The Jensen Interceptor Is The Best & Worst British Car Ever Made
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2022
- Today I drive an example of one of Britain's best loved, but oft forgotten classics - the Jensen Interceptor. Built in The Midlands, it featured an Italian body, an American V8 and a British sensibility. In so many ways, it is brilliant - but in some others, utterly hopeless. In this episode I get the full rollercoaster of classic car emotion.
#Jensen #Interceptor #ClassicCar
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The Interceptor really was a car ahead of its time. This one kept dying because it has an early version of stop-start technology :P
Yep... 1970s strikes 🤣
This car was owned from new by my old boss, who called it “the fire engine” as it was flame orange at the time. I’ll never forget it, although he traded it for a XJS due to the 9mpg fuel consumption he was getting from the Interceptor. In those days he paid income tax at 83% when Dennis Healey was Chancellor and so he calculated that after 83% tax relief his mpg was equivalent to 54mpg 😂. Shame someone painted it blue…
#Jensen #Interceptor #ClassicCar WE HAVE THIS CAR
The blue suits it so much better than orange would have done.
Orange with a white interior? Your old boss clearly had exceptional taste.
Everyone who has these traded them in for xjs at the time. Much faster and better-built car due to being newer, I remember my uncle's v12 spinning its wheels at 80mph. Monster of a car. Lovely inside. Except for the back seats.
Jenson looked better in my opinion but the XJS turned more heads at the time. Even during a short drive people would point and ask about the car when stopped.
Plus the Jenson he had used to burn everyone's legs due to side pipes. Sounded car but always had problems and wasn't as fast
P0
As a classic car guy I should not be laughing my head off when it starts misbehaving. I feel your pain. People think I am being friendly giving them a ride in my car but you never know when you might need a push start.
Keep up the great content.
I grew up in West Bromwich (well if I ever grew up) and when us kids were bored towards the end of the school summer holidays, we would sit outside the Jensen factory and watch the cars come out for a test. We were more patient than modern kids. I've always wanted one and despite your review, I want one even more now...
My dear work colleague of 25 years, friend and fellow petrol head keith loved these. We bought him a Jensen interceptor hoodie for his 50th birthday but sadly he took own his life a few days later. At the request of his family he was buried wearing his hoodie and on his tombstone is a picture engraved of the interceptor- so for me his was a poignant video - Thankyou James.
Sorry about your friend. I misread your comment as you bought your friend an Interceptor and a few days later he took his own life, thinking "Just how bad can Interceptor ownership really be??"
Ha ha no - he never got around to buying one - it was his dream car !
I'm very sorry to hear of your loss Steve
So sorry to hear that, but glad that you were able to honour him in that way.
That’s sad mate. All the best.
Growing up in the early '70's I lived next door to a small brewery ran by 2 brothers. One drove an Aston DBS but the other drove an Interceptor that was a similar colour to this. It was such a cool car in an era of Cortinas and Minors and I have loved them ever since. Interceptor is such a cool name for a car.
I think that's why cop cars in the U.S. are also called "Police Interceptors". 😁
a ready supply of free 'alcoholic gasoline' perhaps?
Back in the early 80's, a mate of mine bought a rough Interceptor for £100!
Granted it was a tatty rustbucket, full of filler & a nasty burgundy paint job, but the interior was mint, and it sounded awesome.
He soon got shot of it due to the fact it drank like Oliver reed!
James is sounding more and more like Jeremy Clarkson by the day. A compliment when it comes to car related monologues.
Sounds like an insult to me. Can't stand Clarkson.
Drive this car... How hard can it be? He he he !
@@buggs9950 Clarkson made some good car reviews in his better years, sadly the pressure from the Top Gear team
wanting more and more outragious stunts ruined the way he wanted to do car reviews.
Agreed👍👍👍
Not a compliment, but thankfully also wrong. James is so much better.
Beautiful car! Really stunning. The FF was not only the first car with 4x4, but also with Anti lock brakes...
Didn’t know that about it having anti lock brakes, that is indeed a pretty big deal for back then
@@grantmills4184 An early Boschs setup, non-electronic. Apparently quite effective.
