You know what’s a cool car? The Jensen Interceptor. A British GT fastback with a big American V8 and gobs of presence. These were fantastic, athletic-looking cars, bold and handsome and fast. There were even versions of the car, the Jensen FF (for Ferguson Formula), that were AWD road cars, over a dozen years before the Audi Quattro hit the scene. If you and three friends wanted to go somewhere fast and in some genuinely head-turning style, it was hard to beat an Interceptor.
It seems that I’m not the only person who thinks this, because Jensen International Automotive (JIA), which currently builds resto-modded original interceptors, is teasing an all-new Interceptor. And, unlike so many re-imagined motoring icons that threaten to come back in modern form, this one isn’t an EV. It’s the opposite: a VE, as in Vee-Eight.
Here’s what the press release from JIA has to say about it:
“Inspired by the iconic 1960s Jensen Interceptor, JIA’s first-ever clean-sheet-designed product will be completely new from the ground up. The car will blend an elegant yet striking contemporary body design with an aluminium chassis and a bespoke V8 engine to ensure a fully analogue driving experience, delivering a thoroughly modern take on a luxury British GT.”
Interesting, right? Here’s the teaser image they provided:
That’s not a whole lot to go on, except I suppose it still has the general fastback shape of an original Interceptor. The proportions are much lower and in line with modern cars, which is a bit of a shame, I think, as one of the things I always liked about the original interceptor is its tall greenhouse:
That illustration, by the way, is from a Chrysler Brochure where an Interceptor was just snuck in, because that’s how cool they are. But back to this new Interceptor; let’s see if we can see anything else in that teaser image. Computer! ENHANCE!
Mmmm, there’s not much more there. I hope there will be something similar to the Interceptor’s bubble rear window and that shark fin-like C-pillar, but I can’t tell. There does seem to be some kind of reverse-rake detailing at the rear quarter?
The car is said to have an aluminum chassis and a “bespoke V8,” which means, I suppose, that they’re developing their own engine? Even the original Interceptor didn’t do that, as it used Chrysler V8s. Is what JIA is developing really going to be better than, say, a crate LS motor or something like that? I guess we’ll see.
I’d also like to note that this press release and photo were sent out under embargo, which I forgot about, so this is a bit later than you may have seen on other outlets, but why exactly was this embargoed? Is this really timely news you need at a specific time?
Oh well. I’m just excited to see how this turns out; the Interceptor is, in my opinion, a truly iconic car, and seeing a modern take on this car seems exciting to me, even though they’re going to build these in very low quantities and the chances of encountering one will be, let’s be honest, pretty low.
But still! A new Interceptor!
Top image graphic: Jensen International Automotive
Great to see the new vehicle coming that HAS petrol V8 engine and ISN’T stoooopid EV!
(Those of you unhinged EV-Fanboys wanting to blare at me, all of your stupid comments are cheerfully ignored.)
The restomods — which are eye-poppingly drool-worthy — apparently run £300k+.
Looks a lot like the Celestiq from the side profile.
Very cool car with one of the most cool-car names ever.
“What do you drive?”
“An Interceptor.”
“Like a Ford Crown Vic Panther-Platform Police Interceptor?”
“No, the cool one, a Jensen Interceptor.”
The Jensen vibe always felt like “A Mustang, but for grouse hunting on the moors with the lads from The Drones Club.” I find that really charming, remember stopping a few times at a dealer outside of Princeton NJ to admire their small collection of Interceptors in the 2000’s. But the obscure picture/rendering of the new one doesn’t convey that same cheerful vibe to me. Doesn’t look like it would do well on the moors at all.
Does that mean we can bring Clarkson, May & Hammond together again for a sequel of one of my favorite Top Gear bits?
https://youtu.be/qLp4FhDAfQk?si=J3sJKztSjrsub5RB
That’s another thing AI ruined for me: It’s back! It’s all new! And all that BS from the fake videos, stupid people share on social media.
Yeah, it might be real this time.. But even the real ones, like the new Renault 5, don’t really raise my pulse anymore 🙁
As a past owner of an FF, I can say that they were magnificent cars. So many firsts, AWD, ABS and run flat tyres Very quick thing too. The other first was to do with thirst. Yes the Jensen FF invented range angst. At best it would do around 12 miles a gallon (uk gallon) cog it and that dropped a tad, at full chat maybe 3 mpg. All the clever bits took up space, space that in an Interceptor was mahoosive fuel tanks. So a wonderful fast car that required a deeply geeky knowledge of petrol stations. If memory serves it was good for about a hundred miles between fill ups.
This comment above? This is why I read The Autopian. Well, that and for the late-night wrenching schadenfreude.
“Mahoosive” is my new favo(u)rite wo(u)rd now.