Is this a Vega GT? - LotusTalk

Westrock · 10-12-2009, 09:44 PM

I saw this unknown wagon on a transport and it looked pretty cool (in a classic way). The only insignia I could see on it was "GT" kinda big on the back passanger side.

After looking around the only car that looked to match this is a Vega GT. Look right?

EDIT: Turns out its a Jensen Healey GT.

ZTEC · 10-12-2009, 09:47 PM

Front end reminds me of the Avanti!

Green Hornet · 10-12-2009, 09:49 PM

Vega ?

Nope -

CALtd · 10-12-2009, 09:53 PM

Front bumber and rear side windows all wrong to be a Vega GT.

Toad · 10-12-2009, 09:55 PM

jensen gt

azac · 10-12-2009, 09:58 PM

Jensen Healey GT

shoot, Jeff beat me while I was looking on line for confirmation; bet you guys that didn't know are too young.

JWA · 10-12-2009, 10:21 PM

Interesting - I'm usually pretty aware of odd cars and that one had me stumped.

qball · 10-12-2009, 10:34 PM

Vegas no longer exist. They all rusted away

Westrock · 10-12-2009, 10:57 PM

wow guys, never would have guessed! I knew you guys know the classics.

Jensen-Healey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FunElan · 10-12-2009, 11:13 PM

I'm 18 and I knew what that was the second I saw it!

mopho · 10-12-2009, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunElan

I'm 18 and I knew what that was the second I saw it!

Nerd!

.

fitfan · 10-12-2009, 11:41 PM

i have a funny jensen healey story...

i had an old lancia that was returning to the earth, and the guy that used to run pegasus in charlotsville (before it became "just a bmw dealer" used to have all kinds of cool stuff there) anyways i said ...

"the lancia is falling apart, whatcha got?"
"well this macros - body is solid but the mechanicals are questionable"
and then he pointed to the jensens healey and said "or that, but body is questionable"
i asked "how are the mechanicals"
"a lot worse!" he said

hahaha! ...man what was his name? like a swiss or german dude... very cool guy. i remeber he was building a hover craft in the back of the shop. had an amazing M1, and a beavy of old lmaborghini's urraco's and such.

BRTHTAKR · 10-13-2009, 04:45 AM

Was there a Vega with a Cosworth engine?

fpitas · 10-13-2009, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BRTHTAKR

Was there a Vega with a Cosworth engine?

Yep.

Chevrolet Vega - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

kestrel74 · 10-13-2009, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by qball

Vegas no longer exist. They all rusted away

Most of them rusted away in the first year or two. BUT at least ONE is still on the road ( I saw it at the Woodward Dream Cruise this year ! )

rcollum · 10-13-2009, 05:57 AM

Yep - Cosworth developed an engine, but by the time it made it into the car, the Vega had gained hundreds of pounds. The engine compartment was beautiful, but the car was now expensive, as well as slow.

On the Jensen Healy GT - When I bought my Europa TC in St. Louis, back in 1980, the Lotus dealer gave me a JH GT for the month it took them to rebuild the engine on the Europa. A very nice car.

Slipstreamer · 10-13-2009, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toad

jensen gt

In a related note, a some of Jensens came to the States equipped with Lotus engines (I've seen some of them with Lotus badges somewhere on the car-don't know if they came with the car, though).

Jensen-Healey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

rcollum · 10-13-2009, 09:10 AM

AFAIK (and I drove at least 8 of them over the years), every Jensen Healey (including the GT) used the Lotus 907 engine. If I recall correctly, this engine was in production Jensen Healeys before it was used in any Lotus car.

TimMullen · 10-13-2009, 09:25 AM

I used to have a Vega GT wagon, and it really was a nice car. Yes, I know the reputation for being unreliable, but that was because you actually had to do maintenance on them - they came about in a time when people would commonly let their cars go 25,000 miles between oil changes, and never did a cooling system flush. If they ever over heated, the engine was toast, but if you took care of them, they were just fine - I had about 150,000 miles on mine when I finally gave it to my little sister (back then it was rare for a car to go 100,000 miles).

