Discussion
They are a tuning and coachworks place IIRC
Much like Woods and Picketts they do specials.
A lot of the filmstars in the 60's drove a Radford mini, think of them as the Bentley of Mini modification. Oh, and rather uniquely they are hatchbacks.
Matt.
>> Edited by plotloss on Thursday 13th March 14:43
Much like Woods and Picketts they do specials.
A lot of the filmstars in the 60's drove a Radford mini, think of them as the Bentley of Mini modification. Oh, and rather uniquely they are hatchbacks.
Matt.
>> Edited by plotloss on Thursday 13th March 14:43
Harold Radford were berspoke carriage builders based in Hammersmith who, amongst other things, produced the Rolls Royce Countryman conversion, their showroom next to the Town Hall was a useful distraction when waiting for a 660 trolly bus in King Street.
During the sixties Peter Sellars asked them to jazz up a Mini for him, people liked it and commissions from Ringo Starr and other notewothies, including Ernest Marples Minister of Transport, who wanted a Cooper S hatchback, followed. In the fullness of time secondhand versions could even be afforded by young blades such as yours truely.
Radford continued with Countryman conversions on various fine cars but eventually trade dwindled away and the name was sold off to another.
The real Radfords were very nicely built and are still sought after.
During the sixties Peter Sellars asked them to jazz up a Mini for him, people liked it and commissions from Ringo Starr and other notewothies, including Ernest Marples Minister of Transport, who wanted a Cooper S hatchback, followed. In the fullness of time secondhand versions could even be afforded by young blades such as yours truely.
Radford continued with Countryman conversions on various fine cars but eventually trade dwindled away and the name was sold off to another.
The real Radfords were very nicely built and are still sought after.
I spent a lot of time waiting for that bloody trolley bus!
What particular aspect of Jensen interests you Matt?
The Jensen brothers started their company to produce alloy commercial bodies so they have a similarity to AC (Auto Carriers).
They decided to produce their own car and logically made use of the Austin commercial engine. They were early adopters of disc brakes and fibre glass body work although ironically their bread and butter was producing steel bodies for Volvo P1800, Austin Healey etc and automotive assembly work.
My first brush with Jensen was minute inspection of Charlie Drake's 501 that was daily parked outside the pub opposite my school. I never managed to blag a ride as Drake was smaller than most of us sixth formers so may have felt threatened, he was, however, a very funny man face to face (sorry face to kneecap). I should have been on Prefect duty on the school gate but the Jensen, and I'm afraid the Pub, were a greater attraction!
To me the peak of Jensen's achievement was the ugly but very effective CV8. Didn't need many mods to make it really good fun but I never got to try the 4WD version. The new model (metal) Interceptor and FF were undoubtebly fine cars but a bit too big (and less Bristollike) for me. The Jensen Healey, once sorted was much better than people think but might have been even better had it used the 2.3 Vauhall Motor as well as its suspension as it would have been reliable sooner and a lot cheaper, I suspect sales and profits would have been higher and who knows what would have happened.
A brief potted history off the top of the gnomecap but you'll find that Jensen's history is very well documented Matt.
Gnomely greetings to all.
>> Edited by gnomesmith on Thursday 13th March 15:56
What particular aspect of Jensen interests you Matt?
The Jensen brothers started their company to produce alloy commercial bodies so they have a similarity to AC (Auto Carriers).
They decided to produce their own car and logically made use of the Austin commercial engine. They were early adopters of disc brakes and fibre glass body work although ironically their bread and butter was producing steel bodies for Volvo P1800, Austin Healey etc and automotive assembly work.
My first brush with Jensen was minute inspection of Charlie Drake's 501 that was daily parked outside the pub opposite my school. I never managed to blag a ride as Drake was smaller than most of us sixth formers so may have felt threatened, he was, however, a very funny man face to face (sorry face to kneecap). I should have been on Prefect duty on the school gate but the Jensen, and I'm afraid the Pub, were a greater attraction!
To me the peak of Jensen's achievement was the ugly but very effective CV8. Didn't need many mods to make it really good fun but I never got to try the 4WD version. The new model (metal) Interceptor and FF were undoubtebly fine cars but a bit too big (and less Bristollike) for me. The Jensen Healey, once sorted was much better than people think but might have been even better had it used the 2.3 Vauhall Motor as well as its suspension as it would have been reliable sooner and a lot cheaper, I suspect sales and profits would have been higher and who knows what would have happened.
A brief potted history off the top of the gnomecap but you'll find that Jensen's history is very well documented Matt.
Gnomely greetings to all.
>> Edited by gnomesmith on Thursday 13th March 15:56
v8thunder said: Wasn't the Jensen Healy/GT powered by a 2.0 litre Lotus engine? (it used a vauxhall block for testing, but the Lotus slant-4 was it's own design.)
Yes and it caused much agro for JH in the early days. That is why I suggested that the Vauxhall motor might have been a better bet as it was cheaper and reliable and would have given the JH a more realistic place in the market.
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