@@owenshebbeare2999 interesting, also fairly forward for the time
@@owenshebbeare2999 Dunlop Maxaret brakes as used on contemporary airliners.
Have owned 2 Interceptors in my time, both MK 3 s and absolutely loved them, petrol can be an issue, my black one had a blue printed engine, when pushed 5/6 to the gallon 😱🤣🤣🤣🤣 love them
£1 per mile. That's gotta sting on a day trip to the seaside... assuming you don't live in a seaside town!
@@clownworld-honk410 How funny, I did live in a seaside town, Felixstowe 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jenson's use standard 60's / 70's dodge engine parts rite? if so the balance resistor could be bad or the box for the dizzy ( that or the princes of darkness came to visit lol Lukas electric strikes again ) as on my charger that's been a problematic/pain and i fired it alongside the carb for good messier as i don't believe in 1/2 A.. way analog and modern digital control
yes the 727 is good but a fuel pig or at least for the goals of that car and the stick probably got way better MPG but with a 383-2 barrel 16to20-mpg @ 60 mph is possible as i have done it more than once, with a modern manual overdrive probably 25to32 max mpg but i personally haven't tried it yet but other mopar owners have
always seems weird to me Jenson used a 383 or 440 or 2-G hemi instead of a big 6 jaguar or big v12 aka so why the foreign v8? that parts at the time where harder to get and more $$
bloody hell, that's what a lorry gets. when ragged on fully loaded on the hills of cornwall that is. flat ground, double digits all day long!
@@SoulTouchMusic93 huh ?? 16 is double digit 9mpg isn't but i rarely got that or anything close to that (on the 727 and 3.2FG and 26" tall tires all seasonal ect. ) and id have the carb and dizzy way off aka ran like crap and i was being lazybones not to get out and tune it up and a lead-foot ect.
in theory me changing the transmission to the TR6070 ( .42 overdrive FG inside the transmission ) is worth at least 30% improvement from the 727 numbers
My Interceptor is very reliable, does not overheat or cutout and I cover roughly 2500 miles per year.
It also returns around 17-18MPG.
I own a ‘71 MkII and had the same “stalls when turning” problem. Solved by, 1. Replace metal fuel line from filter to carb with shielded hose. 2. Fine-tune carb, and 3. Make sure timing is correct. This also helped the dreaded hard to re-start after sitting while you went into a store. Overheating: Re-core with bigger radiator and replace the horrible Lucas fans with those from a VW Golf. They literally swap in with no hacking necessary and blow like a gale force wind. I live in Arizona and have driven in the summer (100f 38c) with no problems. You’ll notice prices all over the board. Biggest factor? Rust. These cars rot real easily and fixing that can put an owner upside-down and into six figures to restore. No rot? Pretty straight forward restoration with great parts supplies both here in the U.S. and England. Wonderful car. I fell for it when I was thirteen, bought one a few years before I retired and love it. Never will sell it.
The Interceptor holds a happy place in my heart and is a key part to one of the best stories I know about my Grandad Harry.
My grandad was a London bus driver (the 38 Route Master through North London) but for a short while in the late 60’s he was a chauffeur and he drove a famous person around in their new Interceptor (because the guy was too scared to drive it himself). He also asked my Grandad take it home after work, this chap had nowhere to park it.
My family lived in Shoreditch, an area in the 60’s where no one had a car, or if you did it was tiny Austin, maybe a 40’s/50’s hand me down of some kind. You could could park anywhere and no one stole from my Grandads family, my uncles held a certain respect in the area, the car was safe.
Without the owner knowing my Grandad use to take the local kids for rather swift rides around the, still derelict but very wide, post war streets along the Islington and Hackney borders. Because why not, it’s a car to be driven not to be driven around in (unless you are 10 and the roads are empty).
But apart from all the fun and cheekiness the bit I like the most was what he’d tell me about driving a Route Master Compared to the Interceptor, that driving a Route Master at speed was way more fun, handled better and could be just as quick (when empty, at night)…
“you could really chuck a Route Master around a corner and it would never fall over and get up to some good speed down Upper Street when the roads where empty. But you could, if you got it right because they would fall over, lean the bus far enough to knock the orange ball from the top of the belisha beacon at the zebra crossing on the corner of St Johns Street and Rosebery Avenue.”
