1960 Jensen 541S (The Prototype)

Good As New

Our friends at Wyatt Polishing recently completed some restoration work and zinc plating for a number of seat runners and bonnet struts for the Jensens currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop. When components like this look as good as they now do, you can tell that the fully restored cars they become a part […]

A Brief History Of The Jensen 541

The Jensen 541 was a car produced by Jensen Motors. Each one of these cars has an individual story to tell, but the story of the Jensen 541, in general, is one that many car enthusiasts should be keen to hear. If you want to know more about these truly iconic classic cars, then this […]

1960 Jensen 541S – The Prototype

A little while ago, we shared some images of some of the previous classic Jensens we had restored that went on to be featured in The Jensen Journaal – a magazine published in Holland for people who love all things Jensen. We have recently found even more photos of one of our previous cars from […]

Watercolour – Artwork of our 1959 Jensen 541R From Helmingham

Local artist Paul Seymour has sent us in this beautiful watercolour painting of our 1959 Jensen 541R that he sketched at our stand at this years Helmingham Hall Classic & Sports Car Festival. We brought along the 541R which is in the early stages of its restoration with us. We’ve even got some photos of […]

On Tour – Previous Bridge Classic Cars Projects on the Road.

First up on tour is the amazing 1969 Ford Escort Twin Cam that was cruising around Ireland on holiday with its owner. We worked on this very car earlier this year and it’s amazing to see it being used and enjoyed. Safe travels! Next on the road is the 1960 Jensen 541S ”Prototype” which was […]

Jensen Journaal – July 2021

It is lovely to receive a copy of the Zomer 2021 Jensen Journaal in the post this week. Several of our Jensens that we have restored have been featured in this month’s copy of the Dutch magazine, Jensen Journaal! https://jensenholland.nl/ It’s an absolute privilege, so thank you. The magazine talks about our 1957 Jensen 541R, […]

Bespoke Jensen book bag!

We call it the Jensen bible and in order to protect it Kath has made a bespoke leather book bag. Jensen Genome Richard Calver July 2019 Edition She started the process by drawing, measuring and working out the dimensions and design for the bag. Black leather was cut out to the required shapes and measurements […]

Twenty Twenty: The Year Of The Jensen

Some of you may remember we mentioned our busy Jensen workshop last year, and it hasn’t slowed down in 2021. We’ve become the Jensen Specialists of the UK with a constant set of Jensen 541R and 541S projects passing through our doors on a regular basis. With projects ranging from full nut and bolt restorations […]

Jensen 541S: Custom Cover

In order to manufacturer our bespoke Jensen 541S fitted car cover we have called upon the experts at Protec Covers in Bradford. They took a trip down to our workshops to measure up for the cover which we should hopefully see with us with a week or so. Whilst on site, they have also taken […]

Mr Belford

“Hi, I’m the former owner of the Jensen 541 S (prototype) that you have been restoring. I’ve been following the progress of its rebirth online over the past months and now it is complete it looks stunning, well done to all those skills for returning her to her former glory.”

1960 Jensen 541R – The Prototype – Hungarian Hall

At the start of the 1950s, the Jensen Motor Company had a financially sound business producing commercial vehicles and building bespoke bodies for other manufacturers. As is often the way with successful entrepreneurs, the Jensen brothers enjoyed having their name on their products and having been involved for years prior to the war building small cars […]

Behind the scenes at today’s photo shoot

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With our 1960 Jensen 541S restoration journey almost complete, today is the day for our wonderful photo shoot. The sun is shining bright and we are on location bright and early with Jason from Sugar & Spice Photography. Today’s venue, the beautiful setting of Hungarian Hall, hidden down the country roads of Pettistree, Suffolk. Hungarian […]

Final stages of our 1960 Jensen 541S restoration

We are now into the very final stages of our 1960 Jensen 541S restoration. This very special and very unique car was one of only 3 prototypes produced by the Jensen brothers and was the only prototype to hold the automatic transmission which Jensen then went on to mass produce. In theory, this is the […]

