The SUPER RARE 440ci V8 Powered AWD British Muscle Car - The Jensen Interceptor (And FF)
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2023
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In this Rare Cars documentary, we go in depth into the absolutely legendary Jensen Interceptor. This is a car that is misunderstood by many, and one that remains unknown by many others. But the Jensen Interceptor is a fascinating car all together.
The interceptor was a British car, designed by an Italian, and powered by an American V8 - it truly is the ultimate combination of different automotive characteristics in one awesome and rare car.
This is the 13th Rare Cars documentary so if you enjoyed it, please make sure to subscribe to the channel because we have more documentaries just like this one coming out on history’s most interesting cars like the GT40, Porsche 907, Ferrari P4 and oh so many more!
*Note, we are not historians. If you see an error in our research then please mention it in the comments!
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My father worked at a car dealership that sold these cars in Richmond, VA. The Jensens were all nice cars, especially the Interceptors. The best single word I have for the Interceptors is "Solid." They also had very long legs. My father would warn buyers that they needed to watch their speed on highways. They would say, "Okay." When they would bring their cars back for a service, they would see my father and say, "I got a ticket the day after I picked up my car. I didn't even know I was speeding."
Never heard rust being described as solid before
I had the pleasure of driving 2 different '74 Intercepters in 1975. What stood out to me was the smell and feel of fine leather, the tightness of the construction and the quiet smooth power from those massive V8s. It was truely a masterpiece.
same here, also had the privilege to own 2, lovely car to drive👌
One of my school classmates was picked up by his dad in one. In 1970 for me that was like seeing the starship enterprise!
@@rennkoop7317 you had very good taste.
If I was blindfolded , I would still know I was getting into an Intercepter .
The smell of the Connolly leather & the Wilton wool carpeting & the feel & sound it makes as you close the doors & the air escapes from the airtight cabin 😎
Sometimes when you remove an interior panel , on the back of it , someone would always drawer a cartoon & sign Thier name because they were a proud craftsman .
Not like today .
There is nothing like a hand built automobile. 🛠️✍️
Hanover_Fist .....but the Interceptors you liked, did they have English V-8s or Detroit engines...?
Best name of any car ever.
The FF my absolute # 1 car [not that I ever owned one] BUT I lived about 25 miles from the Jensen West Bromwich factory and went nearby on the train to Birmingham: lots of Interceptors in the yards.
That's awesome to hear that story
It's a GT car, the Interceptor knew what it was, a Continent cruiser. It was for covering big distances in comfort at high speed.
Explaining what a GT car is ,in 2023 lols cheers
A muscle car is just an australian/american gt car/v8 sedan
I use to work on them when they were new and had the pleasure of driving the FF and it was very impressive 😅
I like watching you on Motor Trend Channel where you walk around junkyards pointing out rare or classic hulks that MIGHT possibly be used in a resto project, spouting off all manner of obscure production numbers, details, options for each hulk. Simply amazing!
My very first job out of school was at a local restoration shop and an Interceptor was the first project I ever worked on. But a couple of interesting facts, Audi was said to have bought a Janson FF to study while designing the Quatro, and Ferguson Formula also produced a number of AWD Mustangs.
Constructive criticism thread: I wanted to go a little longer in this video and try and give you more comprehensive info about this car. Please let me know if you liked the more info in this video of if you liked the slightly shorter videos I’ve made prior more. Any other suggestions would be great!
More details on the car would be great. How did the 4 wheel drive system work? How was this put together? Who designed it? Get the car up on a lift and lets see. Anti lock brakes in the 60s! More details please. Who made the anti lock brakes? Any specialty shops restoring these cars? An interview or 2 of owners with on road review. A part 2 or 3 on this car would be worth it.
I thought I knew everything about Jensen interceptors but had no clue that they made a coupe I would like to seen pictures of this Coupe or at least pictures where you can see the coupe's roofline if you Google image Jensen Interceptor Coupe all you get are regular Jensen interceptors. I must see this Jensen Interceptor Coupe
It must have been late 1960s when I read an article in MOTOR [?] : they took an FF [with police permission & also that of The Highways Authority] onto a recently finished strip of motorway, before it had been opened for public traffic. The car was given a full " foot brake on" @ 100 mph and it drew up to a controlled halt in a straight line: yes, anti-lock at its best.
