In 1986, Martin Jansen bought his first Healey. He had no idea how that purchase would change his life. Marty was a car guy. He loved cars. He loved the mechanics of a car. He loved the art of the design of a car. And he loved the freedom a car could provide when cruising the highways and back roads. Because he loved cars, he loved what he did for a living, building Austin Healeys. The Healey would be the focus of his business life for the next 30+ years.

While building his first Healey he was not satisfied with the chassis. He felt it needed improvement. He noticed the frames had cracked engine mounts, front cross members that were split or crushed, front shock mount cracked, compression buckles in the main rails in engine mount areas, X members side walls becoming radius shaped from torsional loading, mainframe rails dented and split, lower A-arms brackets twisted, the main chassis rails S-shaped, broken welds on the rear bulkhead to chassis, frame buckled under the rear axle, cracked rear shock mounts. He found this happened in cars untouched with only 25,000 to 33,000 miles. These major failures happened within three years of use. He read articles where Healey owners in the 1950s and 1960s complained of scuttle shake, doors opening on hard cornering and the car spinning out in corners. He concluded replicating the original design exactly would not be beneficial. Marty chose a slightly different path and used his technical background as a licensed mechanic to design a stronger and better chassis.

In 1989, the Jule frame was a featured product at the Niagara Falls Conclave. After hundreds of replacements and many miles, Jule Enterprises has not replicated any of the structural failures that haunted the Austin Healeys of the past. As the reputation of Marty and Jule Enterprises began to spread, Marty travelled all around North America delivering his chassis and had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of Healey owners and their families. Many who became lifelong friends. He shared his knowledge of Healeys holding restoration classes for Healey home builders. And even filmed multiple installation videos to help his customers build their cars.

In late 2018, Marty’s health took a decline and he decided it was time to pass the reins to his son Joel. Joel was 3 years when Marty started Jule Enterprises. Shortly after that, it was a common occurrence to see Joel in the shop watching and developing his passion for classic cars. He even made an appearance in one of our earliest ads. Joel helped to build one of Marty’s favorite passion projects the 100-4 V-12 Supercharged Healey. Throughout the growth of the business, Marty would often bring Joel to deliver a chassis and to Healey events like conclave, car shows, and flea markets. Joel has grown up in the Healey world and now he is helping to keep the car going into the 21st century with the Jule frame.

Marty sadly passed away from cancer in July 2019. He was at home surrounded by the love of his family and is missed daily. Marty was a visionary, he could look at a rusted-out carcass of a car and say, “yeah I can make that beautiful,” and he did it many times. He was innovative and constantly looking at ways to make the Healey more compatible with the roads of today.  Joel is proud to continue Marty’s legacy and is still building the #1 replacement chassis for the Austin Healey.