Jensen 541S
Encyclopedia
The Jensen 541S was Jensen Motors luxury GT
Grand tourer
A grand tourer is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement....

 model of the Jensen 541
Jensen 541
The Jensen 541 was first exhibited at the London Motor Show in October 1953: production started in 1954. In October 1954 a cabriolet version was introduced....

 series, being 4" wider than the 541R
Jensen 541R
The Jensen 541R is a closed four-seater GT-class car built in the United Kingdom by Jensen between 1957 to 1960.The original aluminium prototype appeared in 1953 as the 541 at the London Motor Show, although this changed to glassfibre for all production cars...

, which had the advantages of making the interior roomier and improving the roadholding. The 541S had a conventional radiator grill (as opposed to the flap of the 541) to allow for the extra heat given by a proposed new V8 engine, and a Salisbury limited slip differential
Limited slip differential
A limited slip differential is a type of differential gear arrangement that allows for some difference in angular velocity of the output shafts, but imposes a mechanical bound on the disparity...

 for the extra torque demanded.

Jensen used their own powerful version of the Austin
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

 DS5 4 litre straight-six engine (featuring triple SU carburetors, a high compression Weslake
Weslake
Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake was a cylinder head specialist who had been instrumental in modifying the side valve standard engine used in the first SS sports car. He also worked on the larger SS engine: "The...

 head with custom made twin exhaust manifold
Exhaust manifold
In automotive engineering, an exhaust manifold collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe. The word manifold comes from the Old English word manigfeald and refers to the folding together of multiple inputs and outputs.In contrast, an inlet manifold is the part of an engine...

s and an alloy baffled sump/oil cooler) in the 541S. Initially the Jensen brothers tested Chrysler Hemi V8
Chrysler Hemi engine
The Chrysler Hemi engine, known by the trademark Hemi, is a series of V8 engines built by Chrysler with a hemispherical combustion chamber. Three different types of Hemi engines have been built by Chrysler for automobiles: the first from 1951–1958, the second from 1964–1971, and the third...

s in the 541S, also trialled in Richard Jensen's Jensen 541
Jensen 541
The Jensen 541 was first exhibited at the London Motor Show in October 1953: production started in 1954. In October 1954 a cabriolet version was introduced....

delux, but none were used because of supply difficulties. However one was fitted with a Chevrolet 327
Chevrolet Small-Block engine
The Chevrolet small-block engine is a series of automobile V8 engines built by the Chevrolet Division of General Motors using the same basic small engine block...

 V8 at Donald Healey
Donald Healey
Donald Mitchell Healey CBE was a noted English rally driver, automobile engineer, and speed record holder.- Early life :...

's request. 127 cars were hand built between 1960 and 1962 at Jensen's West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...

 factory, most having GM-licensed Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Limited
Rolls-Royce Limited was a renowned British car and, from 1914 on, aero-engine manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce on 15 March 1906 as the result of a partnership formed in 1904....

 hydramatic
Hydramatic
Hydramatic was an automatic transmission developed by both General Motors' Cadillac and Oldsmobile divisions. Introduced in 1939 for the 1940 model year vehicles, the Hydramatic was the first fully automatic mass-produced transmission developed for passenger automobile use.-History:During the...

 gearboxes. This was innovative at the time as performance cars mainly had manual gearboxes. It also suited the criteria of effortless speed and luxurious long distance driving Jensen set for their new car, although twenty two were fitted with Moss manual gear boxes at the request of their prospective owners.

The Jensen 541S is also notable for being the first British car to have seat belts fitted as standard equipment. Another first for the 541 series was the use of Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...

 disc brakes that were used on all four wheels. A rack and pinion
Rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...

 steering system was employed, giving the car very positive steering. Other safety equipment included a padded windscreen surround, fire extinguisher and first-aid kit. Each car was also fitted with a Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...

 radio.

The 541 S was superseded by the Chrysler Golden Commando V8 powered Jensen CV8
Jensen CV8
The Jensen C-V8 is a sports car produced by Jensen Motors.Launched in October 1962, it was the successor to the similarly styled 541 series of Jensen motorcars and shared their use of fibreglass as a body material ....

 model, which inherited from the 541 S the same wheelbase and track dimensions, as well as the Jensen ethos of safe, easy, comfortable and fast inter-continental travel while the groundbreaking 1966 Jensen FF
Jensen FF
The Jensen FF was a four-wheel drive Grand Tourer car produced by the British manufacturer Jensen Motors between 1966 and 1971. It was the first non all-terrain production car equipped with 4WD and an anti-lock braking system — the Dunlop Maxaret mechanical system used hitherto only on...

used a perimeter tube style chassis first tried on the 541 series of cars.

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