One thing I like about my old Vega was that it really handled. I once visited a Porsche dealer and they insisted on taking me for a test drive in their new 924. The sales man took me on a curvy back road and on the return trip, I pushed it hard - the tires were screaming, and the back end was sliding out just a touch. The next day, I drove the same road with my Vega, and I did it about 10 MPH faster with no drama - no sliding, no tire screeching. I was not impressed with the Porsche.

TimMullen · 10-13-2009, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcollum

AFAIK (and I drove at least 8 of them over the years), every Jensen Healey (including the GT) used the Lotus 907 engine. If I recall correctly, this engine was in production Jensen Healeys before it was used in any Lotus car.

Yep. The engine was the weak point of the Jensen Healey. Lotus developed the engine, and let Jensen Healey "work out the problems" with it in actual use. Then when Lotus came out with the Elite (second version) and later the Esprit with the 907 engine, they were a lot more reliable...

10-12-2009, 09:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
Westrock Haxord but mine Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Fort Worth Posts: 1,340	Is this a Vega GT? (Nope Jensen Healey GT) I saw this unknown wagon on a transport and it looked pretty cool (in a classic way). The only insignia I could see on it was "GT" kinda big on the back passanger side. After looking around the only car that looked to match this is a Vega GT. Look right? EDIT: Turns out its a Jensen Healey GT. Attached Images __________________ -David 2006 Storm Ti Exige + VF Stage 2 Vision Function Supercharger Install Thread Stereo Harness Info \| Exige with no wing?? Last edited by Westrock : 10-13-2009 at 05:27 AM.

10-12-2009, 09:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
ZTEC Third Eye Open Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Florida Posts: 1,738 Images: 3	Front end reminds me of the Avanti! __________________ GO: Vision Function Stage II Intercooled Bliss with Charlie's ECU magic and Ronin's Tenacity! STOP: DBA 4000's, Porterfield R4! TURN: Nitron S/A's Toyo RA1's 225/245 on Rota's!

10-12-2009, 09:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
Green Hornet Zzzzzzz Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lancaster, PA Posts: 875	Vega ? Nope - __________________ Life, Liberty and the Happiness of Pursuit

10-12-2009, 09:55 PM	#5 (permalink)
Toad A lot of stickers! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: 30 miles due east, take a right Posts: 1,703 Images: 9	jensen gt __________________ Jeff Formerly known as brgm100 1991 Lotus M100 Elan 2005 Lotus Elise 2008 Saturn Astra XR 3 door 5 Speed

10-12-2009, 09:58 PM	#6 (permalink)
azac Edi Aut Edaris Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tucson, Arizona Posts: 143	Jensen Healey GT shoot, Jeff beat me while I was looking on line for confirmation; bet you guys that didn't know are too young. __________________ FF splitter, BWR bar & wheel studs, Sachs suspension, Rota Slipstreams/Hoosier R6's, Pagid Blues, Tesprit & Multivex mirrors, Tillet B5 & Reverie Mulsanne, Trackpack harness bar & Schroth Profi II, Fujita cai, Manly's mounts, LETSLA, RTD brace, Odyssey PC625; aluminum 5part diffuser, 8" 2bular exhaust. Last edited by azac : 10-12-2009 at 10:03 PM. Reason: just bitchin'

10-12-2009, 09:53 PM	#4 (permalink)
CALtd not a Mod, just an Admin Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ocean Beach, CA Posts: 1,149	Front bumber and rear side windows all wrong to be a Vega GT.

10-12-2009, 10:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
JWA #33 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Racine, WI Posts: 3,737	Interesting - I'm usually pretty aware of odd cars and that one had me stumped.

10-12-2009, 10:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
qball Wizard of Pugz! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 4,516 Images: 3	Vegas no longer exist. They all rusted away

10-12-2009, 10:57 PM	#9 (permalink)
Westrock Haxord but mine Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Fort Worth Posts: 1,340	wow guys, never would have guessed! I knew you guys know the classics. Jensen-Healey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia __________________ -David 2006 Storm Ti Exige + VF Stage 2 Vision Function Supercharger Install Thread Stereo Harness Info \| Exige with no wing??

