Jensen Interceptors ....
 

Anyone any experience / knowledge of Jensen Interceptors? Not the FF, but the basic fixed-head coupe version.

I've always admired them from when I was a lad, and am thinking of getting one as a mid-life crisis toy ;):)

Ideally, one that someone else has already spent a fortune on :eek:

Any experience / war stories welcome ....

Ta, Craig

rare old car - seen around 2 in my lifetime - and unless people have 'the getaway' on PS2 i don't think people would have heard of them - lol

however they get my vote on the looks ;)

A couple of my dad's friends have had Interceptor III's in the past. Great looking cars, thing I remember was one of them saying he gets 8-13mpg.........

Very specialist, you really need to start reading the classic car magazines and contacting specialists about inspecting any car you are considering buying.

Classic car club in london runs one, i tried to book it a couple of times but it was always broken. I also know a guy who's friend ran one, and how ever much money he chucked at it getting it fixed it always needed a whole load more throwing at it for totally different reasons about a month later.....Avoid!!!

Very big and very rapid. My mate was very close to buying one (with me helping on the looking/investigating side), but the bloke selling got a better offer than what we offered him, so he never bought it.

Mechanically - engine and gearboxwise it's just a Chrysler so engine and gearbox parts/rebuilds are strangely, the least of your worries!

Gearbox being a touqueflite easy enough to get recon'd, and engine parts can be shipped in from the states, and can be stupidly cheap (until you add the shipping/import duty :( )

They guzzle fuel, costs are easily cured by an LPG conversion.

Biggest problem is bodyparts, suspension/steering, interior and electrics, sourcing parts will be a problem and will cost. Something that the Jenson owners club can help with.

A little girl at my Primary School used to get dropped off/picked up in one of these. She used to go around scratching and biting everyone. So memories of this car are quite scary!
7.2L V8 IIRC. Me and my mates would hear it coming and say, "quick leg it before you get bitten by ****"

Nick

Talking Interceptors - anyone seen the forgotten 70s car chase movie Speedtrap? As I remember the movie was one long car chase centred around a black Interceptor. Havent seen it for years though have looked at buying a copy from the States recently.

Mopar 440 is unburstable and better interior than any yank tank and RHD means it's the perfect British muscle car. Apparently the engine bay is considered small for the V8 though and they overheat unless you uprate the rad and the fans.

My father in law had one when younger, said it was the best car he ever owned.

Bloke up the road from me has two in his garage, one of them is waiting to be reconditioned, they are damn rapid as standard, this one's getting nos fitted to it aswell.

Don't buy a cheap one. Many have been poorly maintained.

Cropredy Bridge Garage should help you with parts and probably know of a few nice ones for sale as well.

http://www.jensen-cars.co.uk/

Evening all,

New here. Thought i'd jump in as I own a 1969 mk1 Interceptor, mines a late Mk1 with the 383, and as has been said engines and 'boxes are bullet proof; the torqueflight can be reconed for about 300quid. Your main problem is RUST!! they're that bad that you can almost hear them crumbling away! The sills are a three piece complicated affair and rust out from the inside. Depends what your budget is, but look to spend anywhere from 8-9k upwards for a reasonable car, anything less than this and its probably a dog. As they say; "pay less and you willl end up paying more"

Mark 1/2/3 are externally very similar, mk1 has more classic interior, leather everywhere and lots of toggle switches.

The 440 in the late mk2 and mk3 is more restricted than the 383 beleive it or not. They are great to drive, v. quick for such a heavy car. Power output rated from 300-375bhp depending on what series engine you have. SP is the quickest by far with a multiple carb setup and hipo cam. Fuel consumption is not as bad as everyone reckons. I get 15-16mpg out of mine messing around town, and upto 22-24 on a run.

Hope that helps, get one, hours of fun.

SHED.

My dad owned one of these :)

I was very young tho and can hardly remeber anything about it apart from one thing.....the noise! :D

Thanks to all for the input :)

Shedso -- thanks. I have heard that the Mark 1s with the 383 motor are a little less prone to overheating and niggly problems, is this true?

I've read that there are two main chassis tubes, one in each sill. Are these problem areas? Are there any other typical problems (brakes / electrics) that a potential owner should look for (apart from a fat wad of recent receipts ;)).

