JENSEN INTERCEPTOR

A luxurious GT that combines elegant Italian bodywork with a mighty American V8 sounds utterly irresistible. But can you afford one?

Values have finally begun to reflect the Interceptor’s awesome credentials, and about time too. ‘Values have stabilised along with the rest of the market, but I think they’ll continue to rise,’ reckons Matt Guilliard-Watts, director of Jensen specialist, Cropredy Bridge. ‘There’s been a steady incline over the years and it’s increased lately, but I wouldn’t call it a jump – cars that jump in value can jump either way.’

Lavish restorations at professional workshops are increasingly the name of the game, and worthy candidates do still occasionally pop up. The best restorative work pushes values within sight of £100k, and way beyond that for the all-wheel-drive FF – a pioneering machine, complete with Dunlop ABS, and quite different from the standard Interceptor underneath.

‘A lot of clientele are looking to pay around £60k-70k, but there are buyers willing to spend much more for reliability and quality,’ says Matt. That reputation for dodgy reliability was largely a result of non-specialist maintenance while values languished in the doldrums, leading to a demand nowadays for Interceptors with engine bay modifications such as improved manifolds, starter motor and cooling components.

Various workshops take on Interceptors, but dedicated specialists are relatively thin on the ground. Production totalled nearly 7000, though today fewer than 500 remain on the roads in the UK (according to howmanyleft.co.uk), plus about 300 on SORN. Most dealers in high-end sports cars and prestige classics find it worthwhile to keep an Interceptor on their forecourt, and they’re a popular addition to auction catalogues.

Fans of resto-mod classics with a cool quarter of a million quid might be tempted by the JIA Interceptor R, a modern remake involving a restored shell, updated interior and 556bhp Chevvy LS3. Meanwhile Cropredy Bridge is quietly developing a modernised, Chrysler-powered retort… you heard it here first!