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Power by Chrysler: 1974 Jensen Interceptor

1974-jensen-interceptor

What do you get when you shove a big Chrysler V8 into a British GT body? The Jensen Interceptor probably came to mind. These were high speed cruisers for those who could care less about mpg. This 1974 example is an ambitious project, but it does run and includes a parts car. We just hope there is a four-speed in there instead of the more common auto-box. Either way, bidding is currently at $3,800 with only a day left. Find it here on eBay out of Worcester, Massachusetts. Thanks goes to Jim S. for the tip!

Comments

  1. Avatar Mark E

    Switch out the hoods and turn the PARTS CAR into a ‘fast and furious replica’ … PLEASE!!

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  2. Avatar seth

    Wow, looked at ebay listing and saw the 440 engine, This must have been an outrageous car

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  3. Avatar Ron Hale

    I bought a low milage one of these for my wife around 1979 or 1980. She certainly looked great driving it, but whenever she left in the morning I could never be sure that she would get home in the evening. The radiator may have been adequate for cold damp England, but in southern California both electric fans needed to run continuously. The english electrics were not up to this, so a generous supply of extra fuses in the glove box was a necessity. The oddly reworked Jaguar power steering unit was prone to failure, being not really up to functioning under the weight of the boat anchor Chrysler engine. Also (classic English engineering) to mate the Chrysler power steering pump to the Jaguar power steering unit, Jensen took a Jaguar hose and a Chrysler hose, cut each in half, and joined then together. This failure prone item was quite expensive, since it consisted of buying a Jaguar hose, a Chrysler hose, and paying a Jensen worker to butcher both. After the second hose blew up I finally had an epiphany. If memory serves, one end of the hose was female 3/4 inch, the other female 5/8 inch. A little parts shopping turned up an inexpensive Lincoln hose that required only a little rebending of the tubing. I eventually traded the car to my attorney for his services. He found it to be a near bottomless money pit.

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    • Avatar Dolphin Member

      Well Ron, your experience sure puts some detail to one side of the story I’ve heard about these…the dark side, unfortunately.

      The upside, if there is one, is that these were called ‘The Gentleman’s Express’ in the UK, I guess to reflect their status as one of the most luxuriuous and powerful cars you could buy in the UK back then.

      The luxury and power might be good for the rich and powerful, who can afford the bills, but the Interceptor’s many problems show that there’s really no substitute for good engineering design, development, and testing, preferably before the car goes on sale.

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    • Avatar seguin

      My Dad’s has a custom 4-core radiator for just that reason.

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  4. Avatar Horse Radish

    I suppose I had my fair chance over 30 years to get one of these and luckily never did.
    This is probably on a long list of cars that were not really great when they were new, but as decades pass most people forget.

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  5. Avatar paul

    The English are well known for for putting together cars that have failure prone areas such as power steering hoses mentioned by Ron Hale & many other annoying engineering failures, I have found that if you can locate a really good independent English repair shop they usually have great fixes for all these problems that are both durable & less expensive.

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  6. Avatar Alex

    That car is amazing for the price. I wish I could have gotten this car, but it went quick.

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  7. Avatar cliffyc

    Legendary cars,bad reliability mars them,but they are fixable.guy down the street from me missed a nice interceptor at an auction 3 wweks ago (here in UK).He had £15k to buy it,the hammer fell at £19k,he was gutted but has saved himself some big bills…..1.

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