The Jensen Interceptor retains one of the coolest names ever to grace an automobile, and it is that name – Interceptor – that helps it maintain relevance today, even in a quickly shifting classic car market. Combining British elegance with the performance and ease of maintenance that comes with V8 engines supplied by an American manufacturer, the Interceptor recipe is still tantalizing, but some of that allure faded when the car sitting in front of you is a major project. This Florida-found Interceptor is fresh out of an estate and listed here on eBay for $4,499.
As you can see in this photo, the Interceptor was likely pulled out of storage along with another car that is parked in front of it – can anyone decipher what it is? The faded blue paint, rusty chrome, and blisters all over the hood suggest that this Interceptor spent some time outside, and it’s certainly been exposed to the salty ocean air. The glass appears to be sound and the wheels mostly straight, but that’s effectively where the good news ends. Restoring an Interceptor is not the worst project you could take on, but repairing one that has rust issues doesn’t make the best financial sense. To the seller’s credit, they have at least priced it fairly for the condition, but they may have to go lower.
I can practically smell that interior. The sheepskin covers may have been all the rage back in the day, but now they just serve to trap moisture and bad odors. A key detail of the interior that makes me wonder if the Interceptor did spend some time inside is the lack of cracks in the top of the dash. It looks remarkably solid, and the wood trim down the center console hasn’t split into a dozen pieces, either. It’d be helpful to get a look at the leather seating surfaces to see just how bad they are, but I suspect they will need total restoration like everything else. And even then – will it have been worth it?
The Interceptor makes a lot of sense on paper. You have a Chrysler 440 engine (with a healthy 330 horsepower) that is still fairly easy to get parts for; a body with loads of straight lines that won’t be too hard to hammer back into shape; and an interior, which while somewhat opulent, isn’t tremendously ornate and easy enough to make look good, even if you have to fabricate some wood trim. However, when you look at recent auctions sales of clean, running and driving cars, and see that some of them have struggled to break out of the upper teens, and really decent drivers selling in the low 20s, the case for buying a better car to start with is very easy to make. Personally, I don’t see the Interceptor rising in price ever again, so if you have to own one, looking at a car that’s running great right now may be the smarter play.
The only thing that this will intercept is money going into your retirement fund.
I had sheepskin seat covers on a car for years and they were the best of both worlds- cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Very sad to see what once was an interesting now demi-classic devolve to this point. Might’ve even been fun to Cannonball with in its prime, but more fit for 175mm cannon practice now unfortunately.
Parts car. Price I am seeing is $4999 not $4499, but it doesn’t matter. The car is worth maybe a grand to someone who wants to put the time into tearing it down and listing all the bits for sale. I’ve done that – parted out cars – and while it’s easy suggest a car is “worth more than that in parts”, the work associated with the tear-down is considerable.
These cars are expensive to fix, you can’t imagine how wide & deep your wallet needs to be to put an Interceptor like this into decent condition. Buy a better one.
Overpriced parts car. You know a car is too far gone when the sellers description is a puff piece about the history of the make and model of car rather than the merits of the specifics and condition of the car in their ad.
Steve R
So sad, the seller has a replica Countach for sale too.
So how high was the sea water Mr. Jensen?
Always wanted one of these. I know I would be upside down in no time but I’d be foolish enough to save this. I’ve made poor life decisions like this before when in lust with a car.
Loved the top gear episode where they all put on fake moustaches and drove these guys. If you could get it for maybe $2500-$3000, it would be a hoot…
This looks like only a 2 year old interceptor not 51 year old. Yea they rusted that bad right away.
I have a 71 red coupe and a 75 white vert .I would Love a blue on tan Interceptor, but I wouldn’t touch this one with somebody else’s wallet .
Doesn’t it have an American made drive train? I remember over heating problems from Interceptor owner here in SoCal. This one will probably need new floors being stored literally on the dirt. There is a new Britbox crime show “Linley” where the main character drives what looks like the last year Interceptor made, and it is pristine. This one would require $$$ .
As I’ve always said, “The world needs more Jensen Interceptors,” but this one would make a decent parts car to keep its brethren on the road.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I had a client when I lived in Santa Barbara, CA who was an eye surgeon. One day, I heard a rumbling exhaust sound outside the building. He emerged from a Jensen Interceptor (I had never seen one previously) and related how he bought it from another doctor over dinner the night before, and didn’t know anything about it, except that it looked cool. I gave him a quick overview of its operation. All he kept saying was, “Boy, is this thing fast.” I never saw him driving it again.
I’ve always thought that the 440 Interceptors were beyond cool, but I’m afraid that “rode hard and put up wet” doesn’t begin to describe this junkyard dog. I’m not even sure that parting it out would be terribly easy as finding someone restoring one might be a bit of a chore.
I have heard that since these are hand made. No two fenders are the same. So even if you had a parts car. An expert body man would still be required just changing a fender. I had a customer that had a 383 version that I drove and it was a,very different experience. Not bad (actually a very positive fun drive) but totally different like a XKE or even an XJ6 have a totallydifferent nice feel. . Totally different and positive personality. I hate to “toss away” any vehicle. I live to give at least a major portion a new life. So when I see something like this (and the worse one here a few weeks ago) I just want to pull the body off the chassis and find something else to put on it. Something fiberglass and light? Lots of kit cars out there looking for a donor chassis. Be very cool to open the hood to see Jensen valve covers!
I believe that by “hand built” they mean that each part was assembled by hand as opposed to a automated assembly line. Forming each body part by hand would be quite a task don’t you think?
The car sitting in front of it looks more intriguing…
Could be a Glassic — 1930’s Ford phaeton molded in fiberglass.
Florida- a flood car.
I can smell that interior through my PC!