1965 Jensen C-V8 - Jay Leno’s Garage

After lusting over this rare English sports car for decades, Jay has finally acquired one and contends that this is what Bond should have driven!

THE BEST OF JAY LENO'S GARAGE

JAY LENO'S GARAGE ON SOCIAL

ABOUT JAY LENO'S GARAGE
A new video every Sunday! Visit Jay Leno's Garage, the Emmy-winning series where Jay Leno gives car reviews, motorcycle reviews, compares cars, and shares his passion and expertise on anything that rolls, explodes, and makes noise. Classic cars, restomods, super cars like the McLaren P1, sports cars like Porsche 918 Spyder and Camaro Z28, cafe racers, vintage cars, and much, much more.

NBC ON SOCIAL:

1965 Jensen C-V8 - Jay Leno’s Garage

Jay Leno's Garage

[MrRufusRToyota]

This is one of the most beautiful cars. Somehow timeless while still being of a place and time. Extremely sophisticated.

[Sgneale]

Hey Jay! I'm glad you finally got to get your hands on this car. My grandfather was the chief of design at Jensen and designed this car along with the 541.

[insideoutoxfordltd.]

My father had one of these for a couple of years in the 60s and I can still remember sitting in the back as a little boy with my brother, no seat belts, going everywhere fast. Everybody who saw it stared at it in wonder. We had an "I Spy..." book of cars to keep us amused on long car journeys and our CV8 was the highest scoring model of car in the book, on the final page. He traded his 541R to buy the CV8, it was a silvery metallic blue, and we loved it to bits. The speedo was optimistic, I remember. The CV8 was for a while the fastest genuine 4-seater in the world, but the top end was around 135mph. I can remember seeing the needle touch 150 which impressed the hell out of me, until years later when I read what they could really do. He traded the Jenny for a Renault 4 (plus a very big pile of cash), which was a huge shock!

[jpd]

I've never seen one of those before...just gorgeous. That dashboard is a work of art.

[CalvinHikes]

Show Business may have given Jay the recources to afford a garage like this... But he is so much better at this! Thanks Mr Leno.

[chrispockney]

Fascinated to see this. This was the first car I was ever taken over 100 mph in. I was in the rear seat behind the driver, who was Jensen's chief engineer. We went storming up the Kenilworth road near Coventry and hit 100 going uphill overtaking a bus! Then flew through some S bends at 80. Thrilling stuff for a teenage boy dreaming of being old enough to drive soon. Back at the house was parked the Interceptor FF that was going to be shown at the motor show. He had got up in the middle of the night to drive up and down the motorway to put the hundreds of miles on so the automotive journalists wouldn't break an non run in car. With the all wheel drive, anti lock brakes and that shape it seemed like something from the future. Still love cars. Thanks Jay from bringing back the memory of a wonderful day!

[davidfountain]

I agree with Jay, this is a gorgeous car. I hope we have a follow up video covering the work done to get it working 100%!

[hefnerwiezen]

So beautiful. Pure class.
Happy fathers day everyone.

[matthewdowd]

Watching jay is like hanging out w my grandpa for 20mins everyday. I miss him and this gets me pretty close to those times in the garage as a kid. Thanks jay!!

[BZA_]

Best videos are when Jay talks about his own cars, beautiful car

[michaelcrump]

I was a Technical Motor student in 1965 in the West Midlands and had the opportunity to visit the Jensen Factory in West Brom. They were making the CV8 then and also the body for the Austin Healey and modifying the alphine to fit the v8 tiger

[kennethmcmillan]

Regular viewer but never commented before, but I had to chime in on this video, that is one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. The style is truly timeless, I love the side view, and the v8 sounds amazing in this context. Beautiful car, perfect for a Sunday drive. Thanks for sharing.

[RankinetotheRescue]

What a beautiful car! I love it! Simple, powerful and elegant!

[TomAce]

Jay, your enthusiasm for these cars is what makes your videos the best. The fact that you maintain them so they run and drive is what makes it extraordinary. Especially like the solo presentations.

[MBJaguar]

The C-V8 is my absolute favorite car! just love the look and how nice these drive.


A friend of mine owns one and we went out for a drive last December and as we parked it a small boy walked by and he screamed to his mother "looook a JEEENSEEEN!!!!"

[stevecieri]

Beautiful from every angle. Color combination is terrific. The interior is classic. Thanks for sharing Jay.

[mrmerlin]

I love how Jay seems to appreciate British and European styling more and more in these later episodes. I love American engines, especially the V8 sound, but covering these rare British car companies is a real treat.

[standardeight]

As a kid, 40 odd years ago, I can remember one of these sat rotting away in a car port in the middle of Gloucester, UK, knew what it was because of those distinctive headlights. Dreamt of saving and restoring it when I grew up but it had long gone by then. Thank Mr. Leno I really enjoy watching your channel, your passion and knowledge does you proud.

[TheBengalsMind]

You have to love it.

The C-V8 was a direct rival to the DB-5 in my mind.

The C-V8 is much lighter weighing about 3, 400 to 3, 500 pounds compared to the 3, 800 to 3, 900 pounds of the DB-5.

That was thanks in large part to the fibreglass body and the twin-tube frame.

Which is also why there is hardly ever any mechanical or body problems with that car.

The C-V8 produced around 330 HP and 425 torque. While the DB-5 produced 282 HP and 288 torque.

Both had a factory claimed 140 MPH.

However, I've heard that the C-V8 in Manuel form could hit 0-60 in about 5.3 seconds and the DB-5 could hit it in 6.3 seconds.

A 5.3 second car might not be as eye popping today, but consider that the now mythical 1969 429 Boss was only able to hit 60 mph in 7.1 seconds.

Although the 429 Boss is pure American muscle and deserving of all the praise it gets.

This little C-V8 was the much more practical car to drive as an everyday driver and could out perform it in a lot of ways.

Thanks for keeping this classic cars alive.

I'm currently restoring my BMW E21 (Just wish I had the money to restore it faster) and was recently able to see a Glas-BMW 1600 GT.

Both of those cars have understated appeal, just like the C-V8.

I like it, definitely a good buy on your part, in my mind.

[theblubus]

I love when Jay shows his own cars. Don't get me wrong, it's great when Jay shows off other people's cars but there's a sense of pride and respect when Jay shows off his own cars that he and his team built/restored.