Not a Rover, but...

Last month's Practical Classics had a short buyers guide on the Interceptor. They claim that good bumpers are like hen's teeth costing 1000 pounds each to replace. Looking at your photos, that puts you in profit before you even get started.
It's not all good news though, they warn against taking on a project with bad or missing interior trim as a full retrim would cost many thousands.
Their price guide started at 3500 pounds for a car that's worth saving, up to 25000 for "Condition 1".

In your position I'd buy the car like a shot, but I'd try to be realistic enough to accept that if the worst comes to the worst I might end up breaking it up and selling the parts. I certainly wouldn't promise the seller or myself that the car will definitely get restored.
 
When I was a callow youth, I very nearly bought a rather lovely, red, Healey 3000 MkIII. A bit of me still wishes i had done so, but realistically I didn't have the wit or facility to look after it then and some awful accident would have befalen it.

I think this Jensen is somewhat in the same category. If you were already confident in getting to grips with rusty bodywork, lead filling, major wiring events etc etc, then it might be a realistic possibility. Lilkewise if your cheque book would stand the strain of paying someone else to do so. I think the thing that scares me most about the pictures you've posted of that car is the clear evidence of corrosion coming through immediately against the front and rear screens. This is a coach built car. On a P6 the screens are loosely founded onto a nice deep rubber. Here they are tightly fitted to the pressing. Any welding errors here will result in a non fitting screen - or worse a cracked one. Similar considerations apply with everything else! Bringing it back to condition requires an order of magnitude more skill than a P6.

Buy that P6 with a clear conscience!

Chris
 
I love the wheels on the p6, what are they ? The interior looks very clean. If I were there and had the space I would buy the interceptor and store it away for another day. Then buy the p6 as it looks like you could( buff that one up no problem). John candy, planes trains & automobiles. Sorry.

I do like them wheels thou :)
 
Alan, I'd say that 3500S that you've seen looks to be complete and fairly easy to get back on the road. It's also got Magstar wheels on it which are pretty rare so it might be worth buying for them alone.

Is it possible for you to drive the P6 at all?

Regarding the Jenson vs P6 debate, it sounds like you've set you heart on looking for a nice P6, but then stumbled across an Interceptor by chance and whilst it's nice/interesting/cheap/different, it's not what you were looking for originally so you might find the novelty wears off quite quickly.
 
You say your an amateur at best, well that's me as well. As has already been said the p6 is fairly easy to work on and you can do alot of it yourself. The Jensen is a different case altogether. To me it's a no Brainer. Has to be the p6. In a few months time you will have a stunning V8 headturnee that you have done lot on yourself. Or a Jensen still in a lock up in bits and be skint. Easy for me. Either way good luck.
 
Speaking only for myself, and assuming money was no object, it'd be the Interceptor in a heartbeat. But if money was no object, then I could have the Rover as well...

The Jensen is unquestionably the greater opportunity, and at $1500 you're practically stealing it. But it would unquestionably be the greater burden. Could I pass it up, even in my present circumstances? I'm going to lose sleep tonight after reading this thread, puzzling over the dilemma on your behalf!
 
Are you looking for a car that you can be driving in the near future or a project to keep you busy well into your retirement. That Rover looks like a very sound car and an easy fix. I'll bet a really good clean will work wonders on it. The Jensen, while undoubtably a more exotic and valuable car will cost you many many thousands of dollars and hours before it is even close to useable condition.
Easy choice for me. (but then, I am somewhat single-minded :LOL: )
You could, however buy the Jensen and sell it on for a decent profit on Ebay without so much as lifting a spanner. It might even pay for the Rover.
 
I remember servicing a customers one at my Dads Garage back in the day. We used to use the pit to get to some of the spark plugs :LOL:
Great cars though 8)
 
It's been really great reading all of the input and suggestions from everyone (even the ones that tweak my mind)- thanks.

I think if this car had come along after I had learnt/honed/perfected my skills I would jump at the chance. Unfortunately, I haven't had that chance and the Jensen might be a little beyond me. That doesn't mean I have given it up - my mind is working overtime to try and figure out how to have my cake and eat. As I see it, there's only one problem - and she probably won't like being referred to as a "problem." The money is tight, but a $1,500 Jensen would be worth missing a lunch or two over, and some might say it wouldn't do me any harm to miss a couple of dinners as well :shock:

I have been back to look at the Jensen and I don't see it as being too bad. The interior is taken to pieces - but the chap that owned it was working on the wiring and I have been told that all the parts are present in the garage. The same with the interior.