I enjoyed this story! theres a famous image of a double decker being tilt-tested you may have seen; as all the weight of the engine chassis and drivetrain is very low down and the (emty of passengers) body ways comparatively little i can totally believe your grandad could really get the best of it around latenight roads!!
@@alexjaybrady thank you, I have a few fun stories about the stuff bus drivers used to get up to… and I’ve seen that picture, it’s a go to image in my head when I think of Route Masters.
@@wellstuffed1976 Haha i bet they got very skilled at driving them, and with a decent amount of power to the rear wheels... i I wonder how quickly a skillfuly piloted routemaster could do the nordschleif, assuming it could fit under the bridges!!
@@alexjaybrady well I know I’d be a passenger on that ride
Yes the Routemaster bus is legendary!
Now you need to drive a Resto mod Interseptor with the LS3 😅
The Jensen Interceptor was one of my dream cars as a kid and still is at 54. Back in the late 70's one used to drive round my home town Bridgend in South Wales. you could hear it before you seen it and knew exactly what it was. Thanks for having this car on your channel James.
I have to echo your comment. As a child I was a total statto and knowing that the Interceptor came with a 7.2-litre V8 was enough to make it ultimately cool. I never knew how rare they were, but I've a feeling that every car-loving kid in the '70s/'80s in Britain knew of an Interceptor in their area. There was definitely at least one in my Shropshire home town and I WANTED one (and still do at 51). I also wanted a (similar-looking) Reliant Scimitar GTE, just for its Essex V6 noise - and the Essex V6 was a backdrop to part of my childhood because one of my neighbours had a 3-litre Capri Ghia in metallic blue followed by a 3-litre Capri S in gold. In my boyhood eyes he was a cool guy. Oh, happy days!!
In the early 1980's I saw a nice little sportscar parked in on a street in Amsterdam. I went to look at it closely and it was a Lotus Elan. On the back I noticed a sticker saying 'my other car is a Jensen Interceptor'. I had never even heard of Jensen as a car brand. A few days later, on the same spot I noticed this impressive, sporty looking car. Coming up close, it was a Jensen Interceptor. Wow, what a car, for years after that it was my dream car. Oh, and of course there was a sticker on it 'my other car is a Lotus Elan'.
My Dad owned one of these beautiful machines. New in 1969. Several highly memorable Continental trips, the only car I hanker for!
Excellent video - The Jensen factory was only a couple of miles from my house, sad that the local skills are being lost.
My neighbor while I was growing up had one.
It averaged between 10 and 13 mpg .
I remember riding in it a couple times in the summer in 90° heat and wondering if the air conditioning was even working!
She had it for years but in all the time she had it it only accumulated 38K.
The nearest Jensen dealer was 85 miles away in Chicago and I remember it being on a flatbed a lot.
The problems it suffered were from minor niggles to catastrophic.
She said nothing worked 100% on it from the day she bought it.
This lady was a car lover and several of her restored classics ran in the Great American Race
Her every day run about car was an Opel Manta which my father bought for me as my first car when I got my license.
I still own the Manta and I vaguely recall the Jensen being sold at her estate auction for what if I can remember correctly was the sum of $2,750 in 1985.
The best garden ornament I’ve ever had! Never got it running, but loved it
Modern fuels evaporate easily so the heat from the engine is probably evaporating the fuel in the lines stalling the car. A heat shield or wrap around the fuel lines will fix that problem.
Very true. And a bigger spacer between carb and intake manifold will do the trick.
@@peterblumbach6600 My Mustang did exactly the same thing, for the same reasons
@@peterblumbach6600 A lot of old cars have this problem. I had an MGB GT that did this but it was only a problem when stopped for a while or if you drive for a lot turn off the engien and then try and start again. You had to use the throttle a bit to get the fan to start spinning and cool the engine a little. A heat chield helped a lot.