Recommissioning our Jensen gearbox

Our Jensen 541S has returned to Graham Whitehouse Autos to have the gearbox set up. The gearbox was rebuilt by Graham Whitehouse Autos earlier in the project build but now we have it fitted back into the car and with the engine running we can now set up to maximise performance. In order to reset the gearbox the […]

Fabricating the Jensen’s front grille surround

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We already hold the tooling to re-produce the front grilles themselves but now requiring the front grille surround it was back to design mode for Dave as he got to work fabricating the surround edging. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Running up the Jensen engine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]We are now fine tuning and running up our Jensen 541S engine. The engine has been removed and detailed but has not been rebuilt. We carried out various tests when we original received the car and with all running and pressures how you would expect we made the decision, alongside the customer, to leave the […]

1960 Jensen 541S Nearing Completion

We are now days away from the completion of our 1960 Jensen 541S (the prototype). It has been a long restoration journey but hugely rewarding as we revive one of the very first prototype 541S’s to leave the Jensen factory. We still have a couple of smaller tasks to take care of and some touching […]

Introducing Speedy Cable

We have unknowingly used the services of Speedy Cable in the past on various clock and dials refurbishment productbut going through various third parties. On the restoration of our Jensen 541S we have headed straight for the source and now want to say a huge thank you to the guys and girls at Speedy Cable. They have […]

Fitting up the Jensen 541S bootlid

Lots of putting on and taking off today as John fits up the bootlid on our 1960 Jensen 541S. It is finally secure and in position and looking incredible. Every line and curve on this car is truly stunning…

Re-producing the spare wheel carrier

Our Jensen 541S has been bare due to the missing spare wheel carrier and like most items on the Jensen they are almost impossible to source. Thanks to David at the Jensen Owner’s Club we now have exactly what we need and the spare wheel is now securely in position.

Jensen door cards are now in place

The beautiful door cards are now fitted back into place on our 1960 Jensen 541S. John is now on the final stages of the build with only small, concentrated areas to focus on now. The final parts of the chrome-work will be back with us early next week.

The Jensen 541S Fuel Tank

With the new flooring now in position we are now able to re-install the fuel tank to our 1960 Jensen 541S.

Fitting up the power steering

I won’t lie to you, fitting up the power steering hasn’t been ‘EZ’ (sorry, couldn’t resist), through no fault of anyone in particular but simply due to the fact that this may be the only Jensen 541S of it’s kind to have one in. We called upon the assistance of EZ Electric Power Steering, the […]

Fitting up the Jensen interior

Just waiting on the door cards to be completed but we have made a really good start with the refit of the Jensen interior. We have had very little to do with the interior as it came to us look beautiful. A few minor alterations and a couple of areas needed some TLC but we […]

Rebuilding the Jensen flooring

The brand new flooring is now in position and looking lovely.  

More Jensen parts to chrome

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A couple of extra parts to get re-chromed, an over-rider, brackets and oil filler cap. A few weeks time we’ll have these back and ready to be fitted. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Jensen 541S: fitting up the new power steering

We are currently in the process of fitting up power steering to our 1960 Jensen 541S. Obviously not an original install when rolled out of the factory in 1960 but an excellent addition to the restoration. EZ Power Steering specialise in power steering for classic vehicles. Their main offices are in Holland where they manufacture the […]

The brand new windscreen is manufactured

The order was placed at the back end of 2017 so it has been a long wait for the production of our Jensen 541S windscreen but the wait is over. Due to the rarity of the car itself there are very few, if not any, brand new screens still in existence.  We therefore commissioned for […]

Prototype confirmation from Jensen Car Company

Original documentation from the Jensen Car Company to confirm our 1960 Jensen 541S was indeed one of the prototypes. ‘Congratulations on your acquisition. Your car was one of the three experimental chassis built to prove the 541S, and they were numbered JM/EXP, JM/EXP/101 and JM/EXP/102. Only EXP/101 had the automatic gearbox. There are a few […]

Jensen 541S Windows In and Badges Fitted

We are now making fantastic progress on our 1960 Jensen 541S as we fit up the exterior parts. The windows are now back in to position. The badges are on and the bonnet vent is also in place. The bonnet vent is original and is in fantastic condition. During the detailing process at the end […]