1969/70 Jensen Interceptor II
Discussion
This car was built in West Bromwich in late 1969 and registered on 1st January 1970. I have an entertaining file of demanding letters to the factory written by its first owner, a now deceased Colonel Brown. The car is a very early Mark II Interceptor, which still has some Mark I features such as the tail lights. The 6.3 litre version of the Chrysler B383 V8 engine is more powerful than the detuned 7.2 litre version used in later cars, so the car is noisier and faster than a Mark III.
This car is in almost daily use, went 3300 miles around Europe last year with only one minor snag, and twice to Scotland and back, with only a transmission leak (the car has a three speed Torqueflite autobox). It is very smooth and easy to drive, goes like the clappers, and is compatible with modern traffic if you remember that it does not have anti lock brakes. I confess to carbon guilt over the bonkers fuel consumption, but try to atone in other ways. The car requires to be driven whist wearing shades and a watch which are big enough to be seen from space, and I found a cheesy Connolly leather car coat from the early seventies to complete the "Pimp of the Year 1970" look. I am too oikish and common to own a Bristol, and too skint for an Aston, but the Jensen strikes just the right note of half cool-half naffness. My girlfriend calls the car The Fabboceptor, and loves it to bits, as do I.
This car is in almost daily use, went 3300 miles around Europe last year with only one minor snag, and twice to Scotland and back, with only a transmission leak (the car has a three speed Torqueflite autobox). It is very smooth and easy to drive, goes like the clappers, and is compatible with modern traffic if you remember that it does not have anti lock brakes. I confess to carbon guilt over the bonkers fuel consumption, but try to atone in other ways. The car requires to be driven whist wearing shades and a watch which are big enough to be seen from space, and I found a cheesy Connolly leather car coat from the early seventies to complete the "Pimp of the Year 1970" look. I am too oikish and common to own a Bristol, and too skint for an Aston, but the Jensen strikes just the right note of half cool-half naffness. My girlfriend calls the car The Fabboceptor, and loves it to bits, as do I.
Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 5th August 12:10
On an 80 mph motorway run, you may get 16 to 18 mpg. In town, the fuel consumption is too terrible to be told. The engine chucks a bit of oil out (this helps the underside's rust protection!).
One reason why Interceptors are under valued compared to equivalent Astons or Bristols (although in my opinion the Jensen drives better than its contemporaries) is that many of them passed to owners who could not afford to keep them and ended up being bodged. Most of the cars sold were Mark IIIs, and there are some ratty ones of those around, although it may be that by now natural wastage has left mainly decent cars as survivors. My one is basically sound, although I need to attend to some blistering on the offside front wing and around the bootlid. Subject to rust avoidance, the cars are mechanically simple and robust. It is worth upgrading the starter, alternator and radiator, and this year I might fit double dip headlamps (in the original fit only one pair of the four lamps is on at dipped beam, and the illumination is not up to modern standards).
Interceptors make people smile, and you get let out at junctions and so forth. Driving the car through a tunnel with the window open and your foot down gives new meaning to the expression "wall of sound".
I shall see about posting up a few of the letters next week when in my office.
One reason why Interceptors are under valued compared to equivalent Astons or Bristols (although in my opinion the Jensen drives better than its contemporaries) is that many of them passed to owners who could not afford to keep them and ended up being bodged. Most of the cars sold were Mark IIIs, and there are some ratty ones of those around, although it may be that by now natural wastage has left mainly decent cars as survivors. My one is basically sound, although I need to attend to some blistering on the offside front wing and around the bootlid. Subject to rust avoidance, the cars are mechanically simple and robust. It is worth upgrading the starter, alternator and radiator, and this year I might fit double dip headlamps (in the original fit only one pair of the four lamps is on at dipped beam, and the illumination is not up to modern standards).
Interceptors make people smile, and you get let out at junctions and so forth. Driving the car through a tunnel with the window open and your foot down gives new meaning to the expression "wall of sound".
I shall see about posting up a few of the letters next week when in my office.
Thanks, here's another shot, taken in Lazio, north of Rome, last year (one of the bonnet latches was not working, since fixed).
I had a Mark III/Series 4 Interceptor for about seven months about seven years ago. It was a very late one, from 1977, and had the bigger and less good engine, bonnet louvres, fuel injection, a differently laid out and walnutted dash, aircon, rather stinky carpets and a general air of gloom. It was not a total lemon, but it was not a very good example of the type, and I bought it too high and sold it somewhat lower. The current one is loads better, feels much more airy and cheerful, and has not cost as much.
