1938 Jensen S-Type – Auction Car of the Week

Jensen? You mean the Interceptor, right? Yep, we know most people immediately think of the Interceptor when the name Jensen comes up. Either that or a certain British former F1 champion. And that’s OK, those associations are strong. The Interceptor is a beautiful and well-respected classic and Jensen Button won the hearts of the British public as an incredibly affable racing driver but there were Jensens before the Interceptor and before Button (including the original Interceptor but that’s for another time) and one in particular we want to talk about today is the British auto maker’s very first, purpose-built production car: the Jensen S-Type.

Prior to the S-Type’s development and debut in 1936, the Jensen brothers – Alan and Richard – had been designing and building custom bodies for other British manufacturers including Morris and Wolseley and so it was a natural next step to progress into building cars from the ground up. Beginning in 1934, development of the S-Type followed on from a deal struck with Edsel Ford whereby the Jensen brothers were producing a number of cars with Ford underpinnings clothed in Jensen bodies. Labelled the White Lady this first foray into original car production marked the beginning of Jensen as it came to be known.

Somewhat of a continuation of what they were doing with Ford Alan and Richard Jensen continued the theme of utilising steel Ford chassis parts, as well as its flathead V8 in either 2.3 or 3.5-litre capacity to construct the White Lady, a name that would soon be dropped in favour of a far less whimsical moniker of the S-Type. With an aluminium body completing the build the new S-Type was available as a saloon, convertible and tourer, the latter of which we have available here via our auctions platform.

And what and absolute stunner it is! Not only is it a strikingly beautiful car, reminiscent of other pre-war era Anglo-American hybrids but the Jensen stood arguably slightly taller and slightly more proud in terms of both design and engineering. Not only that but it is an incredibly rare beast with around 50 of them having ever been built, only eight of which were open top tourers. Of those eight, only five survive today and this is chassis S44, the last of those S-type tourers built between 1937 and 1938.

On top of all that the car has a fascinating story to boot. Beginning life as Alan Jensen’s own personal ride it was subsequently entered by Jensen into the RAC and Scottish rallies in ’39, driven by Alan Hess. Following this foray into motorsport Jensen sold the car to European All-In Wrestling Champion Bob Gregory who subsequently passed it on to textiles magnate Sidney Rubin who would melt down to the Côte d’Azur and Amalfi Coast in the Jensen for regular summer jaunts. The car was laid up in the ’60s until it came up for sale again in ’93 to be bought by a well-known entrepreneur. It was acquired in 2016 by the current owner, a lifelong Jensen enthusiast and author of ‘Jensen: The Surviving 3½ and 4¼-Litre Cars’, of which this particular S-Type features and was sympathetically restored by Alvis specialists Red Triangle, retaining as much of the car’s originality as possible, including the upholstery.

What this means is the beautifully styled Jensen S-Type retains an originality and charm that is not and can not be duplicated. Whilst some repairs and refreshments have obviously been made to the interior and bodywork it hasn’t been rebuilt from the ground up and it’s all the better for it. The car has also received various degrees of mechanical fettling over the course of its life to ensure that the tuned flathead V8 under the bonnet continues to sing to the tune of a claimed 120bhp meaning you can still belt along at 90mph flat out should you choose. And if something were to go wrong, well, parts are still easy to source.

This Jensen S-Type is a truly stunning and unique car with bags of character and a rich history that is ready to be driven. To say it’s a bit special would be a gross understatement but that’s not to say it’s a car to be mollycoddled. Yes, it will be the star of any car show you should choose to grace with its presence but the fact of the matter is you can comfortably drive it there and back, safe in the knowledge that it’s one of the most mechanically sound, wonderfully-presented and inherently exhilarating classic cars of its era you’re likely to find. So, all that’s left to do is head over to the listing for a full rundown and a plethora of beautifully shot photographs and get bidding. You don’t want to miss out on this one. Trust us.