Registry: 1974 Jensen Interceptor

The Jensen Inteceptor convertible is a pretty rare beast with only around 500 made. I'd been looking for a while and bought what appeared to be the best and most original example I had seen for sale. I bought the car from the previous owner online and although he loved classic cars and having had the Jensen restored, he admitted that he didn't understand the mechanical components at all. After buying it, a friend and I flew down to drive it from LA to Oregon with the idea that it would be an adventure. It turned out to be far more of an adventure than we had planned. We had to hotwire the car to get it out of the owner's garage as the ignition switch was failing (something the previous owner hadn't realized he was having problems with). Next we had vapour lock problems that made it almost impossible to get over the grapevine and escape LA. Once we cleared the top of the grapevine, the AC compressor and clutch siezed, despite being turned off, forcing us to cut off the belts to proceed. As the belt runs the alternator that left us running on battery power alone. In the first day of driving it home we only made it 109 miles. With a spare battery we made it to the bay area the next day and arranged to get the AC compressor fixed and relocate the electric fuel pump to solve the vapour lock issues enough that we could make it further. Electrical problems left us stranded just north of Eureka the next morning and we ended up towing the car the rest of the way home. Although cosmetically restored, with a clean straight body, decent paint and a new interior, there are electrical and mechanical repairs that have to happen before this car is really driveable. At least the most expensive stuff is already one!