V8-powered Jensen Interceptor could be making a comeback, again

The Jensen Interceptor could be making a comeback after UK-based Jensen International Automotive (JIA) issued a teaser image announcing plans to build a V8-powered GT car in “ultra limited numbers”.

There’s no word yet on when production will begin, nor on pricing or export plans to markets including Australia.

Jensen is best known for the Interceptor, an Italian-designed, British-built grand tourer produced between 1966 and 1976. It was offered with US-sourced Chrysler 6.3-litre and 7.2-litre V8 engines.

Around 7000 Interceptors were produced globally, most fitted with automatic transmissions. According to the Jensen Car Club of Australia, Australia was the largest right-hand-drive export market, with sales estimated in the hundreds across all versions.

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While standard Interceptors were rear-wheel drive, the FF (Ferguson Formula) variant featured a pioneering permanent all-wheel drive system developed by Ferguson Research, predating the 1980 Audi Quattro by more than a decade.

In releasing the teaser, JIA – which has specialised in restoring original Interceptors since 2010 – said the new GT will be built on an aluminium chassis and feature bodywork closely resembling the original, although it stopped short of officially using the Interceptor name.

The teaser image reveals an interpretation of the 1966 Interceptor’s distinctive hatch-style and curvaceous rear window, though the rear windscreen appears more conventional, paired with a long bonnet and sweeping roofline.

Like the original model, JIA says the new car will be built in the UK, but Chrysler power won’t necessarily return. Instead, the company has described the engine as a ‘bespoke V8’, without confirming its origin.

JIA has previously fitted Chevrolet LS3 small-block V8 engines – used locally in Holden Commodore and HSV models until 2017 – under the bonnet of its restomod Interceptors.

It isn’t the first time the Interceptor name has been revived since production ended in 1976. The Interceptor S4 was built between 1983 and 1992, followed by the Ford Mustang V8-powered Jensen S-V8 produced from 2001 to 2002.

In fact, the 1966 Interceptor was itself the name’s second outing, following the original Jensen Interceptor coupe and convertible launched in 1949 with Austin six-cylinder power.

In 2011, Healey Sports Cars Switzerland Limited, which still owns the Jensen brand in 2026, announced plans for a new Interceptor. It showed off design concepts and planned to manufacture it in the UK’s West Midlands from 2014, but the plan never came to fruition.