The Rover P6B was renown for fuel starvation due to evaporation from the heat of the engine.
@@julesdowner5585 Yup, mine was a nightmare for it. A rear mounted electric fuel pump & re-routed copper fuel lines fixed it
My parents had a mk 1 1968 interceptor back in the 1980's (TBA 99) in black. It had the smaller 6.3 litre 383cu/in motor with a modest but rock solid 250bhp
I use to enjoy watching the Speedo bounce around the dial 😀
We took it to Sweden following drag racing and I got to see an awful lots of petrol stations 😲
It had 335HP
One of my bucket list cars. Just such a wonderful looking thing, very Thunderbirds. I saw one when I was a kid in the early seventies and have never forgotten the noise and spectacle of this wondrous car going down the road. Brilliant stuff James.
I had one in the 70's - Interceptor III. I loved it but couldn't keep it cool. And starting when hot was a trial. But I still loved it and wish I still had it.
Edit: Gt Chesterford, Ickleton, Duxford ..... A505: one time in mine, around 1975, from Duxford to the A505 clocked it at 95. Happy days!
Thoroughly enjoyed that, I’ve loved the Interceptor and the FF since I was a boy, there is something so classy about them that only a very few cars can manage.
Now that you mention FF…
One thing that I’ll never forget is the time, in the late 70s, I saw one of these in yellow driving down the road with flames licking out from under it, driver blissfully unaware. Still a beautiful car though.
That sounds like the authentic Jensen experience!
@@JayEmmOnCars My neighbours Jensen caught fire and he left it in a field near his house.
I still have the burn mark on my leg from my uncle Jensen's Interceptor side pipes.
As a kid, I loved that car he had Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Jaguar XJS V12 and yes at the time I don't in the back seats, Jenson, Mark 1 e, type, and many 911s.
That's where my passion for cars started and never stopped.
Great memories of the Jensen especially when I drove it down the street age of 10 ish.
Growing up in the 70's and watching the tv program the persuaders i always wanted one of these. Harry's garage had a review of an updated ff with a humungous price tag. Great review as always james.
I worked for a Jensen dealer in the early seventies.They had problems from the word go with water ingress into the cabin I don't think we ever really managed to cure it. I guess it's OK now if you are only taking it out on sunny days
Great vid - enthusiastic comments and history.... love it!
Thanks for the effort and genuine video.
Great Vid James and Guy. Thoroughly enjoyed watching and learning about Guys journey
Thanks for a really great (and quite humorous) episode James! I hope the channel continues to grow as quickly as you.
Fantastic video. Thank you for showcasing these old cars and oddity brands. Keep up the good work.
Thanks J, yes, removing some of the 'character' for reliability is the way to go! Always liked these cars, so much old school presence as you said.
Wow, an absolute stunner and most definitely the coolest name given to any car. That huge v8 sounds like rolling thunder. Massive thumbs up from me, what a glorious piece of automotive history.
One of your best videos, great fun to watch and one very cool car.
One of your best attempts at making us smile. Great viewing & you never lost your way with entertaining us. Brilliant and what a car.
Great video, entertaining and informative at the same time!
Also great video, and brilliant you kept in the fails too.
Well presented and good fun, thank you, greatly enjoyed. Professional narration, always impressed. The introduction encaptures all that is excellent about #JayEmms Car Life!
This was my childhood car my dad had a orange one with black leather trim,holidaying all over Cornwall n Scarborough towing a caravan 😳
Jay you're just the best! I love your channel and your reviews. Keep up the good work ☺️
As a child of the 70's these were exotic when surrounded by old cortinas and avengers . One in particular used to pass me as I walked to school and I could recognise the sound well before I saw it . Great video.
if the Jensen Interceptor had engines from Coventry Climax, the name game would've been high scored
Very entertaining for a Saturday afternoon. Jason King would be proud🤣
I have always listed after these cars. This is my favorite episode you have done Jay!
My god I love the beginning of this video but how sweet are those guys? So nice for pulling over and helping you out I genuinely felt so bad for all the struggles
Your suffering in making this provides me with a lot of joy amd entertainment. Thanks chap.
