Rooster

Jay Leno once famously described the Jensen Interceptor as being “like a Dodge Coronet that went to college at Oxford,” and, frankly, we can’t think of a better description of Jensen’s most beloved creation. Of course, it’s not hard to see where Leno was coming from, what with the Interceptor’s blend of classic British engineering and workmanship with bluff, no-nonsense power from a Chrysler V8, all underpinned by timeless Italian styling courtesy of Carrozzeria Touring.

It all adds up to a compelling mix, one us ‘car folk’ have found irresistible ever since the Mk1 first broke cover all the way back in 1966. For this reason, we at Retropower have long hankered after the chance to test our mettle by resto-modifying an Interceptor, and so we were more than relieved when just such an opportunity presented itself in the dying weeks of 2023. The car in question has been its owner’s pride and joy for many years and has been driven extensively, used for dozens of long-haul jaunts across mainland Europe—precisely the type of work the Interceptor was designed to do, in other words.

All of that long-haul mile-munching had started to take its toll though, and the upshot was that the lucky owner of this particular Jensen was surprised—and surprised in the best sense of the word—by the gift of a rebuild for his pride and joy, the work slated to be undertaken by a UK specialist. The story of how the Jensen came to move from their care to ours for completion is long and dull, and so we’ll spare you the details.

What we will say is that the car now resides at Retropower HQ and is in the midst of a complete rebuild, and that we’ll be progressing and building upon the largely excellent work already undertaken by the Interceptor’s fellow ‘keepers.’ Said work has seen the Jensen fitted with the ‘crate’ 5.7l hemi V8 from a Dodge Charger, a fitting decision as it keeps it ‘in the MOPAR family’ and pays homage to the Chrysler V8 this car would’ve initially sported.

While we can’t fault much of the work already carried out, we have felt compelled to modify some of it in order to enhance its owner’s primary concern, namely that the big Jensen be an immensely comfortable place to be. This is important, as the individual in question plans to continue using the car for continent-crossing, something he apparently does up to twice a month, so to say that the finished car needs to be cosseting would be to understate things massively.

To this end, we’ve taken steps to isolate the engine and transmission and plan on revising the way the Heidts Automotive front and rear subframes mount to the Jensen’s chassis. The rear subframe had been mounted via rose-joints, a great setup for a car designed to clip apexes and shave fractions off of lap times but less well suited to criss-crossing autobahns and the odd Alpine switchback. Bigger brakes and more capable suspension will also be factored into the mix for the same reason.

Our interior revisions will also be directed towards comfort as opposed to outright performance, albeit with the modifications demanded by imbuing a classic car with almost 500 bhp. These are still early days for this aspect of the build, so of course we’ll have to keep the specifics to a minimum, but you can expect an understated interior with a mix of grey, satin-finished wood and custom billet touches.

Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up-to-date with our progress on Project Rooster via our weekly video series, Retropower Uncut. New episodes ‘drop’ every Sunday night at 7 p.m. GMT.