Goodbye to Interceptor ownership

[Van833]

It looks like my 3 years of Interceptor ownership is over. A local classic dealer has agreed to buy it. I am sad that I have no regrets, even though I am selling it for a little less than I paid for it. I decided I could not live with its temperamental character.
Van
Interceptor 111

[Martin R]

Sorry to hear that its temperamental character won the day
After two years, you'll probably find that the next owner won't have any issues at all...

[Van833]

The last straw was it stalling in traffic jams during the intense summer heat. The car itself was not overheating though. I have several classic cars and was finding myself using it far less than the others, whilst at the same time having the most money tied up in it.
I want a car I can use whenever I want without me worrying about it.

Van

[johnw]

I think you made a good decision if you feel like that about it: are using it less, and it is $$$ sitting there. If you wanted it to perform like an SP you would have needed still more $$$ in it. I enjoyed my first Jensen most, it went really well and I had little tied up in it which really added to the fun with a classic.

[Van833]

I think you made a good decision if you feel like that about it: are using it less, and it is $$$ sitting there. If you wanted it to perform like an SP you would have needed still more $$$ in it. I enjoyed my first Jensen most, it went really well and I had little tied up in it which really added to the fun with a classic.

I am happy I made the decision. I didn't want it to perform like an SP, I wanted it to be like I imagined a 7.2 V8 would be. My Jaguar 3.6 is quicker, as is my 500SL and 928-I know all of them are 80s cars, though. However each has a much smaller engine. The Jaguar being half the capacity.

[Keith]

The Jaguar being half the capacity.

Not sure what point you are attempting to make?

My Astra GTC is as fast as an Interceptor and gets 50 mpg. But it's not an Interceptor.

[Grant]

I wanted it to be like I imagined a 7.2 V8 would be. My Jaguar 3.6 is quicker, as is my 500SL and 928-I know all of them are 80s cars, though. However each has a much smaller engine. The Jaguar being half the capacity.

I guess you probably had a later 440 low compression Mk3 Van.. Early 440's with the high comp engines or a Mk2 with high comp 383 would always impress anyone.. but it seems everyone who want's their 1st Interceptor always wants a Mk3 and ends up with a later low comp one and will always say the same .. it probably wouldn't have taken too much to sort your issues out.. making it a quick reliable one.. but.. you have made your decision and I wish you well with your direction as sad as it is .. They are the most beautiful cars and in my opinion totally un-comparible with the cars you are comparing them against... you do your thing Romeo .. Farewell Van

[johnw]

OK, taking extremes, according to Autocar, my VW Lupo 3L (1.2 TDI), is faster than a V12 Rolls Royce, both 0-60 and top speed, is 1/6th the cylinder capacity, 1/4 the number of cylinders, and uses almost 10 times less fuel! Technically, since the RR (pre BMW) Bentley VW merger, they are from the same manufacturer! The Lupo is also 19 years old!

Grant, by the "looks" you have got a manual gearbox and a high compression motor! It is all about beautiful looks!

[RockyUSA]

I don’t think he’s complaining about performance, per se, (at least not in the first posts).....

I thought that he was disgruntled with his own car’s reliability.

That’s a whole different can of worms.... I can see that that could be frustrating, and if you don’t drive your car because you don’t trust it...,

Rocky

[MikeWilliams]

What a shame. I always found a big advantage of Jensens is the standard and low-tech mechanicals which mean mine was always very reliable over the 26 years I had it. I guess he just had a bad one or maybe one little problem which was never identified. Of course, for best reliability the car should be used more, rather than less.

Mike

[Van833]

The Jaguar being half the capacity.

Not sure what point you are attempting to make?

My Astra GTC is as fast as an Interceptor and gets 50 mpg. But it's not an Interceptor.

The point is that I was disappointed in the relative lack of performance compared to the other "GT" type cars I have. I know I could have got the Interceptor engine rebuilt with higher performance -but there was nothing wrong with the engine and I was not prepared to throw money at it to make it quicker.
The reason for selling is not the performance, but is that I found the car to be too temperamental for the kind of use I wanted to put it to.