There are a few troubling areas on the body, but having returned and looked at them again I think they can be put down to trapping moisture with an inappropriate car cover. There doesn't appear to be bubbling or rot around the windscreen and most of the body seems blemish free.



The major areas that are impacted are where the cover was in direct contact with the body - the roof under the vinyl is suspect, but that is an area that the cover was in direct contact with, so over time, whenever it rained you had a heavy, wet canvas cover holding moisture on the roof. The other area is the channel between the front of the bonnet and the body - again, this is an area where the cover is in direct contact, so when it rained the moisture was able to collect in the channel and sit there and do its dirty work.

I really am no expert, so anybody that has thoughts on the real telltale signs please let me know. There are places where the paint is chipped away - it seems to be really thick paint - is that usual? I know they are hand built, but would that lead to a skim of filler to account for the thickness, or is that a sign to turn tail and run?

The long and the short of it is that I am still trying to figure out a way to get my 3500S and the Jensen.

I had planned to make the 700 mile round trip this weekend to view and hopefully buy the NADA 3500S I found. Those plans have changed - the seller has a pretty extensive collection of cars and is now selling some of them off to make room and generate funds. The 3500S is behind several non-runners and he hasn't had a chance to get to it yet. They've had pretty foul weather in northern California for the last few weeks and he hasn't been inclined to crawl around in the rain trying to sort everything out - it gives me more time to make plans, but I am beginning to get impatient as I want to find out if it's as good as it looks, or if it's a bag of spanners - I want to end my search or continue it.

Anyway, more on the Rover hunt and the Jensen later...
 

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Let nobody get me wrong - I treasure my Rover. But my imagination was captured by the Jensen Interceptor as a boy; maybe on no sane basis, but the allure has stuck. Even the name sounds terrific. I were in a position to do so I'd have one. If I were a rich man I'd maybe even attempt to make a go of the rare and exotic FF version.

Not far from my office I frequently see a silver Interceptor parked at a premises - perhaps the boss's toy? I always dribble as I drive past it. I haven't heard it run yet, but I bet it sounds great. Maybe one day I'll pluck up courage, stop, and go enquire about it. Doing that once got me a ride in an Aston DB5. Now that was a machine...
 
That silver interceptor is probably the same one I saw the other week, 1975 Jensen interceptorIII, belongs to an employment consultant company owner, it has had a few 10's of K's lavished on it. Nice car.

Graeme
 
Bound to be the same one. There can't be too many silver Interceptors getting around Christchurch. Lovely car. The Interceptor seems to deftly walk a thin line between grotesqueness and sheer beauty. No denying the 60s purity of the shape though. A lot of the most beautiful cars ever made (at least in my humble opinion) seem to date from the 60s.
 
The 1960's were a good era for cars right up to the mid 70's. Yes pretty sure it will be the same one, there are not many of them about in CHCH only one I ever used to see on a regular basis was Angus Taits orange one which he drove till the day he died, definatly not my cup of tea at all, to my mind misproportioned neither fish nor fowl sort of car, unlike the P6.

graeme
 
Something in me hates the Jensen Interceptor from the B pillar back, that awkward rear design for the side window, that big stupid hatch. Urgh.

BUT

Big stupid V8 and a British body, you would have girls throwing their panties at you as you cruised along.

I'd but it, if only to flip it again for more money which in turn, would give you more money for a Rover or any other project...
 
Buy the Jensen if you can , I can't see you'll lose money on it , even if you only store it for a couple of years
More fun and better than money in the bank
 
ewokracing said:
Something in me hates the Jensen Interceptor from the B pillar back, that awkward rear design for the side window, that big stupid hatch. Urgh.

BUT

Big stupid V8 and a British body, you would have girls throwing their panties at you as you cruised along.

I'd but it, if only to flip it again for more money which in turn, would give you more money for a Rover or any other project...
Click to expand...


if thats true i WANT ONE NOW sssssshhhhhhhh dont tell er indoors
 
I have found out some more information about the Jensen - sadly, it just makes me want it more... However, having just acquired my burnt out shell of a NADA I am lacking on creative arguments to convince the good lady - before anyone suggests it, I don't think the panty throwing thing will sway her :?

The original color is a wine/burgundy - I picked off some of the red and found this colour lurking beneath - the red is a pretty average paint job when examined closely. The car has been in the same family for the last 32 years, before that it was in the hands of the previous owner for 5 years - in other words, it appears to be a true California car with only three owners... I would hate to see it go to someone else, as clearly I deserve to own it

Thinking hard :idea:
 
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