Description
Cropredy Bridge Cars are delighted to offer this beautiful Jensen SP for sale.
Once production of the FF had ceased, the Jensen SP was introduced as the new “halo car” for the brand.
With a displacement of 440CU (7. 2 Litres), the V8 engine featured three sets of twin barrel carburettors - hence the SP name which stood for ‘Six Pack’. Fitting a higher compression engine and the 1300 CFM carburettors, raised output from around 280bhp to 385bhp making it the most powerful production Jensen, and it was amongst the most powerful production cars available in the UK in the at the time DPX76L was sold.
With such performance, driving an SP is addictive. The surge of power at full throttle bears comparison with many modern supercars.
This particular car – chassis 138/ 8398 – was delivered by Malaya Garage of Cowfold West Sussex to a London-based customer and was one of just 89 cars with the ‘138’ Chassis Prefix.
These were the most desirable of the SPs, benefitting from various modifications of the J series Interceptor III V8s and addressing a number of the reliability issues experienced on the earlier SP cars.
It is not known how many of the 232 SPs that left the factory still survive, but in the last five years only around 60 have appeared in public according to Richard Calver, the most authoritative source on these issues.
Chassis 138/ 8398 is also unusual in that it still has the massive six pack carburettor system, when many SP's have subsequently had four-barrel Holley units fitted, which reduce the power.
This particular SP was rescued by a well known Jensen owner who recognised both its rarity as an SP with its original Six Pack unit and its quality and decided to return it to excellent condition.
As well as significant work from the owner it has been the subject of extensive works at Cropredy and seen recent expenditure of £40k with us including new sills, a gearbox rebuild, suspension and brake system refresh.
It drives wonderfully and with its high quality interior and Bluetooth enable period style radio is ready to be enjoyed by a new custodian. It comes with a comprehensive history file including the original factory records and invoices going back over 30 years and we think 138/ 8398 is one of the best SPs we have seen available for sale in some considerable time.
