117/2603 & 117/2606 Sincar Jensen Interceptor

[Michelin]

Dear all,
My brother Fabrice and I bought two sincar jensen last year and we are very happy to be able to show our cars today.
We are french and we live in Lyon.
As we try to find parts for our cars we were in contact with Ulric from the Jensen Museum and he proposed us to write a feature. You can know more about the two cars in that very nice article.

http://www.jensenmuseum.org/vignale-int ... -vignales/

If you know more about the two cars, we would be very pleased to collect some informations and we thank you to take time to answer to that post.

Here are also the information given by Richard Calver :

Congratulations on acquiring these two Vignale Interceptors.

Both were built by Vignale for sale in Europe through Sincar. The Jensen factory in England had nothing to do with these cars other than supplying the chassis and drive trains in the form of what is called a "motorized chassis". They are otherwise entirely an Italian creation with bodies built by Vignale, with trim and completion all done in his shops at Turin.

Vignale stamped the chassis plates with the car's engine number rather than the chassis number. Maybe this was because the plate was located in the engine compartment, or maybe it was the Italian custom. He stamped many of the parts of the car with either the chassis number or his own assembly number, which are not the same.

You may find these numbers (or parts of them) on chrome trim pieces, the tabs on the bonnet which hold the support struts, the inside of the hatch beside the striker, on the door frames, or crayoned on the backs of trim pieces inside the car. A chassis number plate is usually welded to the front of the front cross member, visible as you look from under the front of the car. If you find Vignale assembly numbers, do let me know what they are as these are not recorded anywhere.

Both cars were sold new in France, being supplied by Sincar to Société France Motors, Paris. They were identical builds with Blue paint and Tan trim. The paint and leather are Italian and there is no formula recorded for either of those. I don't know when Sincar supplied them to the dealer in Paris but the motorized chassis were sent from West Bromwich to Vignale on 1 May 1967 (2603) and 8 May 1967 (2606). I assume they went to the dealer late in 1967.

2603 was given engine number 575/17B and 2606 was given engine number 582/17B.

2603 was plated as BZ 344 PN, last I heard. My earliest trace to its registration dates from 1974 and is 7644 WB 75. I have no details on 2606.

For a review of 2603, see Auto Passion No. 54, 9 October 1991.

The Vignale Interceptors are quite rare and unlike the British cars of the same era in terms of their components. As such, they are extremely difficult to restore properly because the correct parts are not available. All of their body panels are made by hand. This means that modern parts do not fit, but can be made to fit by a skilled man.

[Chris_R]

Superb!

[Martin R]

Amazing dedication!

[Michelin]

Superb!

Thanks Chris

[Michelin]

Amazing dedication!

Thank you

[montpellier]

Fantastic and interesting Jensen. Well done.

[Michelin]

Fantastic and interesting Jensen. Well done.

Thank you. I saw that you also own a Vignale car to restore and that you advise to make it done by Rejen. In our case, we decided to send our complete interior to rejen as they were able to find the correct italian leather. Concerning the body, it was in a very good shape (thanks to the former owner who decided to do the bodywork at a very early state) so we decided to send the body to be prepared for paint to a local carrossier who did a very nice work. We are looking foward to driving our car now but I guess it won't be before the end of the next year !
Kinds regards
Laurent

[cannonball]

Very nice, so in most all respects you two really do have an Italian GT Car

[Michelin]

Very nice, so in most all respects you two really do have an Italian GT Car

Thank you cannonball. Yes a very nice GT very closed to the original Italian design from touring !

This picture has been found on the blog of Nick Maltby (Draftsman at Jensen Motors)
http://www.carsceneinternational.com/

[cannonball]

[Michelin]

Here are some new pictures of the work in progress on 117/2606

[Michelin]

Here are some pictures of the very nice work done by Rejen on our interior.

[cannonball]

Rejen the Jensen masters they turn out some top quality cars parts and interiors etc, no wonder they are so busy, Email is the best form of contact with them,,

your car will be a stunner sir. love the badges ,,

[DPP]

A stuuning looking car well done and I love the interior colour and patina in the seats.

[Michelin]

Ulric from the jensenmuseum had the chance to see how work was proceeding on our interior at Rejen and he was interesting to see how they were working on his Vignale FF trim, just after each piece of ours. That way, they can be sure any Vignale nuances are put back into his interior since his Vignale FF was re-trimmed like a west one by former Jensen Motors head trimmer, Eric Ward,  in 1990.
 
He said Rejen’s work (and their attention to the very small Vignale details) is breath-taking. There was small nuances that he was blissfully unaware of, which their trimmer brought to his attention. Of particular interest on our car  is the Italian manufacture details on the foams under the leather, he had never seen these before. So, rejen are trying, where possible to re-use out foams, or repair, rather than totally replacing.