Jensen isn’t much of a household name anymore, and that’s a shame. Aston Martin and Jaguar haven’t left much room for other British Grand Touring cars to cut through over the years. While Jensen was always small, it still made some incredibly cool cars that haven’t gotten the respect they deserve. Case in point, this Mark I Jensen Interceptor barn find is a rare and beautiful car that is still affordable. 

This Jensen Interceptor barn find is too good to pass up

This little late-’60s Jensen Interceptor may not be an ultra-rare Lamborghini or a badass old Dodge Charger, but when the Inceterceptors predecessor, the CV8, was one of the fastest four-seater cars in the world. Needless to say, the Mark I Interceptor comes from good stock. 

According to Silodrome, this generation Interceptor utilized remarkable Italian design and American V8 muscle to make quite the pretty conglomeration. The cars were known for being fast, beautiful, luxurious, and expensive. 

The Jensen Interceptor was a show stopper

The previous car, the Jensen CV8, was not pretty. In fact, people hated it so much that when Jensen decided to replace it, they turned to an outside design firm in Italy to make sure the incoming Interceptor wasn’t ugly – and it wasn’t. 

The resulting car is exciting and vibrant from toe to tip. The 1966 Jensen Interceptor not only looked great for the time, but it also carried its great looks through the decades. The design had a sense of timeless elegance that few cars have ever achieved. 

The Italian design isn’t the only thing Jensen imported. Jensen was a small company, and designing everything in-house was have been prohibitively expensive. Jensen turned to the Italians for its looks and Americans for its engine. As noted by Silodrome, Jensen had experimented with American V8s back in the 1950s. So they were familiar with the fact that these engines were affordable, mechanically simple, and easy to fix.

The unsung hero or British touring cars

By the time the Interceptor’s production ended, it saw a wide variety of big-block Chrysler V8s, culminating in the 440 cubic-inch monster V8. Jensen sold the Interceptor over four major model variations, the Mark I, Mark II, Mark III, and the FF. Although the bodywork and paint didn’t change all that much between these models, the underpinnings of each were a fairly different story. 

These cars were expensive to buy and own, given the huge motors and the gas crisis of the mid-70s. As a result, Jensen shut for good in ‘75. However, they continued to sell through stock into 1976.

What about the Jensen Interceptor barn find? 

The Jensen barn find seen here is one of only 923 factory-made right-hand-drive Mark I models made between 1966 and 1969. This car has had the same owner for 27 years who kept it stored in a dry barn in the most recent 20-years. 

Although the seller mentions that it is clearly in need of restoration, its rarity, along with its 6.3-liter Chrysler V8, makes this quite the barn find. For only $21,000, it is also quite the steal.

Cars like this show that not only are there still plenty of coll barn finds out there, but also you don’t have to spend crazy money to get something cool and rare.