The Interceptor's back!

[Twincam16]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/tr...

Apparently this guy wants to put the Interceptor back into production based around the Cropredy Bridge Interceptor S concept. The S was a re-engineered classic Interceptor, but it sounds like he wants to start building the cars again from scratch using a Corvette V8.

[soad]

Hmm, interesting to see what happens.

[Ferg]

Does it look exactly like an old Interceptor??
If so I fail to see it being a major success...

[Twincam16]

Ferg said:

Does it look exactly like an old Interceptor??
If so I fail to see it being a major success...

The way I see it he's going for a strategy similar to Bristol - and despite what people say on here, Bristol have always done rather well financially - never gone bust, never been in the red. Build only as many as you're going to sell, charge a price the punters are willing to pay and stay small and exclusive. Success isn't always measured in huge volume sales.

And I also think the car looking exactly the same as the original inside and out is actually quite a good thing - it's a massively popular classic car with an unassailably suave image, but owning an original one is a wallet-draining test of patience and mechanical ability. There are loads of people out there who would like a car like that but don't have the mechanical skills to run an original (like Charles Dunstone, incidentally, who owns an S himself but describes himself as 'not an enthusiast, but loves the Interceptor'). Doesn't stop Morgan being popular.

[spaceship]

I like the way it says "The originial Interceptor was in Jeremy Clarkson's top 100 cars of all time. "

So f***

[ROB 100]

[soad]

ROB 100 said:

Now, that - I do like (a lot)

[williamp]

Good news. I wish them luck. I have a feeling they're going to need it

[Twincam16]

spaceship said:

I like the way it says "The originial Interceptor was in Jeremy Clarkson's top 100 cars of all time. "

So f***

And here's the thing - it wasn't, the FF was, and despite looking similar, under the skin they're very different cars. Taller, squarer front end to clear the 4WD hardware too, and an extra wing vent to cool it.

Richard Hammond made the mistake of referring to the 'Interceptor FF' on last week's Top Gear. There wasn't an 'Interceptor FF', they were two separate models.

[Mattygooner]

ROB 100 said:

Nice apart from the exhausts and the rear lights, no need to have exhausts that big.

[Ferg]

Twincam16 said:

Ferg said:

Does it look exactly like an old Interceptor??
If so I fail to see it being a major success...

The way I see it he's going for a strategy similar to Bristol - and despite what people say on here, Bristol have always done rather well financially - never gone bust, never been in the red. Build only as many as you're going to sell, charge a price the punters are willing to pay and stay small and exclusive. Success isn't always measured in huge volume sales.

And I also think the car looking exactly the same as the original inside and out is actually quite a good thing - it's a massively popular classic car with an unassailably suave image, but owning an original one is a wallet-draining test of patience and mechanical ability. There are loads of people out there who would like a car like that but don't have the mechanical skills to run an original (like , incidentally, who owns an S himself but describes himself as 'not an enthusiast, but loves the Interceptor'). Doesn't stop Morgan being popular.

I don't think they are seen in anything like the same way as Bristols. I see classic enthusiasts shunning it because, well, it isn't a classic car and others just seeing it as a dated car. Sure there will be people who fit the niche it's aimed at, but there aren't too many Charles Dunstones about.

[ROB 100]

Little more here,
http://www.carsuk.net/exclusive-jensen-interceptor...

[Grey Ghost]

Twincam16 said:

Richard Hammond made the mistake of referring to the 'Interceptor FF' on last week's Top Gear. There wasn't an 'Interceptor FF', they were two separate models.

A prime example of his ttishness

My neighbour at our old house came home with a Jensen one sunny Saturday. It was an "impulse purchase" apparently

Anyway, after an hour or so of fiddling about checking plugs, leads, fluids etc he took me out for a drive in it. A nice 20 mins of country lanes and then back via the A13. We dropped onto the road via a long slip road picking up speed all the time but with no real effort from the engine..... and then he floored it Truly silly to be honest and you could see the fuel gauge moving towards empty

If this new proposed model comes out looking like the old one but with lots of new technology under the bodywork it has every chance of being a success. Let's hope so

[Matt Harper]

I feel that there is too much glass for a modern iteration, depite it being more proportionally true to the original.
A Mopar engine, suitably equipped with forced induction to get somewhere near LS9 output would also give a nod to it's original motive power.

More to the point though, hasn't the 'retro thing' run it's course by now? I feel that it can be a wonderful thing if it is evolutionary - a part of a marque's DNA, but to just carbon-copy a classic body-shape and give it a muscular engine and painted brake calipers seems a bit lazy, in my view.