KEEPERS
Jensen Interceptors are a Duxbury family favourite, and Stephen has owned his incredibly low mileage car for nearly 29 years
STEPHEN DUXBURY YORKSHIRE
‘My dad owned two Interceptors in the Seventies —a blue one, followed by a yellow one. I grew up around them and it ultimately sealed my interest in Jensen. My uncle also owned a Jensen FF from new, which featured in a published set of Jensen FF books —only 320 FFs were made.
‘Dad’s third Interceptor was bought from Huddersfield in 1995 with just 11,000 miles. It was unlike him to make a spontaneous purchase, but with him doing well selling property, he decided to treat himself —I still have the clipping from the original sale advert.
‘It was an incredibly clean example —too clean to sell —so rather than eventually parting company, he passed it down to me. At the time, I had a 1973 MG Midget, but my interest in the Interceptor prevailed, and my father, encouraged by this, suggested giving it to me in exchange for the money I got from the MG. Over the years, it’s needed very little. Abit of paintwork was required around the wheel arches and the front bumper, which were a bit rusty, and there are a few pieces needing to be done now, but I prefer the patina of a used car.
‘I reversed into a post five years ago —a truck came around a corner and I backed up, but I never saw the post. I scraped the wing and damaged the bumper, and it took some time to find someone who could panel beat it rather than resort to filling it.
‘I’ve been amember of the Gay Classic Car Group (GCCG) for 21 years now and I take the car to some of its events. It also won first prize in the bronze class at a Jensen Owners’ Club concours weekend 10 years ago, and while it wasn’t gold or silver, there were still 21 cars in the class. I was chuffed to bits, but I did spend about two weeks getting the car right —I didn’t want to see car polish ever again after that! ‘I just love driving it.
She’s an old girl —she squeaks, rattles and rolls —but even by today’s standards she’s still quick and the soundtrack from the engine is fabulous.
‘I actually had a Webasto sunroof fitted to it about five years ago, too. Quite a few Interceptors were fitted with sunroofs. The car can be a real sweat box at times and the sunroof just makes a massive difference —especially because the air conditioning doesn’t work. There's a leak at the back of the dash somewhere, but it’s quite expensive to repair as it needs anew compressor, and I don’t drive the car enough to warrant the bill.
‘The GCCG does the ‘Eurotour’ every five years, which is a weekend of travelling and socialising. There were around 200 of us last year. This year we’re off to Switzerland, but I’ll probably take my other car —a Bentley Brooklands. It’s just a bit more