[kenny38]

Hi, Van. I suspect the always appalling Grant is correct. You must have a good looking car for the local(?) classic dealer to buy her. He will no doubt fix the problems for the next keeper. The Jensen is not a boy racer car. It was designed for cruising motor ways at a good speed. Probably an early Ferrari could not compete with your Jaguar either. The point is you are (or have driven)driving an exclusive car/classic which has loads more appeal than the "egg boxes" turned out from the '80's on. I drive an SP fairly warmed up using a 770 holley (the 6 pack WAS unreliable and old and stuffed) but she can't quite match my wife's Benz C320 on a fast start. I suppose like the other cars mentioned it is probably half the weight of the Jensen. However I prefer the admiring looks and comments when I drive her and love her to bits. She is (like your recent S3 ) a timeless classic. Where I live we get temps in summer of upto 47C and niggley reliability questions have ALWAYS been easy to sort with expert assistance (not home handy man stuff which in my experience usually only gets it 80% right) Long after your Jag has gone to the knackers your recent Jensen will be still cherished, valuable and reliable. Eventually, I think, you will regret selling. Travel well. Kenny38

[Van833]

It is a good looking car, has always attracted lots of admiration and conversation and was lovely to be in and nice to drive. I did not expect a "boy racer" car. However, it would have taken a lot of money to get the 440 to be where I would have liked it to be performance wise.
Ultimately, it was the temperamental nature of the beast that made me decide to sell it. I have had it looked after by a renowned specialist that I trust and they suggested that although it was not an immediate concern, in order to future proof it, renewing the 45 year old wiring loom should be on my to-do list. I weighed things up and decided that I did not want to invest a few thousand more in the car as I already had a lot of money tied up in it. By the way, the 928 is 400kg lighter and the XJ-S 300kg lighter and the 500SL 350kg lighter than the Mk3.
Also, although not in the same exclusive league as the Interceptor, the XJ-S is being appreciated as a classic.

Life is too short to regret selling cars

Van

[johnw]

However, it would have taken a lot of money to get the 440 to be where I would have liked it to be performance wise.
Ultimately, it was the temperamental nature of the beast that made me decide to sell it. I have had it looked after by a renowned specialist that I trust and they suggested that although it was not an immediate concern, in order to future proof it, renewing the 45 year old wiring loom should be on my to-do list. I weighed things up and decided that I did not want to invest a few thousand more in the car as I already had a lot of money tied up in it. By the way, the 928 is 400kg lighter and the XJ-S 300kg lighter and the 500SL 350kg lighter than the Mk3.
Also, although not in the same exclusive league as the Interceptor, the XJ-S is being appreciated as a classic.

Life is too short to regret selling cars

Van

The XJS sounds fun, probably a manual box car (many 3.6's were). Having to pay a few K for rewire, and no doubt other items would have appeared during the disturbance, a fresh start with a new owner who might relish doing a rewire could be good for the car. I do wonder if simply skimming the original heads and manifold to bump up the compression would have woken the car up sufficiently to bring it closer to the original Mopar 440 Magnum of 68? So just skimming those items, nothing else, keeping stock cam and carb? Should be no more than $100, with DIY removal and install. I'm not suggesting this for Van, paying a specialist to do that would not make sense given new manifold and Source 440 head prices which bring further benefits. Is that what people did to these motors back in the day, and did it work out?

[cannonball]

A very cheap way to bring the old smog dog to life is as Jownw said remove the heads have quite a few thou removed from them and also the intake faces so the intake will refit,have a local machine shop do a decent valve seat and guide jobbie, buy some mopar performance porting templates and sit at the coffee table porting the head ports till the templates fit, gasket match your intake manifold to the intake sides on the heads, fit a little bit wilder bumpstick,keeping it hydraulic, either use the cast manifold or treat yourself to a aftermarket jobbie in aluminium = weightsaving as well as a touch of hp increase remember to gasket match this new sucker, fit a holley 750 vac sec carbie, buy yourself a nice new mopar performane ignition kit or fbo etc and tailor your curve to suit, some decent plug leads and another weight saver fit an after market water pump and housing, and I am pretty sure you will notice a nice difference in all round performance and it maybe cost you circa 2k, if you can do most all yourself,,