Back in 2009, former Hooniverse-now Autoblog scrib Alex Kierstein wrote a short post. He asked for some brave person to find a clean Jensen Interceptor, a 6.1-liter Hemi, and the gumption to put them both together. Now just shy of exactly ten years later, that vision is realized. Say hello to the Jensen Hemiceptor!
This one has a crazy story, and it actually stems from that initial Hooniverse post. It caught someone’s eye and they set out to build the car we’d imagined. A customer of a Montana fabrication shop wanted to make the Hemiceptor a real thing. This person already owned a clean Jensen Interceptor. The car had spent its life in Arizona before moving to Montana. The fabricators at Butch’s Custom Fabrication started the process of melding a Hemi between the fenders of this British classic.
Life doesn’t always work the way you hope though… the person who started this process got cancer. They fought, but cancer is a dirty fighter and won this round. The build was purchased by the shop, which continued the work. And now the job is done and the car is complete. Here’s the breakdown of everything that’s gone into this build:
The Breakdown
The donor Jensen had lived most of its life in Arizona so was essentially rust-free. Tear-down of the car included magnetic induction heater removal of a dumpster-load of undercoat which had been slathered everywhere (including the complete engine compartment) from the factory.
Once that was done, we got to work building the car which features:
- 1970 Jensen Interceptor Mk. ii, sandblasted, modifications made, ultimately Lizard Skin coated inside and out
- Chrysler 6.1 L. Gen. III Hemi engine blueprinted with Wiseco forged pistons. March Engineering serpentine belt drive, Milodan oil pan, custom built stainless steel headers
- Chrysler/Mercedes NAG 1 5 spd. automatic trans built by Southern Hotrod managed by PCS 2000 controller adapted by Russell Drake of Sound German Engineering. Mercedes W-125 shifter wired by Russell Drake
- March Engineering serpentine belt drive with Sanden AC compressor and an alternator rebuilt locally to replace the Chinese bearings that came in the March unit
- FAST XFI 2.0 fuel injection with 85 mm. Big Mouth throttle body, direct linkage control (not fly by wire).
- FAST XIM ignition firing MSD coils
- Griffin alloy radiator with electric fans, separate auto trans cooler with Chrysler thermostat in the cooler lines
- Art Morrison Sport IFS complete front suspension with Detroit Speed Engineering steering and Strange coilovers
- Factory Five IRS rear suspension, Ford Racing 8.8 diff, 3:55 TractionLok center section, Factory Five axles, Strange coilovers
- Ididit adjustable steering column, MotoLita steering wheel
- Rick’s Tanks stainless steel fuel tank with pump, stainless AN fuel lines
- Wilwood brakes, 6 piston in front, single piston in rear, powered by ABS Electric master cylinder and booster
- Vintage Air AC/Heat
- Pairing of Ron Francis chassis wiring and FAST XFI ECU wiring harnesses
- AutoMeter electronic guages backing rescreened Jensen Smiths guage faces
- Dakota Digital solenoid door and hatchback locks, new window motors
- New leather interior, fully re covered dash
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Interior and exterior frame are completely Lizard Skin coated with ceramic and sound deadener.
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The car is just finished, every component of this car is new or rebuilt, body completely restored in Lamborghini Champagne Grigio paint
Full history of the build
Hemi in the bay
The builder says the car is “terribly fast” and that they’re still dialing in the suspension. But the bulk of the build is clearly done. Now the car can be driven and celebrated in the manner in which the original customer intended. It’s certainly a bit sad they’re not around to see it, but this story and their idea will live on while barking out a sonorous Mopar song from beneath the skin of a classic British beauty.
Much more info can be found here: https://hemiceptor.com/
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