My thanks for your informative video.
Hiya. Your vid was good, and OK for north America, but here in the UK, you have a different story, typical for similar low volume cars like it at the time. You have to do a much much deeper dive into customer complaints etc. I appreciate you get excited by the chrysler engine, or ford v8, but over here after ww2, the country was awash in ex army truck and vehicle engines, and parts and servicing cheap. That's why the original land rovers, rovers, jaguars,Aston Martins, etc (anything with a 3litre or v8 engine) in a British utility, sports, or. Luxury saloon, apart from rolls Royce had either the Ford or chrysler engine, and as the us army had left so many behind after 1945, including the full manufacturing and production lines for the engines, all small British Big block luxury cars used them. A tiny number of people could afford a car that could buy you a house instead, and few were fans.
The UK and European road system made the engines, and cars like jenson irrelevant. We needed small, 4 cylinder, revvy, responsive and economical small cars (like mg, triumph for sports tourers) for our twisty narrow roads and minimal american style highways.
And the peculiarity of jensens all wheel drive, they bought off maclaren followings it's outlawing in formula 1.
And the saddest thing was the maker of the famous reliant Robin 3 wheel car, made a cheaper, more reliable " clone" fibreglass copy, that was cheaper and on a par with the interceptor, as the Simcar. Check it out.
@@alecbrown66 What an utter load of nonsense! The UK was not "awash" with ex us army engines. The UK companies like Jensen and Bristol that used the Chrysler engines bought them direct from Chrysler production lines in the USA. Indeed the 383 and 440 engines only started production in the 1960's. The FF system was developed by Ferguson, who did produce an F1 car that had some moderate success, however it wasn't outlawed and was nothing to do with Mclaren. The Reliant Simcar? I'm guessing you mean Scimitar? It's hardly a clone and in no way "on a par" with the Interceptor.
It is impressive to an American like me to see Jensen's approach, and creative, unique styling.
Thank you for posting.
Thanks for watching, I have always been a fan of the styling of the Interceptor!
The mid 60s Interceptor was a beautiful,stylish,FAST British GT with the FF a true revelation with it's 4 wheel drive and (early)ABS-thanks for the doc and all the details and numbers you provided about the models featured Auckland New Zealand 2023
Glad you enjoyed it! The FF version absolutely was ahead of its time!
Had two Jensen Healy’s, and had my interceptor about 20 years. Still an amazing car today!
@ 2:10 - Looks like the car was surprised to see Sasquatch standing outside his window. .
😂😂😂
Outstanding review. Thanks
Thank you very much for your detailed explanation.
We’ve owned our MkIII Interceptor for 30 years.
How's the ownership experience been for you?
@@rarecars3336 initially very interesting 🤣😬. Broke down on the way home from picking it up from the seller (alternator) after we stopped to get fuel (lots of that stuff required!!). Overheated on and off for the next few months until we had the radiator recored and the fans upgraded. Other than that, over the last 29 odd years it’s been bullet proof. Chrysler motor and gearbox and many Jag parts so generally easy and reasonably cheap to maintain. I do love watching the 90L fuel tank gauge dropping as we drive around town 😉
Very informative, thank you...
The Jensen FF was the 1st production AWD production road car in the world, plus also the 1st production road car with anti-lock brakes. In these regards it beat both the Audi Quattro & the Mercedes S Class by significant amounts.
When I was a kid I had a book called 'Supercars of the 70's' that featured cars like the De Tomaso Pantera, Lamborghini Urraco, Lotus Europa, Alfa Romeo Monteal etc. But my favourite car in the whole book was the Jensen Interceptor. Thanks for the video 👍
Thanks for watching, the Urraco is a crazy lambo that almost everyone forgets about too!
thats a beauty car,i love the rear and,unique
thanks bro
Still one of the most handsome GTs ever built 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
It is a great looking car!
I love this car, cool car & great name thanks for the video
Mr. Qvale owned British Motorcar in San Francisco. My dad had an SP purchased from that dealership. The Qvale Mangusta is another attempt by Kjell to produce a car. Cool dude.
The sad difference between British and American muscle cars is that a kid in high-school could aspire to a 300 hp US built muscle car. A kid over here had no chance. Most working people had no chance. Car ownership here was pretty repressive for most people well into the 70s.
