Jensen Interceptor History

The Interceptor that made Jensen famous arrived in 1966, replacing the in-house-styled C-V8 with an elegant body designed by the Italian carrozzeria Touring and largely built by Vignale. Its defining feature was a huge wrap-around rear window that doubled as a hatch, an early form of liftback. Beneath the steel body sat big-block Chrysler V8 power and a TorqueFlite automatic — making the hand-built Interceptor fast, refined, and effortless.

Early cars used the 6.3-litre (383 cu in) Chrysler V8; from 1971 the 7.2-litre (440 cu in) big block took over. A 2-door convertible joined in 1974 (267 built) and a fixed-roof coupé in 1975 (only 60 made), both rare today. Around 6,408 Interceptors were built across the run at the Kelvin Way factory in West Bromwich before Jensen collapsed in 1976.

The Interceptor name had been used once before, on a small-volume Austin-engined Jensen coupé built 1950–1957; the 1966 Chrysler-V8 car is the one that defines the marque. Its blend of British craftsmanship and American muscle, plus that glassy fastback profile, has made it an enduring classic.