple days before with the auction attendant and he accidentally left something on afterwards, so the battery died… It went across the block towed by a golf cart. Too bad for the seller, great for me.
Probably easier, and cheaper to skin the buck with thin sheeting, use that to make a fiberglass mold.
But that won’t cover all the rest that’s missing, so rat rod Euro sportscar might be the only alternative to the junk yard.
The deck lid isn’t deformed from careless storage-that’s its real shape.
Ugly when new uglier now!
As I look at the comments from this car (or once was), rarity does not equate to valuable. As a carpenter and car restorer (driver cars only), there was an incredible amount of work just put into building the station buck for the front hood! To pound out the metal will be even more work and then maybe you are 1% into this project. Good luck on everything else. As I look at cars like this I always wonder that: One time this car was brand new! What would be more interesting is the history of how it got to its condition today. What series of events happened that allowed this car to deteriorate, yet it was kept somewhere for future consideration?
Clearly a case for Jay Leno.