Great retro ride! I remember the good old Interceptor, FF, SP, Coupe and Convertible (from magazines obviously!)
Thoroughly enjoyable genuine video!
I've had two friends who have owned these - though in truth I last saw one of these guys (Ben) around 25 years ago and the other guy (Tom) more than 40 years ago. Both guys absolutely adored their Interceptors, and Ben had it as his main car (actually his only car). I have been a passenger in Tom's Interceptor - and unlike this example, was working perfectly. I remember it being a very comfortable, pleasant car to be in... Thanks for the revue..!
Really good Vid James. One of your best to date that I've seen 👌🏼. Also ignore the comnents of the Clarkson comparisons. You do you. It's what got you where you are today 👍🏻. Much appreciated for the upload
In USA, you can buy a Holley injection systems that is relatively easy to set-up and go where the carb was. It makes old cars much faster and much more reliable.
Or even just a new 4-barrel Holley carburettor.
I'll never forget having a lift in one of these as a child in about 1973. The first time I felt a proper shove in the back from a car. The owner was getting 8 mpg so not a great oil crisis car. Great review as always.
I do love the fact that you didn't edit out the language! Or indeed the issues.....
They were a glorious sight on the roads in the Seventies.
Great footage - thanks!
I loved these cars when I was a kid. A family friend had one of these and I was fortunate enough to get a ride in one of these as a small boy in the late 1970's. It was the high performance 'SP' variant so felt pretty fast and I remember listening to Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' on the cassette player.
A 440 Chrysler big block. The only engine from that era I never did drive, but wish I had!
Brilliant video!
This is probably my all time favourite car, as my neighbour bought a bright yellow one with a vinyl roof when I was 14 or so. He gave me a lift to school once and I can still remember all my mates coming out to gawp as we pulled up. Unreliable as hell of course as you found out, but I can forgive that totally for that shape.
Made my Saturday this when it popped up... 👍😁😁😁
I had one many years ago. The 383 version. it was a very nice car but without the grunt you would expect from such an engine. It handled petty good and was controllable in slides.
Unfortunately, someone revered into me while I was waiting to turn. I didn't realize they didn't see me until too late. They weren't insured and I didn't chase them. But it put it out of action.
James, I’m a big fan of the channel, and that is one of the most enjoyable videos you’ve produced to date. Hugely entertaining. Bravo 👏
Thanks Philip!
Loved this video
Awesome,car and video👍👍
Immensely entertaining video. Nothing like a period correct Jensen Interceptor to bring out the best in JayEmm, haha. Cheers!
Australia, Victoria, Neerim South, 1974. There was a two small (very very small) mechanic shops. One of those had a V12 Jag E Type, with bonnet up with fan belt failure, but outside was Jensen Inceptor III. The owner had three of then. As a young person I was there to buying a Repco 10 speed pushy (push bike) from the owner but that Jensen … that Jensen stayed with me.
Epic car, epic sunny day, epic roads, heck even the breakdowns are epic! That shot of coming over the brow of the hill took me back to the late 70's early 80s. Great video.
It's too sunny for the car...need uk 🇬🇧 rain for it to work.
Getting even more Clarkson-esque in delivery, I see. That is a praise, by the way. Also, one of the most fun video from you that I've watched.
And yes, everyone wants to drive in a car named Interceptor. Only appropriate with the recent release of a certain US Navy movie sequel.
Marvellous stuff :)
I had one for a weekend for my 40th. I loved it - you quickly learn to keep an eye on the temperature. Sadly the boat has sailed as regards owning one - my SD1 will have to do.
Great to see the Jensen Intercepter being reviewed. It was rarer than hen's teeth when I was a young teenager, one of those cars you only saw in the London Motor Show supplements.
£5,000 was a lot of money for a car in those days, and a comparison with the Aston DB6 is a good one, I can remember my father's business partner buying a DB6, whilst my father bought a Jaguar E-Type 2+2 for half the price; as a family man, you would have to take a leap of faith to opt for the Jensen.
Best video ever!!!!Honestly!!
