The newspaper article read - Jensen car buffs are gathering in Columbia (MD). This occurred last weekend. I went. For those of you that don't remember this British auto company, they built two dissimilar vehicles; the Interceptor & the Jensen-Healy roadster & GT version, some numbers of which were imported to the states from the late '60s to mid '70s. The roadster & GT featured a Lotus engine.
The Interceptor bears a lot of similarity to the SVX. Let me count the ways. Very limited production of around 6600 units worldwide over 9 years. BIG! 3700 lbs & a true 4 seater coupe. Luxury car that was produced at the wrong time ('73 gas crises). Funny windows, well, the rear window resembles a '60s Barracuda. Offered with an automatic tranny only. Oh - the drive train was 383 CID (in later years, a 440) Chrysler V-8 & Torqueflite box. Say what you want, this tranny's near bulletproof, compared to....uhh, other ones. Most were rear wheel drive, HOWEVER there was an all wheel drive version called the FF, ONE of which was at this meet! I doubt if production exceeded a hundred, & all were right hand drive. They also featured a primitive version of ABS. Two chrome 3 inch exhaust pipes poke from beneath the rear bumpers of these cars, & fartpipes they ain't. Them's fer real!
There were about a dozen of the various Jensens at the meet. One from Wisconsin, one from Ontario & even one from Nebraska. I got invited to the Saturday evening banquet, by the meet's organizer, who owns a very rare Interceptor convertible. Another SVXer, Bill (Calmone) & wife were there also.
Regardless of the car's origin, I find it comforting to note that most TRUE enthusiasts are friendly, informative & tend to welcome all car buffs into their community.
For some Jensen info try
www.geocities.com/jensenff/cotc.html
Ron.