Turning the corner
I drove my Jensen Interceptor Mk1 to Autostilo (autostilo.co.uk) in Potters Bar and left it there, with an agreement that the car would be made ‘solid and presentable’ for a set fee. For full transparency, that ‘if and when’ payment was at such a low level that this job was never expected to be a priority for them. While the bad news is that it really has been a downtime filler – and they haven’t had much downtime – it is fair to say that one or two other factors have been at play in the past year.
Yet, as we pass the second anniversary of the last day I drove my Jensen, I am pretty confident that it is now a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if ’! Popping up to check on progress led to the usual mix of emotions: disappointment at how little conspicuous change there had been; joy at the quality of the work that had been done.
As bossman Massimo Olimpi and workshop manager Andrew
Tucker talked me through it, I experienced the usual surge of optimism that things were not as bad as they first looked. Welder James has pretty much finished the driver’s-side sill and footwell replacement, and I can’t overstate what a job that must have been. Jensen sills are complicated; add the need to fabricate and replace the bodywork they attach to and you can see where the time goes.
Now James has understood and mastered one side, the chaps reckon he will be able to do the nearside in a fraction of the time, and that the other jobs look a lot more time-consuming than they will be. Confident stuff.
Considering the slow progress that has been made in two years (I need to get over that), it is hard to believe that the Interceptor could now be finished in a few months, but Massimo didn’t rule this out. Maybe not June, but possibly July, he reckoned.
Given all the setbacks so far, I am not about to start booking the Jensen into any events during July and will prepare myself for further delays, but the prospect of getting it back to enjoy even for a month or two this year before winter sets
in again has given me a real spring in my step.
As have the positives that remain plain to see when I call in. The doom-predicting ‘scrambled egg’ by the A-pillars turned out to be only on the outer skins, the rear window channels are solid and best of all is the tailgate. These famously rot right through and, unsurprisingly, good replacements are scarce and very expensive. While mine has a couple of minor holes, the notorious hinge area and inner lip are almost rot-free. Roll on July… or August… or…