Jensen C-V8 History

The C-V8 (1962–1966) marked Jensen's switch to American V8 power that would define the marque. Keeping a fibreglass body — by then with a polarising slant-quad-headlight nose styled by Eric Neale — it dropped in big-block Chrysler V8s, first the 361 cu in unit and from 1964 the 383, mated to a TorqueFlite automatic.

The result was startlingly quick: the Mk II could reach around 136 mph and sprint to 60 mph in roughly 6.7 seconds, making it one of the fastest four-seaters in the world at the time. About 499 were built before it was replaced by the Italian-styled Interceptor, which traded the C-V8's idiosyncratic looks for elegance while keeping the Chrysler power.