Famous Jensen Owners / Former Owners

[quiraing]

Do we have a list of schleb Jensen owners / former-owners?

Maybe with some additional info or stories or period pics where possible.

Could be an interesting archive to collect together.

[benjj]

Talkwrench on here has the Campbell family's old Interceptor, it was his wife's daily driver I think he said and he has a file of private letters from the Campbell family to Jensen when it was ordered and serviced etc.

[gforceg]

As someone implied in one of the other threads recently, an Interceptor without a previous famous / celebrity owner is more of a rarity.

A bit like Miuras I s'pose.

[nicanary]

Or Fezzas resprayed white.

[quiraing]

Well, it's Interceptors and Interceptor stories on here.

I've had a massive interest in these since I was given a burgundy Matchbox one when I was 5 in 1973.

Is anyone interested in building a thread to collect period Interceptor trivia and period pics and whatever other relevant contributions any one can make?

Edited by quiraing on Sunday 12th January 15:57

[racerbob]

Ginger Baker used to own an FF back in the day of Cream.

[P5Nij]

I've already posted this in DPP's resto thread but it worth a put here - not Jensen memorabilia exactly but a nice period piece featuring one...

From Motorsport mag, 1971...



Famous owners... Eric Morcombe, Ernie Wise, Cliff Richard, Henry Cooper, Ginger Baker.

Edit - Racerbob beat me too it!

Edited by P5Nij on Sunday 12th January 16:09

[P5Nij]

Not forgetting Tony Curtis...

I think this one is actually a factory demonstrator...

[quiraing]

P5Nij said:

Not forgetting Tony Curtis...

I think this one is actually a factory demonstrator...

Hey, that is amazing, look at the cars in the background and that massive Chrysler V8's just going to fire-up round about now

Green paintwork coulour reminds me of Triumph 2000s. Maybe Dolly Sprints even.

Edited by quiraing on Sunday 12th January 16:28

[quiraing]

P5Nij said:

I've already posted this in DPP's resto thread but it worth a put here - not Jensen memorabilia exactly but a nice period piece featuring one...

From Motorsport mag, 1971...



Famous owners... Eric Morcombe, Ernie Wise, Cliff Richard, Henry Cooper, Ginger Baker.

Edit - Racerbob beat me too it!

Edited by P5Nij on Sunday 12th January 16:09

Top post there bud.

[Talkwrench]

benjj said:

Talkwrench on here has the Campbell family's old Interceptor, it was his wife's daily driver I think he said and he has a file of private letters from the Campbell family to Jensen when it was ordered and serviced etc.

I do indeed. Lovely thing it is too. Probably my next restoration project for later this year. Its not terrible in terms of condition but it has suffered a little from an aborted restoration. Nothing too damaging though. It was Donald Campbells wifes originally and she gave it to her daughter Gina after a few years. Gina Campbell sold it a little later to help fund her womens water speed record. The history file is an interesting read. Lots of "gearbox isnt quite right" and "power steering is noisy" type letters, along with a nice letter from Gina to the last owner validating her ownership and saying how much she enjoyed the car. Sadly it doesn't don the DC 7 numberplate that it had originally but it is, as you would expect, blue with blue leather!

[P5Nij]

Cheers Q... great idea for a thread by the way ;O)

In that first Tony Curtis shot - the 'biege' coloured Mini parked up on the left, I've blown the picture up a bit and it looks like a modified Mk2 Cooper S, possibly with a Downton badge above the standard Cooper S one, in a non standard colour too, I say it's biege but it looks like a metallic fawn, a bit paler than the Jensen equivelant perhaps.

Back to famous owners - I recall watching a footy documentary about twenty years ago which showed some b&w footage of a famous manager arriving at a ground in a G reg'd Interceptor, it looked as if it were a metallic colour if memory serves. Can't for the life of me remember the manager's name but he was dressed in a big fur coat (well it was filmed in 1968...).

As well as famous owners there have been some good 'product placements' with Jensens over the years - here's Robert Vaughan (with Nyree Dawn Porter) in 'The Protectors' with BEA 898J, which I think still exists and belongs to a JOC member...









Another character drives this one very briefly in one of the episodes...

Edited by P5Nij on Sunday 12th January 16:59

[Chipchap]

I think the Football manager was Malcolm Allison

[P5Nij]

Thanks for that Chipchap (not much of a footy type I'm afraid).

Just found this nice period ad lurking in the ether of the t'internet...

[P5Nij]

Googling for some more pics of Tony Curtis's Interceptor I just came across this...

http://bayer12.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/jensen-inter...

Take your pick...!

[forsure]

Eric Morecambe had one, saw him in it a couple of times in Harpenden and St Albans in the early/mid-seventies.

[P5Nij]

John Bonham giving his some tlc... (reg number was CON 8K)



And another shot of Tony Curtis picking up his car in 1970, while filming The Persuaders...



Ginger Baker parks his wherever he likes...

[FailHere]

I remember Eric Morecambe talking, on a chat show, about one of his heart attacks which occurred at the wheel of his Jensen, where he said that he got a passing member of the public to drive him to hospital in it. I remember it because he thanked the chap on air and said that the chap, once behind the wheel, said he had only ever driven a tank before.

On screen the last ever episode of the, Roger Moore, Saint featured an FF (as well as Marcos and TVR)

[Wacky Racer]

FailHere said:

I remember Eric Morecambe talking, on a chat show, about one of his heart attacks which occurred at the wheel of his Jensen, where he said that he got a passing member of the public to drive him to hospital in it. I remember it because he thanked the chap on air and said that the chap, once behind the wheel, said he had only ever driven a tank before.

On screen the last ever episode of the, Roger Moore, Saint featured an FF (as well as Marcos and TVR)

Eric Morecambe talks about this at 22mins 09 secs..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfFBqTJB9sY

[aeropilot]

Must have been his first attack.

When he had the second one, he had a Saab 99 Turbo, there's a TV news clip of him leaving the hospital and being driven away in it.