I had a Mark III/Series 4 Interceptor for about seven months about seven years ago. It was a very late one, from 1977, and had the bigger and less good engine, bonnet louvres, fuel injection, a differently laid out and walnutted dash, aircon, rather stinky carpets and a general air of gloom. It was not a total lemon, but it was not a very good example of the type, and I bought it too high and sold it somewhat lower. The current one is loads better, feels much more airy and cheerful, and has not cost as much.
My daughter has me up early, so here as requested above is a selection of the early correspondence accompanying my Interceptor. These were bespoke cars, and the owner had a bespoke relationship with the factory. The car still has a rear windscreen sticker announcing "built and serviced by Jensen Motors Ltd, West Bromwich".
First, here is the build card from November 1969:-
I have the build sheets - typewritten checklists with inspectors' initials.
The car was delivered to Lt Colonel Brown in Norfolk in early January 1970. The Colonel had elected not to instal air conditioning (optional at that time, standard later). Here is an exchange of correspondence about the cabin becoming too hot:-
Further letters ensued, but the upshot was:-
Lastly, here's a happier exchange. The Colonel is pleased with the work done on the carburetor (a Carter four barrel device) by a tech sent to Norfolk by the factory: "at long last the car really wants to go".
My history file shows that the Colonel passed away some years ago, but his car soldiers on. Here it is outside Culloden House, near the battlefield, last October:-
First, here is the build card from November 1969:-
I have the build sheets - typewritten checklists with inspectors' initials.
The car was delivered to Lt Colonel Brown in Norfolk in early January 1970. The Colonel had elected not to instal air conditioning (optional at that time, standard later). Here is an exchange of correspondence about the cabin becoming too hot:-
Further letters ensued, but the upshot was:-
Lastly, here's a happier exchange. The Colonel is pleased with the work done on the carburetor (a Carter four barrel device) by a tech sent to Norfolk by the factory: "at long last the car really wants to go".
My history file shows that the Colonel passed away some years ago, but his car soldiers on. Here it is outside Culloden House, near the battlefield, last October:-
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 5th January 23:49
Here also is a picture of the 1977 Mark III/Series 4 fuel injected car which I ran in 2003. In this picture, it looks better than I remember it. I could never get the paintwork to shine as much as I wished to, although in this photo the car does seem to gleam (I hasten to add that I use cars to go driving in and do not do detailing!). The interior was a dark tan colour and the seats were rather tired looking. I think that I prefer the plainer black panel and console to the heavily walnutted and cowled version in the later cars such as this one. The DVLA website tells me that the car is still on the road.
Edited by Breadvan73 on Sunday 20th February 07:25
I am going to try to keep the Mark II for a while, if finances permit, although with fuel prices as they are I suspect that my mileage this year will be lower than last. The car's principal defects from the point of view of regular use are its over assisted steering, which feels too light when at speed, the lack of air conditioning (an expensive retrofit option now), and the lack of an intermittent setting for the wipers (that I could remedy if I could be bothered). The car does not overheat in traffic as it has two large electric fans, controlled by a dial in the engine compartment, and a large radiator. Even with an uprated alternator, you can see the volts drop a bit when in traffic with wipers, demister, radio, lights etc.
The Interceptor is more of a fast cruiser than a sports car, although the handling is surprisingly good given the size of the car and the simplicity of the suspension. As for size, the car looks small compared to modern big GTs and thundersaloons.
The engines on these cars are long lived, as they operate at low stress, rarely going much above 3500 RPM. The engine in my car may have been built at some time in the mid 1960s, as Jensen bought a bunch of them in crates, as did Bristol, which fitted the same engines to its cars of the same era. Fussy Colonel Brown is reported by a note in the file to have returned from a Euro trip at 4000 miles and insisted that the bearings were slack, so the engine was rebuilt at that point. It has not had major work since. The Torqueflite box was rebuilt in 1995, and is very smooth. A four or five speed box would be pleasant, but the original is fine, and very robust. The car came with Bridgestone Dueller Tyres, a type usually specified for SUVs these days. I may change these in due course. The fifteen inch Ro-Styles are original (contrast the polished chrome and grey sixteen inch GKN alloys on the later car).
The Interceptor is more of a fast cruiser than a sports car, although the handling is surprisingly good given the size of the car and the simplicity of the suspension. As for size, the car looks small compared to modern big GTs and thundersaloons.
The engines on these cars are long lived, as they operate at low stress, rarely going much above 3500 RPM. The engine in my car may have been built at some time in the mid 1960s, as Jensen bought a bunch of them in crates, as did Bristol, which fitted the same engines to its cars of the same era. Fussy Colonel Brown is reported by a note in the file to have returned from a Euro trip at 4000 miles and insisted that the bearings were slack, so the engine was rebuilt at that point. It has not had major work since. The Torqueflite box was rebuilt in 1995, and is very smooth. A four or five speed box would be pleasant, but the original is fine, and very robust. The car came with Bridgestone Dueller Tyres, a type usually specified for SUVs these days. I may change these in due course. The fifteen inch Ro-Styles are original (contrast the polished chrome and grey sixteen inch GKN alloys on the later car).
