The original aluminium prototype appeared in 1953 as the 541 at the London Motor Show, although this changed to glassfibre for all production cars.

Within a year, the new 541 had already earned rave reviews from magazines, notably Autocar, whose testers drove the grand tourer to a top speed of over 125 mph (201 km/h).

The body covered a chassis built by bracing 5-inch (12.7 cm) tubes with a mixture of steel pressings and cross-members to create a platform.

This was similar to the 541R, but with a larger body and a GM-licensed Rolls-Royce hydramatic gearbox, and only 127 cars were built before that model was discontinued to be replaced by the C-V8.

When the Jensen 541R was tested by Autocar magazine in January 1958 it achieved their highest maximum speed for a four-seater car at 127.5 mph (205.2 km/h).