For proof positive that you never know what’s resting under a tarp, look no further than this 1971 Jensen Interceptor. Located in Bonney Lake, just outside of Tacoma, Washington, and advertised here on Craigslist, this classic luxury performance car has an asking price of $18,000.
The Jensen Interceptor might be the last great British grand tourer before the resurgence of Jaguar and Aston Martin in the late Nineties. Built by hand in the Jensen factory in West Bromwich, the car was founded on the increasingly common practice of marrying gorgeous Italian design to American V8 power. The body was designed by Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera in Milan, just before the firm closed its doors in 1966. Mechanicals came from Chrysler, who provided both TorqueFlight automatic transmissions and the engine. For the first five years this was a 383 cubic inch V8, but in the early Seventies Jensen made the switch to the more powerful 440 cubic inch power plant.
Sadly, this car provides an example of the first rule of body work– every imperfection is revealed by the paint. It is not exactly clear from the photos what is going on with the passenger side rear quarter, but, being a British car of the Seventies, it’s a better-than-average bet that rust is involved. Regardless, a car like this deserves better, and surely the next owner will take steps to remedy the situation. Though the 1971 models were all equipped with the Chrysler 440, two options were offered when it came to carburetors. This car seems to have the more common single four-barrel, which would have provided 305 horsepower with every accessory installed. When new, this would have given a zero to sixty time in the sixes and certainly makes one look at the 160 mph speedometer in a new light.
The interior seems to be in decent shape, aside from the protruding wires, a peeling steering wheel, and hole where the radio should be. These cars came with air conditioning as an option, and it looks like this one has that most decadent of luxuries installed. The seller states that while the engine runs the car will need to be trailered. Depending on what lies under the paint and the state of the undercarriage, this could be a very solid find. With Italian style, American muscle, and British cool, what’s not to like?
Storage on the grass looks very scary. Make sure that you inspect the undercarriage well if you are interested.
I dated a girl years ago with the last name of Jensen. Always associated these with her, though she was a lot prettier.
Beautiful looking car. Assuming all the parts are available, this looks like a great restoration project.
and it’s not even a drop top in that shape for that price? bubble.
What’s not to like? The price definitely. It would need to be at least running well and driveable to be worth that kind of money. It must be said however that all parts for these cars are readily available from the UK.
If given to you for free, it would still cost more to restore than it will be worth when done. I wonder where the JENSEN valve covers went? The late British pop singer Dusty Springfield had a blue Jensen, about this year, who knows, maybe this is the remains of her car?
The 383’s had chrome valve covers, the 440’s had the a!uminum ones with Jensen on them.
And if you look closely at the valve covers in the ad’s photo you can make out “383 high performance”.
Love the Interceptor, although I prefer the convertible version better, which are much rarer. Can’t beat a 383 or a 440 for get up and go.
With whitewalls, no air cleaner? Posted 26 days ago. GLWS.
I haven’t really followed prices on Jensens, but this sounds about $10k too high. I’d struggle to justify paying $8k for it.
Think of it as British Avanti.
I wouldn’t pay 18K for it either, unless of course I had it, and wanted the car.
A ‘71 Jensen would have been supplied with a 383 engine that produced 330 HP. I had one.
I have had the privilege of driving a customer’s 383 car. A great touring car! It has it’s own feel and personality. (like a Jaguar but not the same feel) I would like to have one, but ownership can be quite expensive and if needing a replacement body part, make sure you have a great body guy as these are hand made and not all body parts are exactly the same. I don’t believe these are original wheels and I don’t remember these cars coming with a Thermoquad carb. like this one has. All the cars I have seen, have either a Holly or Carter AVS. (maybe the ones I have seen have had the carburetor replaced as the Thermoquad’s tended to be problematic at times) If a lot cheaper and it did not have rust issues, I would be temped!
Wheels are appropriate for the Jensen. Boring yes, an off-the-shelf design used in various forms by the British motor industry for years. With slight variations between marques, this style wheel was produced from around 1970-1981.
These were rare and expensive. Quite a bit more than an E Type Jag and had BB Chrysler motors. ‘71 was still a High Compression tooling year for Mopar.
Body looks amateur restored but owner would probably take half due to the move.
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/1966-76-jensen-interceptor-values/
I had a black 1971 Series II and 1971 was a transition year from the Series II to the Series III. The Series II came with the 383 with the same style aluminum valve covers that were found on the 440 with Jensen written on them. The wheels on the car are also the original ones the Aluminum wheels are series III and rub the brake calipers if you put them on a Series II ( I tried to put them on mine and guess what). The carb is wrong and was probably put on to try and save gas during the mid seventies gas crisis (small primaries huge secondaries). I would guess it is a replacement engine or some one put after market valve covers on. Some other items that make it easy to tell a Series II from a Series III are. 1. The back seat is a barrel back not the straight backs. 2. The interior has black leather on the console where the series III has wood grain. 3. The rear view mirrors on the door are stainless or chrome and not the color matched mirrors from the 1971 Barracuda or Challenger like the Series III has. The steering wheel is leather wrapped 3 spoke like the one shown not the ugly 2 spoke one you get on the Series III. Price is a bit high for a car that needs that much work but it is worth fixing if you can get it at a reasonable amount. It is a California car so hw bad can the rust be?