If you were a used car dealer in the 70s or 80s, you would have been smart to sock away anything resembling a performance or enthusiast car as a future project before prices shot up. It can be hard to tell which car is destined to be a classic, but some of them just have the right ingredients from the start. The Jensen Interceptor is certainly one such model, with Chrysler V8 power under the hood and classic British GT styling, but many of them have ended up in neglected project grade condition like this example listed here on eBay by the longtime owner where it has reached bids of $4,150 with the reserve unmet.

No one denies the classic chops of the Jensen Interceptor. It’s an eye-catching design, even today, especially with that huge glass canopy over the trunk storage area. While the Porsche 928 may get all the fame and glory of a classic GT car, the Interceptor is in a different league. It’s a brute; a bodybuilder in a suit, if you will. But all that didn’t inspire the seller to get this car restored, which he has now owned for 39 years. That’s a seriously long time, but you can see how it happens especially if you own multiple projects. He simply grabbed cars he saw as part of his daily business and socked them away for a rainy day. While some of the cars he collected were restored, the Interceptor is part of the group of vehicles the seller doesn’t feel like he’ll ever get around to sorting.

Jensens, like other British cars, had very high-end interiors when new, but they require a fair amount of upkeep to keep them looking good. As soon as they begin to get neglected, the cabin seems to suffer the worst. I notice the same trend in Lotuses, especially old Esprits which look like they’ve been blown apart inside after any amount of time exposed to the sun. The seller’s car is somewhere in between, with a torn-up center console lid and split surfaces on the center stack, but also  clear gauges, an original steering wheel, and (hopefully) decent seats under those sheepskin seat covers. However, the seller does state point-blank that the interior is in rough shape, so it’s probably just wishful thinking that the seats could be preserved under there.

Fortunately, the iconic 383 powerplant is numbers matching, The seller notes that after addressing some basic deferred maintenance, the 383 fired right up. The automatic transmission goes into forward and reverse, but it has only been used for lot drives and as such, should be trailered to its new home. It’s impressive to find a car like this that has been stored as a project for close to 40 years, and perhaps because of this, it may be in a state of preservation that other project-grade Interceptors are not. Of course, that could be wishful thinking too – no matter what, this classic British grand tourer will need all the love to bring it back to life, but will absolutely be worth it.