| Moderated by: Greg Fletcher | ||
| Author | Post | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
johnnyd2u Member
|
I've come accross a Jensen Healey, offered for sale for $300. The car is pretty much all there as I can tell, it's in non-running condition and it needs alot of work. The driver's door tag reads; date of manufacture 7/8/75 and the vin# is 20498. Can anyone tell me anything about the car from the vin #? Is it a good buy? Can parts be found? Any help/info would be apreciated. |
|||||||||
|
smcmanus Member 
|
Many parts are available with the main source being Delta. They will send you a free catalog for the asking. Is it a good deal? Heck yeah! Even if it rusts into dust the parts are worth way more than 3 bills. It should have a 5 speed transmission which is worth 3X the asking price. It may or may not be repairable, but it is certainly worth $300. My advice is: Buy all you can find and keep them out of the rain. Have a nice day Steve |
|||||||||
|
johnnyd2u Member
|
Thanks Steve for the reply. It does have a 5 speed (at least thats what the gear shift selector says). From pictures of other cars I've seen it looks to be all original, the only thing missing is the radio as far as I can tell. It has a hardtop? and the convertible softtop frame is there but no top. Other than that...??? I'm more of a American made muscle car guy, but my wife has her heart set on the sportsy wind in her hair thing. Oh well, another learning experience I guess! Thanks again for the input. |
|||||||||
|
edward_davis Member 
|
Johnny, The Jensens are the closest thing you can get to a muscle car from the British. The power to weight ratio of the JH is about 17 lbs/hp, which, technically, makes it a muscle car. If you want to delve deeper, the Jensen Interceptor came with the ol' Chrysler 440 wedge motor, so it's really a muscle car. If you take a Jensen to a British car meet, you'll outpower most of the little British cars there. That's why I have a JH and not an MGB. Edward |
|||||||||
|
Brett Gibson JH5 20497 Member
|
Johnny, with that Vin# it means it was one of the last 6 out of the factory before it closed, by that time most of the issue's with the cars had been sorted out, I own 20497 so yours was next in line, curious ?? what color ext. and int. does it have. Brett. |
|||||||||
|
johnnyd2u Member
|
Thanks Edward and Brett for the replys. The car is currently white with the trunk lid painted red. In a few areas where the white paint has come off the car is blue, not sure if the blue is original or not. The interior has blue carpeting with the seats being blue and black. Also the seats are cloth material not leather or vinyl. From the little amount of research I've done I've seen no mention of cloth seats, only leather? Hopefully, I will be picking the car up in the next day or so. That is interesting about the Vin #'s. Does anyone know how many of these cars still survive? |
|||||||||
|
jcrc1 Member 
|
According to my DataBook, Your car was originally Nevis Blue with a Black interior and a Hardtop option was ordered with the car. Your Original engine # is t75-02-11578. Yours and Bretts each have a funny notation in the notes section which says"EHD order to the USA" . I don't know what that means but the last 7 cars to the USA were coded with that footnote. Bretts car color was also Nevis Blue with a Tan Interior. Hope this helps John |
|||||||||
|
johnnyd2u Member
|
Thanks John for the info. The interior door panels, dash, etc. are black. However, the carpeting is definately a blue of sorts (must have been changed out at some point). Still wondering about leather/cloth seats. Thanks again for responding |
|||||||||
|
johnnyd2u Member
|
Well, it took a tractor to pull the car out of the dirt and onto solid ground so it could be towed. Now where did I put that screwdriver? Attachment: JH-1.jpg (Downloaded 130 times) |
|||||||||
|
Brett Gibson JH5 20497 Member
|
John, not sure what "EHD" stands for, but the original owner bought the car in England during his service in the air force there, once his tour was up he sent it back to the factory to be updated for the US market, then had them ship it to Atlanta.. maybe Johnny's car did the same thing .... ??? |
|||||||||