What are you on about, hardly anyone in the US could have afforded an Interceptor so there's no difference.
@@byteme9718 you missed the point completely. I said American muscle cars. The Interceptor is British. My schoolfriend in Ottawa got a Pontiac Lemans convertible with a 330 hp 400 ci V8 for his 16th birthday. They were just ordinary middle class people. Not rich. Over here, all you could get at 16 was a Reliant 3 wheeler. That's the difference.
@@hughwalker5628 "you missed the point completely. I said American muscle cars. The Interceptor is British." F*ck me 30 years of owning an Interceptor and until now I'd believed those pesky muricans air dropped them into West Bromwich under cover of darkness. Thanks, now I know my Interceptor is actually Britsh.
So, your little anecdote involves a privileged spoiled brat from a middle class family, details like this are important. You say "Over here, all you could get at 16 was a Reliant 3 wheeler." Really, why would a 16 year old who could only ride a 49cc moped on L plates and not take a pillion need a Reliant? Do you know what most kids in the UK got at 16? A f*cking birthday card, much the same as most kids in Canada and the US.
"That's the difference." You seem very confused, dementia?
Only young people in the US with a new muscle car just got home from Vietnam
The Jensen intercepter was my fav car as a kid and I grew up wanting one but sadly it was just a dream ,but I worked in a body shop and I did restore one
Love the JI. Thanks for this.
You bet! I think it is such a cool car!
What a lovely looking car
I used to work as a youngster at a Gentleman’s shoot in the winter season. All the best 60s cars would turn up. The Jenson Interceptor was one of my favourites. The Boss had a 1950s Jenson in BRG which was sent back to be refurbished by specialist. It was driven like a rally car. Another car of note was the Bristol.
I never heard of the FF hopefully Gran Turismo will add them in its wishful thinking but hey it could happen the Peugeot 2CV with the nuematic suspension is a nice ride.
Would love to see you do some AMC cars. Amx super stock, rebel machine kinda stuff and under appreciated thanks
I did a video on the rebel machine!
LOVELY!
Growing up in '80's Cali, I've seen a half dozen 440 Interceptors, always thought they were cool. Didn't know there was an AWD version, thanks!
One reliable source says just one 440 AWD FF made. The other 330 or so cars had the 383 starting in 1966.
One Jenson had a 426 Hemi for evaluation but was judged too expensive.
Another cool thing to know about the JENSEN, Has a car in the same era and year much like the Jensen, the Brasilian BRASINCA 4200 GT! for many many year's, People say that Jensen copy the Brasinca because they launch they first car in 1964, but after the years and with moore information it was clear that the car's look a like every other coupe from this time, and it was a coincidence.
The Brasinca 4200 gt is rare sport car and deserve one of yours videos some time!
Never heard of the 4200GT but I will take a look for sure! Sounds right up my alley
@@rarecars3336 when you can/want, take a look in The Google, i Think you Gonna like.
The convertible is still one of the most beautiful cars I have ever seen.
All those Jensens are so goo looking, great design language!
Never knew they made a convertible. Damn that was a pretty car
The sounds it made was just as bad ass.
The 440 Interceptor was only in earlier cars. Chrysler offered the 383 as a replacement which looks similar but isn't quite as powerful. Heavy cast-iron pushrod-valve engines which were capable of a lot more power than as-shipped.
No. The 440 replaced the 383.
The 383 was the more powerful of the two.
@@byteme9718 You're all forgetting the 440 Six-pack...
Jensen Interceptor/Jensen Healy dealer here : The 440 c.i. engine was in the later cars , Mark 2 & the best 1972-2974 mark 3 variants .
The 383 c.i. engines were in the earlier cars , i.e. Jensen FF ( Ferguson Formula ) all wheel drive
As a Chrysler/ Plymouth dealer I can honestly tell you that the 383 c.i. engines was a far inferior engine ( Nylon Timing Gears ) & not much power , it was an entry level station wagon & sedan engine .
The fact that it had a Six-pack , 3 -2 barrel , Tri -Power intake system almost redeemed it & the six-packs engines came with a high-performance cam to match.
