UNLEASH THE INTERCEPTOR!
The big GT from Jensen has been under-appreciated for too long. Is it now being taken seriously by auction buyers?
‘The mystery is why values have been so low for so long’’
Proper grand tourers have always been an important sidebar of the classic market. And the Jensen Interceptor is perhaps the greatest example of what was once a seriously under-valued GT.
Now, things are changing, and the Interceptor is motoring away from the bargain basement where it was parked for way too long.
‘The mystery isn’t why they are taking off in value, but why they have been so low for so long,’ says Brightwells’ James Dennison. ‘Everything was finished to a very high standard and they attracted a very wealthy class of clientele. They’re also very rare, with only 5620 made, of which fewer than 800 are still UK-registered.’
There are other reasons for values being lower than they perhaps ought to be, and those are based not on reality but on misinformation, as James Dennison explains: ‘Everyone trots out the old line about fuel economy but they are no thirstier than an E-type S3 and not much worse than an XJ6, so that one really doesn’t wash.
‘People are also sniffy about them being Anglo-American hybrids and this will probably stop them ever reaching Aston Martin levels, but as an ownership proposition it makes them more attractive because the bills you get with a Chrysler V8 are a lot less than you get with a Newport Pagnell V8 or straight-six.’
Silverstone Auctions’ classic car specialist, Joe Watts, agrees: ‘In terms of auction results, recent prices certainly show that values are on the upturn with the Interceptor offering great value as an equivalent of the Ferrari or Aston Martin GTs. I predict that in the next ten years the Interceptor will be fully recognised by the market, and that anyone looking to invest should look to buy a quality example soon.’
Mathewsons auctioneer, Derek Mathewson, says that Interceptors
were too cheap for too long, with many collectors wishing that they had bought one when prices were low. He says: ‘No doubt if they had attracted wealthy investors, as Aston Martin did, we would have seen similar success, and Interceptor interest was rekindled due to one fact – their cost when compared with Aston Martin DB6s and V8s.
‘But buyers were still suspicious and reluctant to seize the opportunity of buying a bargain, until Aston Martin values spiralled above most people’s budgets.’