Kevin Birch

SPWCC CAR PROFILE   Name: Kevin Birch
 
Club Member for  1 Years        
Make of car: Jensen
 Model: Interceptor  Mk 1
 Year:  1968
When did you first acquire it?:
I bought it in July 2014
Why did you choose this car?: 
It was the only one I could afford. I had a limited budget, and so a very   limited choice. This one turned up in France with not much left on the MOT,  so I got it at a good price, although it did cost me quite a bit to get it home.
How would you describe its condition on purchase?:
It was is an older restoration, in pretty original mechanical condition. The interior had been painted with white 2 pack paint by a previous owner, and the last owner had started to restore it, but hadn’t got it finished by the time I bought it.   
What is its current condition?
Mechanically:_Good     Bodywork: Fair  Paintwork:  Fair, it is an older restoration, so bodywork blemishes are now  showing through in some areas.
Colour:  Blue   Is that the original colour?:   It left the factory white, with blue interior
What do you like best about ownership?:
Just owning and driving a car like this always puts a smile on my face.
It has been a dream of mine to own one, after first seeing one when I was about 6, and I’m still living that dream. Also the noise of that massive 6.3 litre is intoxicating.
What do you least like about ownership?: 
 The fuel economy, I get about 12 MPG and it uses super  unleaded, with an octane booster, so can get expensive. But this is a minor down side, when it gives me so much pleasure.
What other vehicles do you have?: 
I run a Range Rover P38 as my daily drive, and have a Lotus Cortina Mk2 which I’ve owned since I was 18.  I’ve finally got round to restoring it, with all the bodywork hopefully being complete by this summer. . My son owns 1989 Mini 30, which we are restoring.
 Why did you profile this one?:
 It is the only classic I can drive. 
Give a brief history of the car before your ownership: 
As mentioned earlier I bought the car from Angouleme in France. It was a UK car, whose owner lived between Bath and Angouleme, and drove it there to be with his other cars, which included a Rover P6, Triumph Spitfire, Scimitar convertible and Jaguar SS100. I don’t have much history prior to this, but know it went to Cheshire, and Lowestoft, and have just found out the first owner lived in Farquhar Road East, Edgbaston, so I truly have brought the car home.
Give a history of the car since coming into your ownership:
Since buying the car, I have finished off where the last owner started, by completing the interior. This included re-colouring what was left to be done of the leather, re-veneering the centre console, recovering the rear parcel shelf in black vinyl, getting the correct ammeter, repairing the clock and finally installing the period correct Jensen 8 track stereo. It is now a very pleasant place to be, and the smell of the revived old leather is fantastic.
I’ve recently rebuilt both the front and rear suspension, which included replacing all the old rubber bushes with new poly bushes, and replacing anything that was past its best. The rear springs were stripped, derusted, oiled and then wrapped in Denso tape; the back axle de-rusted and painted. I enquired on getting some Selectaride shock absorbers, which were original fitment to the rear, as all the wiring was still in situ, but at a cost of £800 a pair for good second-hand units, I bought a pair of spax adjustable instead. I’ve overhauled the entire braking system, but they are still not that good, so will now be looking at a four pot front calliper conversion, to get them to work better. I’ve recently upgraded the cooling system, with Bosch electric fans, to replace the original Lucas units, and had the radiator re-cored with increased cooling capacity.
It has been in the local newspapers on a couple of occasions, to promote local events, and even appeared on a local TV news programme, again promoting the open day at Dartmouth Park. I’ve recently completed a 2000 mile round trip to Turin and back, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the model, and recreating the historic drive of the prototype from Turin back to the UK. This trip has been documented in our newsletters over a couple of months, and also in Classic & Sports Car magazine October 2016.
My car was featured in C&SC magazine in the November 2016 issue, and was asked to represent the Jensen Owners Club at the NEC classic car show.  
I’m now in the process of trying to locate the original owner, a retired cosmetic surgeon, who hopefully can give me a few more stories about the car. I’m intrigued to find out why he ordered a gallon of white Carr’s paint from Jensen, when the car was only 18 months old.  

Cliff Long

                                      
 Club member for 38 years    
DOB: 9/7/36
Make of Car: Austin    
Model: Light 12/4 Eaton    
Year: 1933
When did you first acquire it?
March 2013  
Why did you choose this car?
 I had always admired our president’s car.
How would you describe its condition on purchase?
Good all round.
What is its current condition?      
Mechanically: excellent  
Body work: very good  
Paint work:  OK.                    
Colour: Maroon  
Is that the original colour?
No was dove grey
What do you like best about ownership?
Very light to drive, even my wife can drive it.
What do you like least about ownership:
Cleaning the wheels.
What other vehicles do you have?
I no longer have any other old cars:I always had early cars, but now find them too heavy and my wife could not manage them.  
Give a brief history of the car before your ownership:
I don’t know much about the car in the later years, but the first owner used the car for extensive touring in Scotland for quite a number of years. I have a number of photos of the car from the period when it was new.