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LIVING WITH A CLASSIC

Living with an Alfa Romeo Spider

With the top down the Alfa Romeo Spider from Great Escape Classic Car Hire is a magical way to travel in any weather.  You sit low in comfortable, figure-hugging sports seats facing a dashboard and interior that has hardly changed since 1966.  A light clutch, slick gearchange, strong brakes and precise steering have always been hallmarks of the Alfa Romeo Spider and make it an easy car in which to feel comfortable.

Rear wheel drive and plenty of grip make the car great fun in corners, particularly fast, sweeping right-handers.  Our car is fitted with polyurethane suspension bushes that sharpen up the handling.

For a fairly small open-top sports car, the Alfa Romeo Spider is very practical, which makes it ideal for classic car hire.  There are two luggage areas – a large space behind the rear seats and a large, secure boot. 

The hood is one of the simplest to use of any cabriolet – just release two handles above the windscreen and lower it into the space behind the seats.  There is very little wind buffeting - even with the windows down – and clever use of the quarterlights can ensure that even the most expensive hairdo arrives intact.

But the Alfa Romeo Spider isn’t just about the summer sun.  For classic car rental year round the powerful heater keeps the cockpit nice and cosy in the winter and rain simply blows over the windscreen.

 Great Escape Classic Car Hire Alfa Romeo Spider boot

Living with a Jensen Interceptor

The Jensen Interceptor is a very easy classic car to drive.  In the ‘60s and ‘70s it was considered to be one of the most relaxing cars to be driven in – an impression that remains today.  If you or someone you know grew up in the '70s, the chances are that they had a Jensen Interceptor on their bedroom wall (classic car hire gift vouchers).  

Click here for prices, availability and booking.  Our hire package gives you 24 hours use for every day you hire iin the Jensen Interceptor.

Practical classic car hire - inside the Great Escape Classic Car Hire Jenson Interceptor boot 

Jensen Interceptor at a glance

  • Front independent suspension with double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic dampers and anti-roll bar
  • Rear live axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs, Panhard rod and telescopic dampers
  • 4,357 lb (1980 kg) kerb weight
  • Cost £7,754 in 1975 (about £115,000 today)

Inside, the Jensen Interceptor Mk3 is still a cosseting place to be, 30 years after the last one rolled off the Jensen production line.  Deep Wilton carpets, thick leather seats made from six hides and a vast spread of switches and gauges across the wide dashboard all speak of another world.  Close the heavy door, fire up the engine and revel in the silence.  In 1976 electric windows, mirrors and aerial, remote boot release, air conditioning, power steering and a radio cassette player were pure luxury. 

The Jensen Interceptor is a big car but it shrinks around its passengers.  Light power steering, an automatic gearbox, firm brakes and superb visibility ease the initial challenge of transporting two tonnes of metal along the road.  Such is the Chrysler motor’s torque that a heavy right foot is merely rewarded with smooth, seamless pursuit of the horizon.   Like the American muscle cars with which it shares its engine, it is a straight-line performance car.  But becoming a B-road banzai is hardly what the Jensen Interceptor is about. 

Jensen Articles

These links contain interesting articles about the Interceptor.

http://www.autoswalk.com/news/article/14/110.html

http://www.ridedrive.co.uk/newsitem-gtesc-jensen.htm

If you know of a good Interceptor article, please email us the link at graham@greatescapecars.co.uk.