You may have read about James' exploits in Classic and Sportscar magazine, where James is now Group Editor, after some comments about people using their cars in the recent snow we had then I thought this would make a very interesting car of the month
This is what James has to say about his car:
It’s an age-old debate, use your classic in winter or tuck it up in a garage, pamper it a bit and prolong its life. I can see both points of view, but behaviourly I am compelled to the former.
I know that some will balk at that, think that I am an unfit owner, but I can’ t help it. It’s a car. For driving.
Sorry if that offends some, but please respect my right to use a car just as I respect your right not to.
In fact, I admire and thank those people who are painstakingly preserving Jensens by using them less and treating them far better (and lavishing more money on them) than I do (or can). Not least because it partially takes the pressure off me so I can enjoy my car.
Sure the utopia is using the car AND keeping it pristine, but unless you are loaded or prepared to take it off the road for long periods, that simply isn’t possible. Not if you don’t have much time, either. And thanks to having too many children and too many classics, I don’t.
So, excuses out of the way, that is why my car (bought cheap and maintained cheaper) is not the shining example of the breed that it might be. There was a time, when it was temporarily looking quite shiny after a tiny bit of investment and when fuel was hitting £1.45 a litre, that I convinced myself it would become a high days and holidays car. That didn’t last long.
The problem is the Interceptor is just so usable: commuting in London in comfort, fine, cross continental cruising a doddle. Effortless (though pricey) power, superb brakes and all the appointment of far more expensive classics is a winning formula.
The problem is that, as far as classics go, it is the ideal winter car, too. So, at precisely the time that I should be hiding it from the ice, salt and grit, its luxurious overengineering is making it come into its own as a daily driver. Furnace of a heater, heated rear screen that actually works, powerful two-speed wipers. And when it does snow, the auto ’box means I can usually ‘creep’ over it without using the throttle enough to take any risks.
Besides, why would I not want to use it all the time? The Interceptor is a car I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid. Way back in September 1998, I wrote in Classic & Sports Car: ‘For me… the Jensen Interceptor will always be an icon. It was as breathtaking to see this goldfish bowl fly past Dad’s ’73 Audi 100 as it must have been to be suspended in the vortex of disbelief left by a Gullwing Merc as it passed your Morris Oxford in 1954. Ever since, regardless of road-test or rationality, I have wanted one.’
It was almost a decade later that that dream came true. My “well-used” Mk1 set me back £3500 and, even doing much of the works myself, has cost more to run since then than any classic I have ever owned, with the prospect of more big expense always on the horizon. Yet, while many other classics have come and gone for that reason, I still have the Jensen. That says it all.
Though the odomoter is kaput at the moment, I reckon it has covered about 6000 miles a year in my ownership, and barely been off the road. That, too, accounts for why it is always being patched up rather than properly restored.
My travels and adventures are well documented and I have recently updated the surviving Mk1s site (http://www.joc.org.uk/Interceptor_Mk_1/115_3079.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) to bring it up to date and fill in some gaps.
But the summary is that; having achieved my dream, I have no intention of not living it to the full. After all, who knows when I might wake up with a start and have to part with the Jensen because of bills (on it or elsewhere) that need to be paid. At the moment that threat looms larger than ever.
There’s loads wrong with it, of course, but there always is and I am shamed by the condition of the other examples I see, which partially explains its rare appearances at club events.
But, a word about the club. I have been a member of a great many car clubs over the years and this is easily one of the best. It says something when just wanting to stay part of the Jensen community, to be a fellow Jensen owner, is reason enough to want to hang on to the car.
That and the reaction it always gets. You cannot pull up without someone admiring even my Interceptor. Just last night I took it for a clean and the young lads in the hand car wash were taking it in turns to have their pictures taken with it. Long may that last.
To be honest, I am always very self-conscious about writing about my car (because I always feel there are far more deserving, far better owners out there who should be getting the exposure), but equally I will never say no if asked. (so you can blame Zac for this latest verbose outburst!).
Apologies if you are fed up with seeing my Interceptor or think that my ownership style brings the cars, the marque or the club into high-profile disrepute…. But I’m having a whale of a time.
