Rare Jensen softop tendered for Sotheby's Sydney sale

Along with Aston Martin, the Jensen Interceptor was one of the great British GTs. Following a string of moderately successful sports and GT cars, the Interceptor made its debut in 1966, and in an era marked by fuel crises and declining demand for high performance cars, did well enough to survive until 1976. The Interceptor did enjoy a brief revival in the 1980s, and surfaced again this year.

Of the original Inerceptors, the MkIII was the last of the line, and was available in softop and hardtop forms. Of the two, the convertible is by far the rarest, with only 509 (including prototypes) built between 1974 and 1976. Of these, 80 percent were left hand drive for export to the USA. This makes right hand drive models extremely rare and now highly sought after.

Like the fixed roof version, the convertible featured a 7.2 litre Chrysler V8 engine and TorqueFlite automatic transmission. Thanks to its rigid body structure (a carryover from the fibregalss bodied CV8), very little additional strengthening was required, which in turn meant the convertible Interceptor offered almost identical performance to the fixed roof version. That meant a 0-60 kph sprint time of around 7 seconds and a 220+ kph top speed.

The Interceptor consigned for Sotheby's Public Tender sale is an early right hand drive example, built 3 May 1974, is in excellent condition with an extensive file of restoration work carried out. Originally finished in Havana Brown with beige interior it is now stunningly presented in silver with red burgundy leather interior. Sotheby's have valued the car in the $70,000-$90,000 price range.

Sotheby's 'Important Collectors' Motor Cars by Public Tender' event will talke place on October 15. This car, plus other consignments for this sale, will be on display at 7 Anderson Street, Double Bay NSW, between October 13-15.

Further details available at www.sothebysaustralia.com.au