1972 Jensen SP

Price: - Item location: Reno, Nevada, United States
Description:

1972 Other Makes SP

This is perhaps the only time you will see a car like this for sale. It is a 1972 Jensen SP. It is Left-Hand-Drive. There were only 232 SPs ever made and only 13 of them were LHD. It is known that 3 of the LHD SPs have been broken up for parts over the years. So this car is one of only 10 in the whole world. She is even more unusual than that. This is the only known SP with a manual gearbox. That's right, she has a Chrysler A-833 Overdrive gearbox installed. Her gearbox and rear axle were both completely rebuilt about a year ago. The rear axle gear ratio is 3.78:1 which gives her the ability to start off like a scared cat if you wish to. At 65 or 70 mph in top gear the engine is turning about 2200 rpm thanks to the overdrive gear.
She has the original Chrysler 440 Six-Pack engine that was rebuilt about 15,000 miles ago when the mileage on the chassis was about 50,000. The Triple Holley 2300 carburetors are still working fine. The original 10.3:1 pistons were retained as the block did not need boring. The engine was assembled with high-quality parts. The camshaft was replaced with an Iskenderian cam that is very similar to the stock unit, perhaps a little bit hotter. Ignition has been replaced with a crank-fired unit using the "wasted-spark" system. It is much more reliable than the original and does not require the frequent tune-ups that the old system needed.
Inside you will find a Pioneer Z1 audio/video/navigation system with interfaces for iPod and Bluetooth.
I drive her almost every day and have no reservations about going anywhere in her as long as it's on a paved road.
Why am I selling her? My current age and general state of health prevent me from doing the maintenance and occasional repair that are needed by any car of this vintage. She now is in need of new paint and upholstery work and I do not possess those skills nor the energy to apply them.
I am in the position where selling her to a new home is the reasonable thing to do, but I will not sell her cheap.