It all started about 15 years ago...

I saw a picture of a Jensen Interceptor. The body lines just spoke to me. It was love at first site. Without knowing anything about the car, I decided that one day I would have to own one. Over the years, I forgot about it from time to time. Finally I decided to take the plunge and find one to buy.



May 2003

I searched the web and made a few calls locally trying to find one to take a look at. No luck locally. Not surprising either. Most people said "what's that" when asked if them might have or know of one. The Internet proved to be the best resource. I found one in Salt Lake City. Looked OK and I really considered flying out to take a look.

Found another in St. Louis. I was fortunate enough to have my Sister there for a while so I asked if she'd be able to go look at it and kick the tires. She drove it around a bit, enough to find out that the radiator fans work. The brakes were a little soft but effective. Looks like fairly new paint, very little rust. Just a few spots.

Decided I'd better go visit my Sister and see the car.

From her description and from what I could gather, I had pretty much already decided this was the one for me. The price was right and the body was straight. The rental car place was out of cars so I had to take something of an expensive taxi ride (my failure to plan ahead well enough) to Wilson Motor Company. Dennis the owner seemed to be a nice guy and was good to deal with. (I know about car sales people) He provided quite a few pictures and any information he could.

Had a couple of days in St. Louis getting familiar with the Jensen and trying to decide if it would make the trip back to Denver. Didn't get on it much for fear that it might break, but it seemed to be pretty tight. The engine compartment had some recent wiring done but wasn't a rats nest like some I've heard of. For now the gauges all work except for the temperature. Unfortunately the blower doesn't work, not sure what's wrong. My sister helped me do a few little jobs before the trip. She rebuilt the right tail lamp assembly and resealed it as best she could given the resources we had at the time. The braking system seemed a little soft but functional. The engine sounds sweet. I love the sound of a V-8.

That night I went to see her opening night performance of Tosca in the Opera Theater of St. Louis Production. My sister's web site is CynthiaLawrence.com. The car was garaged, and a good thing too. It absolutely poured that night. The next day was clear and dry.

I decided that was my chance to get on the road with good weather ahead of me. I was feeling pretty good about my chances of making it back to Denver. (about 900 miles). Packed up the back of the Jensen with all kinds of insurance. Tools, fluids, first-aid, that kind of stuff. Took off about 1 PM and headed west on I-70.

The ride was pretty decent, although I was sitting lower than I would have liked. Aside from a slight clunking noise in the right front suspension area, the car felt very solid and smooth. Nice to drive a V-8 again. The clunking is from the missing A-arm washers. Soon to be replaced. Even upwards of 90 MPH the Jensen felt smooth and even. Didn't push much past that not being familiar with it yet. All in all an uneventful first day. I got tired and stopped in Abeline Kansas for the night. Pretty quiet in this town considering it was Memorial day.


The next morning I got started at about 8:30 with a call from Judith and my father. They were driving east from Boulder on their way to St. Louis. We met in Colby Kansas and had lunch.

Still enjoying the ride home. Stopped to get gas in Quinter Kansas. Mostly a place to cross the Interstate and get gas. A van pulled up behind me at the station. The driver got out and asked where I got the Interceptor. Apparently he was a fan of British steel. We talked a bit. Just goes to show you never know where you'll find someone familiar with a Jensen.

Made my final pit stop in Limon CO. Had to wake myself up just a bit. The car is starting to show signs of altitude sickness. Loading up quite a bit. And if that's not bad enough, at this altitude, and with the gas blend here, the fuel boils in the float bowl and makes restarting difficult.

Almost home. I stopped at Mile high Harley Davidson to see if a friend there would know anyone who would do a good job jetting the carb. He did. We talked about it a while and setup a time for me to drive out and get this done. Unfortunately, he lent his carb stuff to someone but couldn't remember who. So now I'm back to finding someone to rejet.

Arrived home about 4:30 PM on Wed May 28th. The car was hot and tired. Me too. Decided it was time to stop driving for the day. Did I mention I love the sound of that V-8?