Kjell Qvale

Kjell Qvale (July 7, 1919 – November 2, 2013 ) was a Norwegian-American business executive. Qvale was one of the key figures in the creation of the Jensen-Healey. Qvale became the first distributor for Jaguar on the West Coast. Qvale was one of the founders of the San Francisco Auto Show and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Early life Kjell Qvale was born in Trondheim, Norway, and was the son of a Norwegian sea captain. He moved to the United States in 1929.

Qvale was an All-American sprinter for the Washington Huskies track and field team, finishing 6th in the 200 metres at the 1941 NCAA track and field championships. At age 20, he unofficially tied the world record in the 100-yard dash. ), Porsche, De Tomaso, Maserati and Lamborghini. For a brief period Qvale moved into car manufacturing by acquiring a significant stake in Jensen Motors.

Jensen and the Jensen-Healey By 1970, Qvale's organization was selling more than 160,000

Movie financing and Nico Minardos In 1974 Nico Minardos approached Qvale for a product placement deal to use a Jensen Interceptor in Assault on Agathon, a motion picture Minardos was producing and starring in along with Marianne Faithfull. By Qvale's own account, "Minardos must be a better salesman than I am, because he ended up convincing me to finance the entire movie." The movie—a sort of knockoff James Bond thriller—was made, with prominent use of the Jensen car, and was distributed by MGM, but it failed dismally at the box office and Qvale wrote off his investment. As Qvale recounted to Minardos's godson, Owen Prell, in the 2010 documentary film, Finding Nico, "I have no regrets. It was a fun experience being a Hollywood producer."

Death

Kjell Qvale died at the age of 94, still racing his horses. Until the day of his death he maintained an active racing stable in Napa, California. His last win came on October 20, 2013 at Santa Anita Park.

Zodiac Killer theory

Writer Mike Rodelli accused Qvale of living a "double life" as the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer who murdered five people in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1968 and 1969. Qvale denied the allegation and threatened to sue Rodelli: "You can't find anybody in this city that’s less likely to be the Zodiac Killer than me”.