I’ve looked at purchasing many Jensen Interceptors over the years I’ve been a British car enthusiast but there’s always been something to stop me. Usually rust, and lots of it! Broken rear windows and destroyed interiors have also played a role, but I have been surprised at how many ways and to what extent the beautiful Jensen coupes (yes, I said beautiful, it’s in the eyes of the beholder you know) rust! This car seems to be the answer to all those problems with gleaming black bodywork and only 57,003 miles! It’s listed for sale here on eBay and surprisingly was listed without a reserve. Bidding is up to $17,991 at this point which seems inexpensive for this Anglo-American hybrid.
Only 171 Jensen Interceptor IIIs were built in 1976, making this one rare car. While Jensen always seemed to be imitating Aston-Martin, in reality they combined Italian-designed coachwork with a proven American drivetrain as an alternative. Certainly even more exclusive, but a bit hairy and “out there”, perhaps?
One of the polarizing features of the Interceptor design is the huge rear window. You either love it or hate it. Usually, there’s rust around the bottom of the giant rear hatch, but I don’t see any on this car. And I have no idea if the exhaust tips are original, but they are certainly different — like the rest of the car.
Okay, where’s the rust. I’m used to rust. And I mean real rust, not this wimpy surface stuff. I mean real iron oxide hole-producing weak-knee-inducing rust. I don’t see any. Something’s wrong with this picture. I don’t see anything serious in the other chassis picture, either. Overspray, yes, but where the heck are the holes? One thing I should mention at this point is that the shiny rocker panels on an Interceptor can hide all kinds of issues even when the rest of the car looks good, so an in-person inspection is highly recommended.
I’m sure this interior has been redone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Interceptor without cracked leather or a torn-up console and dash. Heck, I don’t even see any appreciable dirt! By the way, that original Motorola 8-track in the dash actually works!
Doggone it, other than the air cleaner being repainted an incorrect color (I think) I don’t see anything to fault under here, either apart from a pre-heater hose missing! Even the air conditioning works (!) Okay, I give up — what’s wrong with this car? If it’s as good as it looks, are you going to buy it? Tell us about your Jensen experiences in the comments!
What’s not to like?? 440 ci., looks to be super clean for a Jensen Interceptor, though I’d like to have a manual transmission if it were available.
A twin to this one passed me outside of Fallon NAS one afternoon and caught me unawares-I was cruising in my Charger at 100+ MPH (no speed limit in NV in ‘73) and a black blur passed me like I’d stopped on the roadside!! Caught up to it in Tonopah at the Mizpah Casino where it sat tic-tic-ticing as it cooled. Being the car freak I thought I was my first thought was “what the H&!! is this, and what’s it doing out here?!?”
It passed me again outside of Beatty, and what a sweet sound as it went by..
Good times.
Agree… If available, I’d prefer a manual transmission.
I would guess will go above 30k. Just a very clean car.
Always liked these cars, looked at a couple of these years back and they do rust! This looks like a nice surviver, big block Mopar that always pull hard on the top end to add to the good looks.
First one of these I ever saw belonged to Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane/Starship fame, she was my girlfriend’s neighbor in the mid 70’s. Apparently stopping Grace on US 101, traveling at speed and in some form of intoxication was a right of passage for the local CHP Officers. By the time I saw it, Grace was mostly letting her female assistant use the car to run errands, apparently having decided not to drive it any more, or perhaps being unable to do so legally.
Are you sure it was a Jensen? My friend owns her 1969 Aston DBS which is commonly confused with the Jensen. I believe she had that Aston through the 1970’s until she donated to Stanford hospital which is where my friend purchased it in the early 1980’s.
Lovely looking car. I only remember seeing one of these cars in person in my lifetime. But I’ve always found them to be the best looking car Jensen produced. The only problem I see with the ebay ad of this car is that there are not enough pics. I’ve always believed that if you’re going to sell a car, the more pics you can show of the car, the better. If you can post a video of the car, that’d be awesome!
Don’t think they did a manual box?
Only a couple of 4 speed cars built. If memory serves correctly, they were also 6 pac equipped.
I always thought one of these (series 3 car) with a stand alone fuel injection system (Holly or the like), an overdrive trans or gear vendors overdrive setup and you would have a very usable, unique, fun car. Still could happen.
22 manuals built MK I only.
I have only ever seen one in back in the 70’s it was French registered.
Six pack was only an option on the MK III 440cu in cars and very problematic with vapour lock due to the enormous amount of heat in the engine bay, a lot of them got switched back to 4 bbl.’s.
The FF (Ferguson Formula) was the grand tourer with it’s AWD it was a great handling car too.
The convertible was ok but rear visibility was next to non existant due to the top not being flush with the body when down.
The Coup’e was the rarest one built in small numbers near the end of production.
This is my old car.I exported it to the U.S. in 2015,and sold it at Russo Steele for $26k.Buyer was Motoexotica,who promptly listed in on their website for $50k !
It’s a very nice driver,and there is no rust.I would not be afraid to buy it back,but I have a 71 Coupe (red) and a 75 Convertible (white),as well as a fleet of others.Interceptors are excellent GT cars,as well as having one of the greatest names in the automobile world.I’ve driven 80’s Bentleys and they are an inferior ride.My Interceptors have more in common with my 2012 Bentley Gt than they do with a Bentley or Aston of that era.
Beautiful car; I’ve always preferred the convertible version, which are even rarer.
But what is with the double bumpers on this Jensen Interceptor?? Have a ‘71 Markell with the 383 Mopar and 727 transmission. Love bar finds.com and will join this week
Those bumpers were on the last year or so for the American spec cars only.
Classy interiors and a fine design from the C pillar forward but that rear glass just ruins the overall look, for me. I’ve tried to get over that glass design for many decades but I just can’t. But what great value to have this euro GT with the American muscle compared to other similar euro makes with American drive trains like Iso, Monteverdi, Bitter CD, Facel Vega…
I had a ’76 Interceptor III…it was a beast…a couple things to keep in mind. The 440 creates a huge amount of heat and the stock radiator is often not enough, even with the twin thermostat controlled electric fans, to keep the angry beast cool. A battery quick disconnect is a great idea because the Lucas (prince of darkness) wiring is very unpredictable, and accessories like the auto-dimming interior lights will come on in the middle of the night and drain the battery. Absolutely nothing but premium in the gas tank…anything less it will overheat…the good stuff, it will break the tires loose with an automatic shifting to 2nd and 3rd gear…its and English car, designed by an Italian with an American drivetrain…fun car to own and drive…mechanicals are quite affordable
The overheating problem on an Interceptor is usually solved by getting rid of the stock radiator fans and installing a pair of Bosch electric fans.
My brother bought one new back in the day, a nice, unexceptional car. When he sold it a year or two later he got about ten percent of the original purchase price, not a lot of demand or desire for Jensen’s.
Once out on the road at 70, what sort of mileage could you expect? Still under 20 MPG? Not that I’d really care if I owned it.
During the pipe line boom in Alaska, I helped some people who had way too much money ,get the cars of their dreams. For one buyer, It was Jensen Interceptors, I ended up buying him 3 and driving them to Seattle, so they could be shipped to Ancohrage. Even then, late 70s ,they were not very popular, and not many people even knew what they were. They were great on road trips and back then, I always had a raydar detector on board. However, l was never very confident that all would go well. Think about it British engineering,Chrysler drive train, and Prince of Darkness electrics.