The Jensen again does without wood garnishing, and has an
understated leather cloth-covered dashboard with British Jaeger dials that are
positioned to be more easily readable than those of the XK. The seats are
better-shaped buckets, and an auxiliary cushion can be slid behind the covering
of the front seats to give extra lumbar support – prompted, so it is said, by
one of the Jensen brothers suffering from back trouble. More to the point, the
541 has two nicely shaped rear seats that can happily accommodate reasonably
sized children. There are also some rather charming details that make you
forgive the odd exposed screw head: green celluloid sun visors that slide out
of a padded cant rail, for example, and handles set into a recess in the door
trim. It’s a genuinely pleasing and practical cabin, and certainly not
home-made in feel.
541 needs more
effort to hustle but handles tidily
It’s on the road, however, that the real differences between
the two cars emerge. The Jaguar is colored – no, defined – by that magnificent
hemi-head twin-cam. Bassy, growly, rugged, howling, it marries instantly
accessible smooth-revving power with hefty low-down torque. Despite a
relatively high level of tune, it’s in no way fickle, yet it’s fair to say that
it’s not at its best trickling through Surrey rush-hour traffic.
If you want to cut-and-thrust, the XK will rise to the
occasion; equally, you can just keep it in fourth and drop in and out of over
drive, making use of the surging acceleration that’s still available in top,
even from low speeds. On the motorway you don’t just give nothing away to
moderns: you can best them with disdain. Despite legend, the Moss gearbox helps
rather than hinders. Yes, the synchromesh can be beaten, but there’s an
agreeable mechanical feel to the closely gated and relatively long-throw
change; with a firm hand, the long, slender lever just clicks into gear.
If the gearbox all the same has an old-fashioned action, the
rest of the XK feels remarkably modern. The clutch is smooth and the brakes
progressive, not notably heavy and most definitely effective. The steering,
meanwhile, is well-oiled, judiciously weighted, and only becomes a touch heavy
when maneuvering. Chassis behavior is exemplary, with hard cornering producing
a little tire squeal but with roll well checked. There’s a little liveliness
from the suspension on undulating roads, but other-wise the XK rides with
comfort.
Get used to that
huge steering wheel and the Jensen cockpit is actually a better place to be
If you had to sum up the Jensen in one phrase, you could
confidently describe it as a car of beefy in puts. The generously dimensioned
wheel links to steering that is weighty at low speed, though it becomes light
and precise when on the move; the brakes need such a lean that you feel tempted
to check that there is a servo under the bonnet; the clutch demands a similar
effort. Even the gear change is firm, and demands some elbow – despite it being
the same Moss unit as in the XK. The unperturbed ride you might also feel
tempted to put down to the perceived weight, which the thickness of the glass fiber
moldings could suggest to be substantial. At a kerb weight of 29.1cwt (3262lb),
though, the Jensen comes in at only 36lb more than the Jaguar.
Then there’s the engine – all 7cwt of it. It’s not a Revver
– you wouldn’t expect it to be, with a redline at just 4250rpm. But it’s
smooth, un ruffled, and spools out great gobs of torque. Lazy rather than
crisp, it just lugs. At 40mph there’s a mere 1250rpm on the clock in overdrive
top (against 1400rpmin the Jag), and at 70mph the needle is still sitting south
of 2500rpm. Changing gear quite often becomes optional: you can trickle through
many roundabouts in top.
So the Jensen’s straight-six lacks the sophisticated crackle
and sparkle of the Jaguar’s XK unit, but despite its power deficit delivers
ample performance, on an unrelenting surge of torque. You enjoy playing with
the Jaguar while you feel inclined to sit back and cruise in the Jensen. There’s
a paradox to the XK150, in that it is both softer and sharper than the Jensen:
it’s less of an effort to drive but has more vim to its performance. It’s a
profoundly seductive car, with that lovely engine, and with all other inputs
being harmonious and in no way laborious. You’d have to be a strange person not
to fall for its charms.
To strengthen the
body, the 541R also boasted blisters over the rear wings in place of the simple
‘speed’ molding of the 541 and 541 De Luxe
Both would get you to the South of France swiftly and
enjoyably, but the Jensen would be the more relaxing – so long as you steered
clear of the urban jungle. Also, the Jaguar is a strict two-seater. Those rear
seats are purely symbolic, whereas the Jensen has generous room in the back. It
also has more supportive front seats. Get used to that huge steering wheel and
the Jensen cockpit is actually a better place to be.
For many people the Jaguar would be superior, but the Jensen
has a greater spread of talent than you might expect. If you can live with the
extra muscle needed to drive the 541, it makes a totally valid alternative to
the XK. Is it a markedly less good car than the Jaguar, which could cost at
least three times as much? Of course not. With rarity in its favor, it could make
a fascinating wild-card proposition for those who don’t want to make the
obvious choices in life.
