The Jensen Healey represents one of the great “coals to Newcastle” cases in automotive history. Developed and built in the UK following a major cash injection from US businessman Kjell Qvale, more of these little cars initially found homes in the USA than in the UK. As time has passed the UK car numbers have slowly dwindled which has lead to a situation where UK enthusiasts are importing more and more of the US versions back to the UK. Our subject car is located in Bakersfield, California, and can be found for sale here on eBay. Offered with a clear title, the seller has set a BIN of $2,800 on this 1974 model.

The early Mk I Healey was plagued with rust problems due to issues with panel gaps and sealing which allowed moisture to soak carpets under-foot. These problems were resolved over time and the Mk II had fewer issues with corrosion. The seller states that this particular little Healey is rust-free which is a good starting point. The outside of the car looks to be quite straight although it appears that there might be a slight panel issue between the deck lid and the tail-light on the right hand side. The other issue is that there is a crack in the windshield, and both side windows are broken. The soft-top looks pretty badly shredded, but the car does come with a hardtop.

The majority of the interior looks like it may respond well to a decent clean, but there are few things that will need to be considered. The dash pad is cracked in several places, and the tops of both door trims appear to be quite discolored which is probably due to exposure to UV rays. It is hard to tell the condition of the seats, although what is visible looks quite promising. The lenses on some of the gauges look like they are either very dirty or the plastic has become cloudy over time. The majority of the remaining plastic trim looks intact. The carpet appears like it is a candidate for replacement.

Unfortunately, there are no shots of the engine, but the seller states that the car ran when it was parked 12 years ago. I’m a bit disappointed that the seller hasn’t tried to at least wind the motor over by hand to make sure that it isn’t locked. The positive is that if it isn’t locked but requires a rebuild, parts for that little Lotus 907 engine are quite plentiful. If there haven’t been any changes to the drive-train of this Jensen then the engine will be backed by a 4-speed manual transmission as the close-ratio 5-speed wasn’t fitted until 1975. The seller also states that there is a spare set of wheels that will come with the car.

The Jensen Healey is an interesting car and is capable of quite decent performance for a car of such a diminutive size. If this example is rust-free then that makes it a good starting point if you hanker for a British sports car with American roots. I decided to do a some investigating on the glass issues with this Healey and found that there are very few sources for Jensen Healey glass in the USA, so that would need to be a consideration. However, there are companies in the UK who can supply the glass and do ship to the USA if required. Parts such as the interior trim pieces identified earlier seem to be more abundant than the glass. So, a viable project or not?