This Jensen Interceptor Has a Smoking LS3 Under that Long Bonnet
The Jensen Interceptor was a car that caused some to scratch their heads, some to feel pangs of lust, and some to wonder what could have been if it lived up to potential. See what JIA has done with these classic cars to make them truly shine.
A British gentleman with American muscle
The bubble booted Interceptor was the result of what a car can be when various parts of the world come together in the name of motoring. The Jensen Interceptor, styled by Italian shop Carrozzeria Touring and powered by a Chrysler V8 under the hood was a maverick of a car for its time. I had the treat of growing up across the street from a neighbor who 's friend owned an Interceptor and regularly drove it over. The car always looked amazing in British racing green and seemed so out of this world to me compared to everything else on the road at the time. The unfortunate truth with older cars that are kept stock is that they pale in comparison to the technology, performance, and even more importantly the safety updates that we enjoy in contemporary vehicles. However, that can be easily rectified with modern components and the addition of a more up-to-date engine.
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Who is behind these delicious restorations?
A company named Jensen International Automotive has taken it upon themselves to bring a renaissance of the car that was ahead of its time back to the forefront. Based out of Banbury, U.K., the modest group remained faithful to the craftsmanship methods that the cars were originally built with while updating the living snot out of them. The company's managing director gained a great deal of his knowledge on what to do with these new Interceptors from his time as an aeronautical and racing designer. Since 2008, JIA has serviced and upgraded countless Interceptors from all over the world with items such as a new engine, electronics, and much-needed suspension components.
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R and S depending on your level of sanity
JIA offers Interceptors with an R and S designations for different flavors of performance. You can have the car in either an NA version or a spiced up supercharged variant with an LS3 V8. The American V8 makes perfect sense for the car since that's what the car originally had anyway but this engine is so much better than the Chrysler one. This 6.2-liter sourced engine has a bullet proof block and is connected to 160 GM official parts from the transmission to the all the other peripherals needed to run the car. The power coming from the car in the supercharged version is 550 bhp and the lesser NA version is 480 bhp with both mated to a six-speed manual. JIA builds these cars to order with various touches thrown in for each client upon their request. Changes like that make these cars that are already rare even more so due to their individual accouterments.
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An interior befitting of the exterior
The dashboard, which was originally vinyl has now been refreshed with a generous swathe of leather. Aluminum inlays add a touch of gleam and break up the tone just enough along with a classy retro steering wheel to seal the deal on an amazing view for the occupants. The starter system, which is now a very cool toggle switch located on the dashboard, has thankfully put the old Morris ignition key which was positioned to stab a driver right in the knee, out to pasture. Clients have the chance to choose two-tone bucket seats, a rearranged center console, and the revised dash to go with the drilled pedals.
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You mean the car is actually reliable now?
Each of the Interceptors that come in for some TLC gets stripped, de-rusted, and refurbished part by part. The side vents get some chroming and the front bumper gets switched out to a chunkier version that has larger inlets that allow more air to the engine. Many power features on the original Jensen worked intermittingly at best but now the windshield features working wipers and windows that won't leave you guessing if they'll go up or down. JIA has seen fit to bond the screen in place safely instead of being held to the car with badly molded rubber seals that were as dangerous as they were unsightly.
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A European classic
The wheels, kept in the style of the original five-spoke design, have grown into 17-inchers. Behind those wheels are six-piston AP racing brakes, with ventilated discs that are 13 inches in the front and 11 in the rear. Wrapped around those wheels are nice and wide Toyo Proxes R888 give the car some much-needed traction the car will need when digging in with a hard stab of the throttle.
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The blast from the past
Sadly, with any type of bespoke vehicle, these things are not cheap. The base price on the NA version is about $234,540 and about $280,150 as of this writing and current currency conversion metrics. These cars are great masterpieces of yesteryears being reborn for well-heeled enthusiasts of the modern age with all of the piss and vinegar bravado of the old days dressed up in a cutting edge Tom Ford suit.
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For help with service of your car, check out the how-to section of LS1Tech.com