10-12-2009, 11:13 PM	#10 (permalink)
FunElan Finally drove it! Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Long Beach/Manhattan Beach, CA Posts: 1,178 Images: 19	I'm 18 and I knew what that was the second I saw it! __________________ 1969 Lotus Elan 1968 BMW 1600 Livin' life in the '60's ;-)

10-12-2009, 11:41 PM	#12 (permalink)
fitfan Regurgitated User Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Diego! Posts: 4,101	i have a funny jensen healey story... i had an old lancia that was returning to the earth, and the guy that used to run pegasus in charlotsville (before it became "just a bmw dealer" used to have all kinds of cool stuff there) anyways i said ... "the lancia is falling apart, whatcha got?" "well this macros - body is solid but the mechanicals are questionable" and then he pointed to the jensens healey and said "or that, but body is questionable" i asked "how are the mechanicals" "a lot worse!" he said hahaha! ...man what was his name? like a swiss or german dude... very cool guy. i remeber he was building a hover craft in the back of the shop. had an amazing M1, and a beavy of old lmaborghini's urraco's and such. __________________ Driving it around!

10-13-2009, 04:45 AM	#13 (permalink)
BRTHTAKR AKA XHILR8N! Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Asheville, North Carolina Posts: 1,151 Images: 6	Was there a Vega with a Cosworth engine? __________________ Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Leonardo Da Vinci 2005 Elise LRG, Trim Shop interior, full cage, Cup wheels, other stuff. 2007 Toyota Tundra (about 10 cup holders) 2004 BMW X3 (4 small cup holders) 1980 Rover SD1

10-13-2009, 05:57 AM	#16 (permalink)
rcollum We're usin' code names! Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 263	Cosworth Vega Yep - Cosworth developed an engine, but by the time it made it into the car, the Vega had gained hundreds of pounds. The engine compartment was beautiful, but the car was now expensive, as well as slow. On the Jensen Healy GT - When I bought my Europa TC in St. Louis, back in 1980, the Lotus dealer gave me a JH GT for the month it took them to rebuild the engine on the Europa. A very nice car. __________________ --Bob _____________________________________ '07 Ardent Red Elise/Biscuit - Hardtop, touring, LSS, black nose badge, AD07s. Thanks, Arnie!

10-13-2009, 09:10 AM	#18 (permalink)
rcollum We're usin' code names! Join Date: May 2006 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 263	Jensen Healey AFAIK (and I drove at least 8 of them over the years), every Jensen Healey (including the GT) used the Lotus 907 engine. If I recall correctly, this engine was in production Jensen Healeys before it was used in any Lotus car. __________________ --Bob _____________________________________ '07 Ardent Red Elise/Biscuit - Hardtop, touring, LSS, black nose badge, AD07s. Thanks, Arnie!

10-13-2009, 09:25 AM	#19 (permalink)
TimMullen Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Chantilly, VA Posts: 11,391 Images: 19	I used to have a Vega GT wagon, and it really was a nice car. Yes, I know the reputation for being unreliable, but that was because you actually had to do maintenance on them - they came about in a time when people would commonly let their cars go 25,000 miles between oil changes, and never did a cooling system flush. If they ever over heated, the engine was toast, but if you took care of them, they were just fine - I had about 150,000 miles on mine when I finally gave it to my little sister (back then it was rare for a car to go 100,000 miles). One thing I like about my old Vega was that it really handled. I once visited a Porsche dealer and they insisted on taking me for a test drive in their new 924. The sales man took me on a curvy back road and on the return trip, I pushed it hard - the tires were screaming, and the back end was sliding out just a touch. The next day, I drove the same road with my Vega, and I did it about 10 MPH faster with no drama - no sliding, no tire screeching. I was not impressed with the Porsche. __________________ Tim Mullen --- There is no such thing as Touring suspension or Touring wheels. I love being married. It's so great to find that one person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life. - Rita Rudner Chantilly, VA http://members.cox.net/elans4/ 05 Lotus Elise - Chrome Orange - No Touring - No LSS - No Hardtop - Lotus Driving Lights - Lotus "Chin Guards" - plain and simple. 94 Miata R Package - Black 72 Lotus Elan Sprint - Colorado Orange/Cirrus White

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