I've had a BGT V8 before so I'm familiar with some of the pitfalls of "classic" ownership but would like to get the car-specific stuff ...

have you tried asking these guys?
http://www.joc.org.uk

Mate of mines dad had a 7.2 auto as a company car in the 70's , his brother had the 6.6 quad-twin-choke carb model, manual, which was the faster one. I remember him telling me it cost £70 in fuel Edinburgh-London one-way in the mid 70s :eek:

Hi there,

I had a Mk2 Interceptor with the 383 motor and I have to say that would be my choice if I was buying again, as has been said it is actually more powerful than the 440 in the later car being a 'proper' hemi.

Obviously I would have an SP if I could find one on good condition with its carbs still on etc.,..

The two chassis tubes are VERY important because as well as being structural members they are also part of the braking system, the brake fluid resevoirs if my memory serves me correctly, so if they are rusty you are in big trouble.

I did have a fair amount of trouble with mine, mainly electrical but it certainly wouldn't put me off having another one day. In fact I will have another one day, when I either get bored of one of my other classics or can afford somewhere with more garaging!

Hope that is odf some help

Robin

Craig,

Whats your email address?, I'll forward a list of pointers...

Electrics can be a nightmare as can overheating. The 440 is worse as its a physicaly larger engine (with more ancillaries - aircon etc) in the same size engine bay. Uprated twin fans are a must.

The sills are structural - well the inner sill anyway - this is covered by a thin outer sill and then a cosmetic stainless cover. Thus its difficult to inspect how far they've rusted but if you find a car where its obvious the sills haven't been replaced run away!

The two chassis tubes run inboard of the sills and they act as a servo reservoir AFTER the engine is switched off, Theory being you should be able to get 3 full assisted pumps of the pedal if the engine cuts out.

They are fairly simple cars by todays standards, and are fairly cheap car to keep on the road - there are 4 or 5 good parts suppliers.

Whats your budget? I know of a few reasonable ones for sale if your serious.

Cheers,

SHED.

Have you thought of the CV8? Not as well-known as the Interceptor, so can be had for bargain prices
http://www.motorbase.com/uploads/200...n-cv8-mkii.jpg
See http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-.../finance.ehtml for prices.

Shed -- thanks, I've sent a PM with my email addy.

Carl, I have thought about a CV8 -- the grunt is appealing but they just don't have the looks IMHO ....

Craig,

Received, I'll drop you an email tomorrow morning when I have more time...

Cheers

SHED

my friend has an interceptor

Anyone seen the new models ?

Jensen Sales - A new generation of Jensen Interceptors

My mate has one, I think it's a 72? He's in the process of fitting a Rover V8 to it (non runner at the moment) but it's doing his nut in. It's a money sponge and I think he'd be willing to off load as he has a kid on the way. If you fancy a project then I can put you in touch?

One of the first cars I drove was an Interceptor. My friends dad had one and we were allowed to drive around the front of the house.
Awesome cars, feel like you are the captain of a ship when your behind the wheel. From what I remember they do suffer from electrical issues as they were pretty well loaded with switches etc and it was early days for this technology.
I dont remember any real issues with rot. My mum very nearly bought it but she went for a 912 instead.

If you can find a clean one then if nothing else I can tell you this, You feel so special when driving it, very regal and James Bond like, top cars.

Why on earth would you put a Rover V8 in one? It costs as much to rebuild as the proper Mopar block and is a worse engine! Stop him at all costs.

I think the original engine wasn't in the car when he got it. I'll quiz him about it tomorrow...

Must admit the Rover V8 is daftness: 150bhp vs 325+bhp is taking a huge power hit


To think, Overfinch used to do the opposite; i.e put a huge american engine into a Range Rover :lol1:

There was an old open loading bay at the back of where i use to live. I use to park my bike in it as it was out of the way. Was also a couple of cars parked there which had been there for some time due to the amount of dust on them. One was a jensen interceptor and the other was a sunbeam. Found out later that they were owned by some guy who had passed away in the nursing home which was close to where they were parked. The cars were signed over to the nursing home as payment, then later sold to a local car restorer for £3.000 each!!!

My father had a Intercepter, was a mki and boy it sounded lovely. Damn thing used to over heat like a peado near a school. Had the toggle switches, even an eight track stereo, even remember listening to Barry White on that :-)

He brought it for my mum, as she saw the car and loved the look of it. Trouble was the servicing costs.

Out of interests, how come these car's over heat so badily ?? Our old car used to drink a pint of water a day !

One thing to remember, once you've brought one and got the `V8` thing out of your system, a 6.3l thirsty V8 isnt going to be easy to sell, in a £1+ litre of petrol, time.

SBK