Jensen moved into the control of its American distributor Kjell Qvale in 1970 and he attempted to recapture the Austin-Healey that Jensen had manufactured on behalf of BMC until 1968. Kjell talked to Donald Healey and made him Chairman of the company, and his sons Geoffrey and Brian Healey started the design of the car. Hugo Poole did the styling of the car, but William Towns (Aston Martin) finalised the design. Negotiations for several different engines were tried, but almost by chance the new Lotus 907 1973cc dohc was discovered and chosen for the Jensen-Healey. Vauxhall provided chassis and steering components, Sunbeam provided the gearbox. Lauched at Geneva in 1972 the first Jensen-Healeys were not reliable and within a year the MkII model had been rolled out. From 1974 Federal bumpers were carried, and the Jensen-Healey ceased production in 1976 when Jensen folded.
The Jensen GT was launched in 1975 but had existed as an idea from 1972 and as a sketch by Kevin Beattie. The 'Healey' part of the name was dropped in 1974 after the Healey family walked away from Kjell Qvale. However, the GT back added almost 25 per cent to the cost of the car and the market was not large enough for economic production. Jensen folded in 1976 after producing 10,400 Jensen-Healeys and 473 Jensen GTs.