@@byteme9718 the 383 was an inferior engine used as an entry level engine in station wagons & 4 door sedans .
The higher compression 440 c.i.engine was Mopars highest performing engine , just below the Iconic 426 Hemi .
As far as torque & horsepower ratings were concerned they were both highly underrated due to young people constantly dying in them , ever tightening insurance rates , D.O.T. regulations & E.P.A. ratings .
We took my stock GTX 426 Hemi with a factory rating of 425 HP/475 TQ. to a friend's chassis Dyno & it made just under 500 HP .
Then installed new spark plugs , re-jetted synced & tweaked the 2 monster 4 barrel carbs & it produced well over 500+ HP & over 540+ pounds of frame twisting Torque.
AH, The good ole days 😎
As an Interceptor owner. It’s still us an amazing car to drive
Definitely a bucket list car…Gt car made for comfortable high speed road trips…definitely not a super car but can easily be modified to run with them.
I've been fascinated with this car since it was mentioned in Death Race I would love to get my hands on one but that's just a pipe dream.
One of my fav Brit cars...kick myself in the butt for not buying one about a decade ago on west coast of Canada for $10K CAD Great vid good in depth explanation well done.
The Interceptor was a GT, nothing confusing about it's identity at all. Britain never built muscle cars in the same way the US did. The Interceptor was designed to cross huge distances with ease in great comfort. It was never a sports car, it was a pure GT.
Only the Jensen FF was four-wheel-drive.
And was only ever RHD.
When I was a kid my dad had two Mk3 cars (not at the same time). I remember throwing up in one and him not being terribly happy about that.
Always reminded me of a mutant AMC Pacer
I can’t I see it now that u said it
One thing you did not mention was that the 541 (1954-63) and C-V8 (1962-66) had fibreglass bodies (like Corvettes of the time, and subsequently). The 1966-76 Interceptor and FF had steel bodies, which seriously puts up the price for limited run cars.
Caption notwithstanding, to my understanding there was never a 440 cubic inch Jensen FF, only 383s.
Correct.
always loved the oddballs, and the interceptor is near the top, along with the dino, the jag mk11 .....
Best looking car ever made, in my opinion
I think it is a super underrated car, they look great, were unique and pretty fast!
Iconic
I like this video😊👍💪💪
I'm glad you like it!
First time i sow this car was in the Gran Turismo 4 "GAME", after win this car in a race, and never here anything about it in any where, i go for a search and find what this car was and like it!
The best you can say for it is "It is what it is" How Shakespearean.
Why do Americans in general refer to the whole of Great Britain (Not the UK, as that makes them even more confused) as England?
I'm Scottish and lived in the US for 10 years and was always asked if I was Irish. Grrr. I was even asked how we got our food in a drive-thru and was believed when I said we just reverse round them.
I remember back in about 1992 I heard about a vintage car that some old guy was selling. Met him at a lockup, he opened the door and sitting there was a very dusty Interceptor with the 7.2 v8 in it. My jaw hit the floor. It even came with a brand new rear window! Inside was gorgeous, the leather looked new, no cracks or anything. Unfortunately baby #1 was halfway through her gestation period so I got it's me or the car. I should have picked the car. He only wanted 10K for it (in GBP).
The dialog might say "Triumph' but the car shown is a Jaguar XK150 !
I am old enough to remember them but I was too young to buy one❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹
One of the post Fleming Bond books has 007 in an Interceptor.
It is a gentleman's car.
Very, very English.
Aston Martin DBS shares brakes and some switchgear.
I am a HUGE bond fan. I have only read casino royale but I always found it interesting that in that book he drove a Bentley
The jensen co are doing fully refurbished interceptors? All updated features ,modern electronics etc? Gotta see?
I had a teacher in high-school that had a terminal, slow illness. He spent his money on European cars. He had a new Jensen interceptor in the mid 70's.
It was hard to believe it was British, nothing rusted or fell off. It was also mad fast.
Back in my motorsport days, we called Kjell "Shell." I vividly recall the day at Laguna Seca when he entered two cars...one an E-type Jag...sorry, but I cannot recall the second, but both were wrecked while racing, so, for Kjell it was a very expensive day.
Shell is correct.
The coolest of cool.
These were bad-ass. I never understood that these had the dead nutz reliable Chrysler 440 power trains.
