The Jensen Interceptor was a long and low British touring car in the 1950s. But most of you probably remember it with the funky shooting-brake design it had in the ’60s and ’70s, if you remember it at all. At the beginning of this year, a Jensen Interceptor comeback was announced. Today, it looks like it’s made some progress, promising to debut its design as an analog (yay!), V8 (yay!), track-only (boo.) model.
Here are the key nuggets on what’s being called the “Jensen Interceptor GTX” from the press release:
“Developed as an enhanced prototype build, the Interceptor GTX will establish the foundations for several future Interceptor variants, including roadgoing models and track-focused cars.”
“While the car heralds a new era and proudly bears the Jensen Interceptor name, the Interceptor GTX is not a ‘restomod’ nor a ‘continuation’ of any previous Jensen model. Entirely new from the ground up, it features a striking, contemporary, hand-built aluminium body, an aluminium chassis, and a supercharged V8 engine, resulting in the ultimate analogue driving experience.”
This GTX variant has reportedly been designed, engineered, and hand-built in the UK. How many of them there will be, and how much they’ll cost, is still TBA.
If you’re following this thread with some confusion, well, so am I. The original Interceptors were all GTs, not sports cars. The silhouette the brand has been showing off definitely looks more “touring” than “raw performance.” A track model doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. That is, until you factor in the regulatory aspects. Building a track car sidesteps all the hardest parts of car manufacturing—like bringing it up to safety, emissions, and other compliance standards for road cars.
So, while I’m sure the people selling it would never spin it this way, I think the only reason for a “track-only” Interceptor to come into existence is so the company can put something, anything, out and in motion.
I don’t mean to kick dirt at these guys, though—it would be awesome if Jensen really could bring a small-batch V8, manual, touring car to life, even in small-scale production. And the teaser silhouette images it’s shared so far actually look great. And while an old Interceptor would be a pretty dumb platform to build a track car with, Jensen’s new management is adamant that this is not the revival of the old Interceptor.
Consider me officially wishing them luck.
Have you spent much time in an old Interceptor? I’d love to hear about it. Hit me up at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.