Filed under: RR of the Day
RR of the Day: British-built, Italian-designed, American-powered
1974 Jensen Interceptor
We at Autoblog are fast becoming fans of these posts for the obscure rides we come across. Wednesday's pick, a 1974 Jensen Interceptor, is a rare find of which most of us have probably never heard. Jensen was a small automaker that sprang up in Britain before WWII. Making a name as a body builder for such marques as Volvo and Austin-Healey, Jensen surprised everyone when in 1966 it unveiled its own car, the Interceptor, a grand sports tourer that brought together an Italian body designed by Touring in Milan, a tire shredding Mopar V8 and Chrysler three-speed tranny, and British engineering developed in-house by Jensen. The Interceptor is a 2+2 that carries on its back a singular trademark cue, the fishbowl rear glass that increases the car's luggage capacity and makes a great conversation piece at car shows. Despite mild success with the car during ten years of production, Jensen declared bankruptcy just two years after this particular Interceptor was sold new in 1974.
The mileage of the Interceptor in these pictures is unknown, but it's in damn fine shape for a 36-year-old automobile, especially one made in Britain. Follow the jump for more pics and a view of the Interceptor's fisheye rear glass.
If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos of your ride into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and on the weekend let you vote for a RR of the Week. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.
Instructions for submitting to Autoblog's RR of the Day:
Create a Flickr account if you don't already have one. Search for and join the group called 'Autoblog RR of the Day'. Upload up to three photos of your ride to your own account at a size no larger than 450 pixels wide if possible and include as much information about it and yourself as possible. Click on each photo and just above the picture it will say "Send to group". Click that and select the Autoblog group. You're done, that's it!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jason 10:27AM (9/13/2006)
The forward 2/3 of it, and the interior, are beautiful. The rear window is a little much, though. The side profile shot is especially nice.
Reply
Jim in Tampa 10:34AM (9/13/2006)
This brings back memories from high school. In the mid 70's, the priest at the Catholic church in St. Cloud, Florida had an Interceptor. I thought it was the car was gorgeous and always stopped to watch it drive down the street.
Reply
mike 10:35AM (9/13/2006)
One of my favorite cars. Thanks!
Reply
Dustin 10:54AM (9/13/2006)
I did some looking around to see exactly which "tire shredding Mopar V8" they put in these things. They put almost all of the Mopar V8's in these things. The 360, 383, 440, and a 440 six pack. It was said they were experimenting with the Hemi, but it never made it to production.
Reply
Richard Warren 10:57AM (9/13/2006)
Nice car.
Reply
Jscro 10:58AM (9/13/2006)
Awesome car; I was admiring it the other day in the Flickr pool.
Reply
verdegrrl 10:58AM (9/13/2006)
Wow! That one is in great shape based on the pics.
The one to have is called the FF model. Ferguson Four wheel drive. It also came with a form of mechanical ABS known as Maxaret. Look for a second vent behind the front wheel (the car was slightly longer to fit the center diff) and stainless roof panel.
Reply
Erik 11:10AM (9/13/2006)
I can't imagine what it would cost to replace that rear window if it were to break
Reply
erolb 11:34AM (9/13/2006)
One of my Dad's fave cars. Am I right in thinking these had a fibreglass body?
Reply
pd 11:37AM (9/13/2006)
I remember this car well,and a bunch of other one-offs. While were at it how about some pics of the MONTEVERDI HIGH SPEED,with the 440 mopar,or ISO GRIFFO with chevy power.
Reply
mike 11:39AM (9/13/2006)
Believe it is all steel. Weighs over 4000lbs.
Reply
Oliver 11:39AM (9/13/2006)
All I can say if FAT! or is it PHAT. I don't know. I'm a country boy.
Oliver
Reply
Ron 11:46AM (9/13/2006)
Looks like a Pacer's prettier cousin...
Reply
S1500 11:55AM (9/13/2006)
If I was a millionare, I would have one of these fine cars. I never knew it had a Mopar engine. Then again, a Buick engine was bought by the Brits for the Rover, so it's not surprising. Wish it had an extra tranny gear though. Still, a beautiful car.
Reply
samuel 12:00PM (9/13/2006)
#7, I am pretty sure that the FF was considered a separate model and not known as an Interceptor, but yes, it was basically the same car but with technology that was many years ahead of it's time.
Reply
G 12:04PM (9/13/2006)
If you were take everything part of the car from the lower edge of the window sills on down - the car would look just fine - similar to a TVR of its day.
However, the box on top of the lower body that is the windshield, side windows, pillars, and rear windshield, are all disproportionately large to overall car and were clearly stretched lengthwise and heighwise to accomodate the additional two seats in the back.
The interior of this particular example looks pristine, though...
http://www.automobilesdeluxe.blogspot.com
Reply
ckm 1:07PM (9/13/2006)
Cool! I've got 2 Interceptors. For those wondering, the best thing about these cars is that ALL the parts are fairly cheaply available, including that back window. There's a company in the UK call Martin Robey that bought all the tooling when Jensen went out of business in the early Eighties and they still make spares. It's well supported in the US by companies like K&D and Delta Motorsports and there's a terrific community at www.british-cars.org.
BTW, some of those are true sleepers, there are Interceptors running around with upwards of 600hp under the hood.
Chris.
Reply
ckm 1:10PM (9/13/2006)
Actually, correction to my own post, the correct url for the Jensen community site is www.british-steel.org.
Knew I should have double-checked it before posting. For those interested, Jensen Interceptors are quite cheap, $15k to $25k for a good model, less than $10k for a not so good one. Much cheaper than an Aston or Ferrari of the same vintage.
Chris.
Reply
David Traver Adolphus 1:12PM (9/13/2006)
Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car will have feature photography on the Interceptor in our "Affordable Exotics" issue, on newsstands in November. And yes, it is a 440 six-pack car.
Reply
verdegrrl 1:28PM (9/13/2006)
#15
The FF was indeed a sub-model of the Interceptor and known as the Interceptor FF. Some people (owners?) choose to call it the Jensen FF, but it seems that others ackowledge that a large portion of the car is pure Interceptor with some extra length grafted between the wheels, and some additional hardware in the running gear.
http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/jensen-interceptor.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jensen_Interceptor
http://www.sportscarmarket.com/affordable-classics/2003-March/1966-76-jensen-interceptor.html
Reply