Awesome cars!
The earlier sixties made ones, starting in 1966 and including the FF, had the 383.
When did the 440 first become available on US cars?
Im working on one right now im helping my friend with it
Awesome, i hope it turns out great. Need more of these on the road
I think this is what Johnny English drove in Reborn.
The only British Sports Car that l would own instead of an E-Type Jaguar. The Jenson Interceptor was just Awesome. .... especially the all wheel version
I believe you pronounce the name Kjell Qvale, Shell Caverly (Cav as in cave) or Cavali but I could be mistaken.
Thank you for that, you are probably right!
I read an article where they experimented with 426 hemi all-wheel drive, Bosch ABS brakes. Supposedly accelerated from 0 to 100 and back to zero and 12 seconds in the rain. Maybe you can research that.
Completely different car and not intended as anything other than a test vehicle. It wasn't even a true Jensen and more of a collaborative venture.
I'd like to know more about the four-wheel drive car or all-wheel drive cars specifications ie horsepower output and such
Easily researched.
Ian Ogilvy drove a Jensen Intercepter in "The Saint" BBC SERIES
Nope, he drove a Jaguar XJS in Return of the Saint.
the 1st time I saw 1, I was stunned, it looked like no other car! a hatchback fon the 60s?? the weren't a thing till the late 70s! they had a style all of their own and just looked special! as much the sound of that V8 burble to how it looked! a design that now is iconic as an E type Jaguar! yes the E type was a beautiful car, but the Jensen, took the boxier look that late 70s up to the mid 80s that cars looked like! so between 15 and 20 years ahead of their Time!
Of course they were "a thing" from the day of their release.
I’d define the Interceptor FF as a Grand Tourer.
A friend of mine owned one he bought it used and was going to restore it but passed away about six months later and never got around to doing it. I don't know what happened to it exactly i heard it was sold.
As mentioned below the first name is pronounced "shell" in English. The best I can remember for the surname is "kavalee", my crude phonetic attempt! (with apologies) I'm given that the Interceptor is v. fast and well handling when in good order.
FF was available until 1976
Ruairidh MacVeigh is pronounced Rory MacVay, it's the correct Irish Celtic spelling.
The restomod Jensens with the supercharged LSA engines are pure heaven
Agreed
Those cars are very special masterpieces. They should not be modified.
@@philiptownsend4026 I agree to some extent. But, pulling out a chev engine and gearbox and dropping back in a Chevy engine and gearbox is a very minor modification.
It’s not ‘pure’, but it’s pretty darn close.
@@hamishbartholomaeus mopar chrysler 440 for chevy stuff
@@brian3174 ah…my mistake. I thought they started life with a Chevy, not a Chrysler.
Well then…if we aren’t dropping a Hellcat engine in it, all bets are off, mods wise!
Another rare car is a 1984-3/4 5.0 Mustang GT. Not 1984-1/2. The engine was a 205hp 302 nearly identical to the 1985 carbureted 302 minus the roller cam. They had revised springs, roll bars and 5 speed manual gear ratios. One of the smaller car magazines had an article on one. I remember around August of 1984 calling what was then Universal Ford in Rochester Minnesota asking about a 1985 Mustang GT. The salesman said those aren’t out yet but I have a 205hp 1984-3/4 Mustang GT here. If you go on Foxbody forums you will run into people who say that they were never made then they start arguing with you. What would be even more rare would be a Capri version 1984-3/4 5.0 5 speed.
Do a video on the 1960 Edsel. They made 2,862 of those before Ford killed the Edsel mark. I have a full video on my channel for reference where I interview a woman who's father bought the car new. interesting story, worthy of your channel
Wasn't a Jensen interceptor shown in "The Protectors"?
Beautiful car, beautiful steering wheel, but I’ve gotta say that I’d hate to face-plant into it in a collision.
Pity that the title of such a documentary should start on the wrong foot. The Jensen Interceptor was not AWD, although it did sport the 440ci (7,2 l) Chrysler V8. The AWD was called the Jensen FF and although it looked like an Interceptor at first glance, had a second set of intakes on the sides to disguise the extra length, and never carried the Interceptor name.
This was bothering me too.
British Mirthmobile!
And your choice of car would be what, a mass produced spam can?