Edited by Breadvan73 on Sunday 20th February 12:02
The history is fairly complete, and tells me that the car won Concours prizes at Jensen events in the 1980s. The car would not win a prize now, but it is in decent overall condition. My Lotus has an even more complete history, including a note of every tank of fuel since 1975, although its original sales invoice and first year of documents are missing. Both cars appear to have been almost constantly used since they were built. The Jensen has been rebuilt once, and has been resprayed twice and retrimmed once. The Lotus has never been rebuilt or even resprayed, although it has had a new interior, has been rewired and had a top end overhaul last year, and its original chassis was replaced by a galvanised one by the Lotus factory quite early on.
I like the way that Colonel Brown went straight to the top with his complaint - writing to Kjell Qvale, the Californian sports car dealer who had bought the company from the Jensen brothers. This got some attention, as the MD wrote back on his behalf. I like to imagine the Colonel as a character from Cluedo or Miss Marple although he may for all I know have been a cool youngish bloke. The file includes a letter from the vicar of his parish reporting that the Colonel had died, sent in response to an enquiry by a previous owner researching the car's history.
I like the way that Colonel Brown went straight to the top with his complaint - writing to Kjell Qvale, the Californian sports car dealer who had bought the company from the Jensen brothers. This got some attention, as the MD wrote back on his behalf. I like to imagine the Colonel as a character from Cluedo or Miss Marple although he may for all I know have been a cool youngish bloke. The file includes a letter from the vicar of his parish reporting that the Colonel had died, sent in response to an enquiry by a previous owner researching the car's history.
Edited by Breadvan73 on Monday 21st February 09:29
I like him more and more! The Colonel had the car until 1975. I wonder what he bought next.
I shall go soon and visit my friends in the Burnhams, and detour over to Attlebridge in the Fabboceptor to show it the old home. I like the red Landy trundling down the road towards the farm on the Google streetview image.
I shall go soon and visit my friends in the Burnhams, and detour over to Attlebridge in the Fabboceptor to show it the old home. I like the red Landy trundling down the road towards the farm on the Google streetview image.
Edited by Breadvan73 on Tuesday 22 February 10:14
My daughter loves the Fabboceptor, which she calls Jensie. My Lotus was bought for her as an 18th birthday present (my thinking being that she can either keep it or sell it to fund a gap year or whatever). She calls it Bella. She hasn't been to Lucy Clayton:-
She likes another of daddy's old heaps too:-
She likes another of daddy's old heaps too:-
Edited by Breadvan73 on Wednesday 23 February 12:51
The aircraft is a 1969 Beagle Pup 150, which I share with a few other blokes at North Weald. Joint ownership is a common and efficient method of light aircraft ownership and operation. Incidentally, the Pup's designer also worked on the Lotus Europa. The Beagles were successors to the Austers.
Edited by Breadvan73 on Wednesday 23 February 16:50
I doubt that the Colonel would have hobnobbed with anyone below the rank of Chief Inspector. PC Dibble would have been assigned to the turnip patrol rather than fired, as I am sure that the Colonel was not a vindictive man.
urquattro, is your car quartz blue by any chance? I note that you seem to have the slightly stuck aerial - mine was doing that for a bit, but I've got a new one now. Also some groovy new round door mirrors from some American heap.
I enquired about retro fitting aircon to my car, but was told that this would be a big and expensive job. Hey ho:-
http://www.diylife.com/2007/10/03/hillbilly-how-to...
urquattro, is your car quartz blue by any chance? I note that you seem to have the slightly stuck aerial - mine was doing that for a bit, but I've got a new one now. Also some groovy new round door mirrors from some American heap.
I enquired about retro fitting aircon to my car, but was told that this would be a big and expensive job. Hey ho:-
http://www.diylife.com/2007/10/03/hillbilly-how-to...
Edited by Breadvan73 on Thursday 24th February 08:20
The originality should give the car some value if the recommissioning has been done well. I am sorry to hear that you friend didn't get to enjoy the car for longer after working on it.
The aerial may be on its way to conking out, but is easily replaced. My car has a modern CD player in place of its old eight track. Show us some more piccies!
PS: bin the alloys and get some Ro-Styles, or at least GKNs.
The aerial may be on its way to conking out, but is easily replaced. My car has a modern CD player in place of its old eight track. Show us some more piccies!
PS: bin the alloys and get some Ro-Styles, or at least GKNs.
Edited by Breadvan73 on Thursday 24th February 16:27
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