The Jensen Interceptor Is The Best & Worst British Car Ever Made

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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[Musician-Lee]

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…

[Flared]

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

[cliveyboyb]

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.

[steveberridge]

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.

[shand]

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.

[busternineshoes]

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...

[loudspeakers]

Beautiful car! Really stunning. The FF was not only the first car with 4x4, but also with Anti lock brakes...

[wellstuffed]

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.”

[bath]

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

[clownworld-honk]

James is sounding more and more like Jeremy Clarkson by the day. A compliment when it comes to car related monologues.

[steverees]

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.

[markpirateuk]

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!

[davidpearce]

My Interceptor is very reliable, does not overheat or cutout and I cover roughly 2500 miles per year.
It also returns around 17-18MPG.

[jefflavigne]

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.

[Punisher]

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.

[george_]

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'.

[quonston]

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.

[Jack_Rn]

Excellent video - The Jensen factory was only a couple of miles from my house, sad that the local skills are being lost.

[simonelliott]

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.

[johnreed]

The best garden ornament I’ve ever had! Never got it running, but loved it