I drove one recently that had been fully restored and had an LPG conversion. The automatic gearbox was so smooth. The owner complained about ongoing electrical gremlins. Nevertheless, a very characterful car, and thrilling to drive!
this was one of my favorite videos👍
Hugely enjoyable vid there Jay. More of the same please! 😊👍
Two ashtrays for the kids.. but it’s ok the’re small sizes! 🤣🤣🤣
I was lucky enough to own one of these in the 70’s. A MK1 it was lovely to look at but very unreliable, I carried a fire blanket in the car as sometimes it backfired through the carb putting petrol onto a hot engine. If you filled up at a filling station you kept your fingers crossed it would restart as the fuel in the carb would evaporate due to the heat of the engine. I fitted electric fans with an override switch to try and keep it cool. If I had one now it would be convert to fuel injection and improved cooling. Despite all its faults I loved that car. Saw it up for sale recently and was tempted to buy it.
Very good blog about the joys of owning a Jensen Interceptor! (probably similar to the those of driving an Aston Martin DBSV8! hint hint!) Had friend whose father owned a steel grey one from new and took us out in it at various times. Those looks and the rear window! It really is in a class above everything else! Back then if someone drove an Interceptor, you knew they had a lot of money! Thank you, James, you really have brightened my day!
Awesome video, great review as ever. There is just something undeniably cool about an interceptor. It's not shouty or brash but it really does look the part (this coming from a Mustang owner!). Love watching the reviews of the classics.
More of this please!
a cracking video Sir. Driving an old car is an event! You can't tell your mates about your journey in a modern car for you just get there.In a classic , you mention the breakdowns, the recovery truck drivers, the weird total strangers who want to chat to you , the way everyone seems to love you and your car and the way you never get bothered by hot looking young ladies! A Classic car makes life fun again .
This is my favorite British car. Period. Sorry to see that happen in the Intro. Nothing like it now or since. A hybrid. Italian body and American engine. Chrysler powerplant. Beautiful example. Dream car. Saw one as a guest on Jay Leno garage.
😍😚😘👍❤❤😎😎🤩😅
Had an old Chevy years ago, when it occasionally stalled for reasons unknown life became very tense wrestling with no power steering or brakes! I feel your pain but also your joy, when running they are a delight. The Jensen was my childhood dream, having watched this I think never meet your heroes comes to mind! I’ll stick with the modern stuff, but great video, well done sir!
Spoiled my ownership of a 68 Dodge Charger years ago, just couldn't get the thing reliable, only had it two short years, every time i took it out i was just hoping it would break down somewhere nice. My old 72 Firebird (sold in 2020) on the other hand was 100% reliable.
It's the ultimate car I always wanted to own ( if I had the money) and with looks like that,who would wonder. Think I agree with you about some modern updates to help with reliability and possibly help with fuel consumption..? 12 to the gallon is a bit daunting given the current fuel prices - bit of a difference to my Clio E tech giving me around nearly 70. Great review. How about a Sunbeam Rapier series 3a which was my second and most loved car before the rust bug got to it ?!
Takes me back to my schooldays, when I fell in love with that classic V8 sound.
I really love the looks of this car. 😍Some weeks ago i saw it the first time at a german workshop and i thought it was some kind of italian classic sports car like a Maserati maybe. Thanks for the great in depth review.
I used to ride past one of these on the way to school. Spoke to the owner because I’d never seen one… turns out he parked it because it kept breaking on him but he loved the look of it 😂.
Here in the States you can buy all kind of drivetrain parts and turn this into a monster. Chrysler V8's are no joke.
😂 bloody class James. Funniest and best video yet. Quality 👍
One of the most iconic examples of British automotive history: just superb. I’ve always lusted after these cars. Nothing looks like an interceptor. Great review and patience James. Perhaps the owners need some Ian Tyrell TLC and it will all be cool again; soooooooo cool!
the sunbeam rapier mk 2 looked from the front a bit like a jensen though not in the same league! due to its styling mainly at the back window and front it was known to us kids then as the poor mans interceptor! the jenson was beautiful the rapier looked like a kid had drawn a jenson but got all the proportions wrong.also it was a bit of a snail to drive.
