1969 JENSEN FF is available now at classified from Car and Classic Classifieds

One of the most glorious automotive sub-genres of the 1960s saw coachbuilt British cars styled with crisp Italianate flair and stuffed with mighty American V8s – there was the Gordon-Keeble, the Bristol 410 and, perhaps most thrilling of all, the Jensen Interceptor. With its 383ci big-block Chrysler V8 and design by Carrozzeria Touring, it’s rightly gone down in history as one of the true greats. 

That wasn’t enough for Jensen, however – they wanted to make this phenomenal machine even better, and the result was the car you see here: the Jensen FF. While largely resembling the Interceptor, it’s actually very different mechanically, the whole car lengthened by five inches to accommodate a four-wheel-drive system developed by Ferguson Formula (hence the FF moniker). And this was a properly mould-breaking machine: the world’s first ever non-all-terrain production car to have 4WD, it beat the Audi Quattro to the game by a full fourteen years. It was also the first production car to have anti-lock brakes, its Dunlop Maxaret system having been originally conceived for racing cars and aircraft. 

The FF is a rare beast too. Just 320 examples were built, the low numbers attributable to two key reasons: firstly, it was about 30% more expensive than the Interceptor. And secondly, due to the 4WD layout, it wasn’t possible to convert to left-hand-drive, and thus no export market. 

Today, then, an FF is an unusual thing. And finding one in this condition is even more unusual – over £40,000 has been spent on restoration, including £21,750 on a bare shell body resto, plus an engine rebuild, braking system overhaul, and refurbishment of the original interior. Believe us when we say that this is a very special car indeed.