Early jensens used Austin straight 6,s including the original interceptor
Thank you for the insight!
Never even heard of a ford flat head V8 in one, that's not to say someone didn't specify that choice
So can you retrofit the Ferguson Formula gear into a late Interceptor?
Why would you want to destroy a perfectly good Interceptor? Anything is possible but it would be a massive undertaking as the entire engine and transmission sit at an angle with centreline offset to the left and the chassis, front wings and bonnet are all longer and very different.
Well, if you have a 440 engine then with a few easy modifications you have a 420 to 500 Hp totally streetable very reliable machine. It's only the stoogy thinking of British builders who keep that engine at the low output they kept it at. It's also their thinking which caused the car to be 4000 lbs buy With very basic materials and design the car could have been, 2800 to 3300 lbs.
Shell Ka-varley.
Rory macVey.
9:48 The red series 4 (I'm not sure I've heard the name well, if anybody has please correct me.) is awesome. So beautiful! In red she has that Italian's seventies look like the Alfa Romeo GT Junior that kills me...
"Rewards momentum". AdSpeak for "terrible acceleration". MOPAR fixed that for sure.
It’s like the ford flex of Britain
When I was a lad my trendy barber who worked out of a shed, had a silver Interceptor. He dream was to trade up to an FF.
That's awesome, what a cool barber!
Thank you for these priceless videos...these cars are gems and will be...
Sad, people only see speed aka 0-60, they just ignore craftsmanship.... ""Jenson could be slower than Daytona but it had much richer craftsmanship than their Daytona""...
I always envy, adore long hood cars...once day soon i will own myself a JFF for sure..
Thank you for the kind words, I agree there is so much more to driving than just the acceleration speeds!
Pronunciation of Vignale in Italian: VEEN NYAH LAY. In Italian, the letter i has the long e sound, e as in the word "eat". The letter g before the letter n is silent, but makes the n sound like NYAH, as in the Spanish "ñ." The letter e has the long a sound, as in the word "day." Say it with me: VEEN NYAH LAY.
When you say it correctly it does after a few tries sound very Italin way I used to say it was much harsher more germanic Thanks Love my new pronunciation
@@jbar100 Americani (Americans) tend to laugh at American Italiani speaking Italiano, because they are usually so animated in their manner of speaking, especially those from Southern Italy, especially Napoli. But I was astounded upon my arrival in Naples, as that's the way they really do speak! So you can't be a reserved American and speak Italian like an American, you've got to jump in over your head and join in the Italiano conversation!
The red car at the start is not a triumph it's a jaguar xk150
You didn't mention the Jensen Healy which was a small 4 cylinder sports car but unfortunately it came and went away
There are several good reasons for that. It was unreliable and poorly built - in the British tradition
@@derekwhyle1884 l have to agree with you on that any british car is unreliable poorly built even today with the exception of two makes the Lotus which uses Toyota engines and the Ariel Atom 4 cylinder which use a Honda engine they got smart and used reliable engines how do improve a classic british put a Toyota engine in it and in Australia classic british cars aren't selling Holdens and Australian built Fords and classic built Japanese cars are selling for good money but people selling the Japanese cars are selling them at sensible prices were as classic british cars are overpriced l know if one car somebody has been trying to sell it for five years and not an expensive price
@@lesklower7281 I doubt my son would agree with you. He owned a lotus evora- with the Toyota V6 and although he had no problems with the engine he had body work issues and general niggles regarding trim fittings and quality. Another opportunity squandered?
@@derekwhyle1884 Thats a pity that Lotus build quality isn't the best but there engines are reliable as l say how do you make a british classic car reliable put a Toyota engine in it
Is that an AMC Pacer rear glass?
Don't be ridiculous.
@@byteme9718 How is that being ridiculous?
@@slowstang88 Try fitting either rear screen to the other and see how you get on.
If anything, the Pacer was the imitator, not relesed until several years after these.
you talk about "nimble" british cars and fail to mention lotus? unforgivable
No doubt, it was an interesting GT, but although the styling had Italian origins, I find it less attractive than other offerings of the time...
I think it is a good looking car but I do agree there were better looking options in that class
Chickens live in a Coop, hey?
I was a lad when this came out and still think it is the best looking car ever.