Cool. And when 😂 it’s broken down at the side of the road you have even more time to admire it’s looks. Loved these since being a kid in the seventies. And imagine being able to say you drive an Interceptor, a real Mad Max name for a car if ever there was. Brilliant. There’s one on display (albeit maybe not the finest example as it’s white with black wheels at the mo) at The Great British Car Journey. Recommend a visit there to any petrolhead (and I’ve no affiliation to them other than being a very happy visitor and driver of their Roller.) Yes, you can even drive some of their cars. Great video James. The issues only added to the fun as a viewer (and you kept your sense of humour throughout).
Best episode ever!
My father owned one of these in the 70's, same color but we lived in Canada. We used it as a daily driver and yes the backseat only fits children. Ours had the chrysler 383 in it and from what I remember we never had any issues with it. Cool Car I just saw one restored in Dubai which reminded me of it.
No better way to spend a sunday morning than to watch a review of a Jensen interceptor :-). A real highlight of its day with that combination of style and specs; an Aston Martin rival, but so much more at the same time. Thanks for this review.
Seems like the breakdowns can be cured quite easily if the owner were to look at more modern technical solutions; I would say that's the benefit of owning a 1960/1970s car 50 years later, that there are ways to make it more reliable than when new.
A typical british 70's car experience, you love them and curse them at the same time.
Having owned only 1 Aston Martin, which almost put me into debt, they are cars for people
with deep pockets.
I agree with James, upgrading the unreliable fuel and ignition systems are a must, the last thing
you want in any car are old school systems that work when they feel like it.
Thanks for sharing your experience with a Jensen, i am sure you will remember it fora long time.
Even just an upgraded modern 4-barrel carburettor would be a big improvement in reliability and performance. Add a cam and maybe some upgraded heads, it would go a lot faster... and you can upgrade to a big bore siamese liner block (either iron or aluminium) with a stroker crank, up to just over ten litres.
@@richardharrold9736 And empty the tank just starting the engine!
Great idea's if petrol wasn't £2 a gallon.
@@Barbarapape £2 a gallon would be nice, 44p a litre... but a modern carb, properly jetted for the size and output of the engine, would deliver improved economy. Still not great, but 20mpg on a run would be achievable rather than a pipe dream.
@@richardharrold9736 true, very true. I would like to that one day… 🤔
@@shanepatrick641 I'd also upgrade the engine itself, you can get aluminium RB blocks and heads which allow, with a stroker crank, for up to 621ci... you could also switch from wedge heads to Hemi or even Porsche 928 DOHC (same bore spacing and bolt pattern!). The big stroker engine wouldn't have to work as hard as the 440 so could actually get better fuel economy.
Great video, crazy to think that car is over 20 years older than me!! (and I feel old!)
What a fab video. A little suffering goes along way😄. More sir...more!
4 Ashtrays; 2 for mum and dad, 2 for the kids - Brilliant!
I had to click on this instantly, great upload sir, Stay blessedly
I think the interceptor is soo cool. Great video .
Another great review James. I know you don't like the idea of a restomod version but VBH and I think JC drove one of the Jensen International cars, which they both liked. Think Harry had a go in one too? 🤔 The reason I'd like you to review it is not only would it be a good comparison for you, but also TV reviews are only a few minutes long, whereas you do it proper!
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Keep 'em coming James!
Always loved the Interceptor.. but the joys of 1960s engines. I used to own and work on cars of this period. Its usually a carburettor issue. I had one mysterious issue with an old car… turned out the floats in the carbs no longer floated due to age and years of petrol. No matter how you set the carbs, it would run too rich (gumming up the spark plugs) or too lean and wouldnt idle. Managed to get new floats etc. You are right, James, EFI, modern ignition and an upgraded modern rad and water pump, solves all this stuff.
Wheeler Dealers did one of these back in 2010.
It was in really great condition after Edd had done his magic on it.
Only got £6k for it !
Only £6k? Why? I’ve seen complete wrecks of these going for eye watering amounts.
@@antonclark3420
They really weren't worth much back then.