H&H Classic Auction  @Pavilion Gardens | Buxton, Derbyshire
24th of April, 2024 13:00

1972 Jensen Interceptor SP
The only SP factory demonstrator built in 1972
Estimate
£20, 000 - £25, 000

Registration No: REA 45L
Chassis No: 131-4931
MOT: Exempt

1 of just 4 Jensen demonstrator Interceptors produced in 1972 and the only SP
The fastest ever Interceptor with more power and torque than a Ferrari 365GTB/ 4 Daytona or Lamborghini Miura P400SV
1 of only 25 Reef Blue cars built (from a total SP production run of 232)
Offered with extensive factory records relating to the cars use as a demonstrator
An exciting restoration project!
“If the Jensen SP can be summed up in one word, then that word unquestionably is “relentless”. This big, beautiful car seems to flatten hills, ignore bends, smooth out bumps and just keeps pounding on and on” (Sports Car Road Tests, Volume 9, 1972)

Rarer than the FF which preceded it as Jensen’s flagship, the SP was further notable as the fastest and most potent Interceptor ever offered by the West Bromwich marque. SP stood for ‘Six Pack’, a reference to the three two-barrel carburettors which sat atop the model’s high performance 440ci (7. 2 litre) V8. Sourced from Chrysler’s Mopar division, the engine boasted some 385bhp and 490lbft of torque and was thus some thirty percent more powerful than the 383ci (6. 3 litre) V8 used in previous Interceptors. The jump in performance from having two to all six carburettor barrels engaged could catch out the unwary to the extent it is estimated that some 25-30% of SPs were converted to a tamer Carter Thermoquad carburettor set-up in period. With more grunt than contemporary supercars such as the Ferrari 365GTB/ 4 Daytona and Lamborghini Miura P400SV, the Jensen was found capable of 0-60mph in 6. 9 seconds and 143mph by Autocar magazine. Almost a thousand pounds more expensive than a standard Interceptor III at £6, 976. 87, the SP came equipped with an 8-track stereo, air-conditioning, Sundym glass and Town & Country horns as standard. Visually distinguished by its blue badging and heavily louvred bonnet, most were specified with a vinyl roof covering. Never destined to be a long-lived model on the basis that Chrysler stopped making the ‘Six Pack’ motor due to ever stricter US emissions legislation, the SP was only in production from September 1971 until July 1973 but occupies a deservedly special place in Interceptor lore.

Chassis ‘131-4931’ was manufactured in 1972 as one of just four demonstration Jensen Interceptors for press and dealership use produced that year, and the only SP example of those four. Road registered on the 27th of September that year as ‘REA 45L’, the Jensen is finished in Reef Blue (1 of only 25 in this colour scheme), with accompanying factory records providing insight into the SP's early life with numerous loans to main agents and road tests with publications and journalists, all documented in the file, along with ongoing maintenance following the demonstrator use of ‘REA 45L’. Sold from the Jensen Motors fleet to motor traders Grange Motors Ltd. of Brentwood in late April 1973, the Jensen is then understood to have been sold into private hands. Still on the road in the mid-1990s with an MOT present from this time, shortly after the Jensen is understood to have been taken off the road.

Unearthed six years ago from storage, the restoration began with the matching numbers engine and gearbox stripped from the car but then progress sadly stalled. Offered now as a very exciting restoration project having been off the road for several decades, the matching numbers engine with triple carburettor set-up is still accompanying, as is an automatic gearbox. Supplied with a spare 7. 2-litre V8 engine and an additional set of alloys, the Interceptor is believed to be complete. The accompanying history file contains the aforementioned extensive factory records of the maintenance, loans and demonstration activities, an original handbook, workshop manuals, original sales literature, and a V5 document.