I
t hasrecentlycometo mynoticethat
despitean entireadulthood(whichhas
nowlastedratherlongerthanthechild-
hoodthatprecededit) dedicatedto classics,
andthepast20 yearsactuallyworkingin
the classic‘industry’(forwantof a betterword),
I haveneverdiscovereda barnfind.Thisseems
likea particularlygrandfailure,becauseI was
alwaysled to believethatit wasan essentialrite
of passagefor everyenthusiast.
If in all thattime,especiallywiththeaccess
andcontactsthatI haveenjoyed,youcan’t even
teaseouta dilapidatedA35froma shedin
Northolt,thereis no hopeforyou.Afterall,
MartinBuckleycanbarelypopoutfor a pintof
milkanda newspaperwithoutcomingbackwith
a projectcar thatsomeonehas offloadedon him
in returnfor a cartonof eggs.MichaelWare,
meanwhile,seemsalmostunableto openhis
frontdoorwithoutfindinghis gardenfestooned
withabandonedAustinSevens.
In anycase,thismonthI cameas closeas I ever
have.I didn’t findthe car (or rather, shell)in ques-
tion,nordid I list it on eBay, norwasI the firstto
identifyit (thoughI knewwhatit wasthe moment
I set eyeson it). I wasn’t eventhe onewhobought
it but,thanksto theinternetplayingoutthe
storyliveas themysteryunravelled,I at least
experiencedthe frissonof somethingspecialand
genuinelyunknownsuddenlybreakingcover.
It all startedin Octoberwithan eBaylisting
thatsaid:‘PossibleLamboghinijarmaraproto-
type???’Nowobviouslythatpiquedmy interest,
even beyond the spelling and grammar. I readof
therust-free,virginshell’s discoveryin an East
Sussexbarnwhereit hadbeenfor 25 years,in the
processwadingthrougheverypossiblecombina-
tionof the lettersJ A R A M A – jamarawasthe
mostfrequent – andthe sacrilegioussuggestion
that it would make a fine basis for a kit car.
ThenI lookedat the pictures,andsureenough
therewerea coupleof blokeswrestlinga mono-
coqueoutof asuitablyDeliverance-likeshed.
Exceptthatthiswasno Arajma,it wasa bloomin’
JensenF-Type.Amidall sortsof onlinewhite
noiseaboutwhatthemysterycarmightbe,
I knewinstantly. AndI couldn’t believemy eyes.
Thedemiseandwhereaboutsof thisaban-
donedInterceptorreplacementmightnotmean
muchto anyoneoutsideof marquecircles,butI
was bowled over that it had come to light in suchElliott
James
MISFIRE
COMMENT
circumstances.Afterall,Kelvin
Way veteransattestto no morethan
fiveof theWilliamTo wns-
designed bodies
beingbuilt.One
wascrash-tested
(it didn’t fareat
all well),onewas
builtup andthen
scrapped, and
twoare currently
with a Dutch
owner. Which
leavesoneother.
I excitedly
rushedto theJensenOwners’Clubwebsiteto
share‘my’discoverywithfellowloversof West
Bromwichiron.I wasreadyto regalethemwith
newsthattherewasa majordevelopmentwith
regard to the 1972 project that had apparently
beenslatedfor launchtwoyearslater. Naturally,
by thetimeI gotthereI foundthatthethread
aboutthefreshlydiscoveredF-Typebodyshell
wasalreadyon its thirdpage.Prettysoonmore
infoandpicturesseepedintothe mixanddebate
ragedover, well,everything,butprimarily
whetherit couldbe builtup intoa road-legalcar
as the G-Typeprototypehadbeen.
Then,havingputhis sleuthingskillsto good
use whileeveryoneelsenattered,clubchairman
Paul‘Lewi’Lewisannouncedthathe had
trackeddownthenewowner. Thoughthey
wishedto remainanonymous– for the moment
at least– it wasa long-termmemberandthe
F-Typewasin goodhands,eventhoughthe
buyerwasn’t surewhattheyweregoingto doDecember 2015 Classic&SportsCar 35‘A midallsortsof
onlinewhitenoise
aboutwhatthe
mysterycarmight
be,I knewinstantly
it wasa Jensen.
AndI couldn’t
believemyeyes’
withit. Theyaresure,though,thatit willbe
preservedandshownas a timecapsulerather
thanmolested.Cuejubilation.
Thatreactionmayseema bit OTT, butfor
somethingso enigmaticto reappearoutof
nowhere,haveits importance– equalin measure
onlyto its uselessnessas a car– immediately
recognisedandits futurequicklysecuredis a bit
special.Andtheprocesswasratherexciting.
A happyendingthen,andin a wayI wasthere.
Exceptthat,F-Typeor not,I stilldon’t havea
realbarnfindto my name.lliam To wns-Fromabove: F-Typeas
foundina Sussex shed;
43 yearsearlier, Jensen
waspinningitshopeson
theWilliamTowns-styled
Interceptorreplacement