Jensen Interceptor MkIII J-Series 7.2-litre

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Some cars look powerful, some look expensive and a few, a very few, look genuinely beautiful. To achieve all three at once is a real achievement but it’s a trick that the Interceptor pulls off in spades.

One of the finest GT cars ever made, this handbuilt classic just oozes class fom every pore and makes most other cars look cheap by comparison. Vastly expensive when new, it is still an occasion to see one of the 700 that still survive on the UK’s roads today from the 6,408 made in total.

Small wonder that the Interceptor attracted the glitterati of '60s society when new. Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Tony Curtis, Keith Richards, Dusty Springfield, Lord Carrington – the list of famous owners goes on and on, making it all the more amazing that these superb machines are so under-valued today. As rare as any DB Aston, better made and far more potent to boot, they are perhaps the classic car bargain of the modern age.

This fabulous MkIII J-Series car, with its rumbling 300bhp 7.2-litre V8, GKN alloys and sparkling Brienz Blue Metallic paintwork is about as good as the Interceptor gets. Dating from November 1973 it was first owned by Unichem Ltd and has a good, if somewhat patchy, history from the early 1980s onwards which proves that the indicated mileage of 66,000 is almost certainly correct.

By the mid-1990s it was owned by Duncan Clarke, founder of The Jensen Club, and was used to promote the marque at shows and events across the UK, even being made available as a hire car to seduce potential owners into the joys of Interceptor driving. Naturally it was kept in very good order to cope with these demands, but when the club folded a few years later the Interceptor seems to have been laid up for a while.

When acquired by the current owner a couple of years ago, it was still in remarkably good condition but the decision was taken to treat it to the sympathetic restoration that it clearly deserved. As a CD of photos documents, it was stripped to bare metal and given a high quality glass-out repaint from the original Silver Grey to the dramatic Brienz Blue colour you see today.

The original tan leather interior and fawn carpets were carefully cleaned and refurbished and any other cosmetic or mechanical issues attended to. The extent of the work is too detailed to list in full here but is clearly itemised in the history file. Significant works include a rebuilt rear axle and differential, new Holley four-barrel carburettor plus a host of minor suspension, trim and electrical parts, including an overhaul of the air conditioning which now works perfectly, the final bill for this lot coming to almost £10,000.

Now in lovely condition throughout and still highly original in most respects, the car drives superbly as we discovered during a lengthy test drive on the occasion of our visit which your cataloguer enjoyed so much that he was loathe to hand the keys back!

Currently taxed and with an MOT until July 2015, this charismatic British GT looks stonking value at the guide price suggested. With James Bond driving an Interceptor in the new 007 novel ‘Solo’ by William Boyd, interest in this long under-valued model can only go one way…