Plans for new Jensen unveiled

We've always loved the Jensen Interceptor. After all, it was one of the two cars that got us into classic car hire in the first place. So at Great Escape Classic Car Hire were interested to read the recent article in Autocar with Brendan O'Toole, the man behind the proposed new Jensen Interceptor to be built in Coventry.

O'Toole runs CPP, a specialist low volume car manufacturer and supplier to top-end brands. When we originally heard of CPP's plans to revive the Jensen brand with manufacturer at Jaguar's famous Brown's Lane plant, we were somewhat sceptical. After all, plenty of people have tried and failed to revive Jensen over the years. Back in 1976 it was lack of scale and volume that killed Jensen. So we couldn't quite work out how CPP could make low volume manufacture economical.

O'Toole seems to have a plan. CPP already has a track record in low volume manufacture and has assembled a high quality suite of suppliers who can provide the specialist skills that it cannot economically provide on its own. CPP argues that by bespoking its products it can be viable for any production run between 1 and 250 cars. As well as offering this service to the automotive industry, it makes sense for CPP to also offer fully complete products to the end market in specialist niches based around desirable brands like Jensen.

In principle, this looks like a much more workable solution than some of the previous attempts to create pure stand-alone businesses. The question is whether enough people want to buy a Jensen Interceptor in the 21st century. We love them and there's no doubt that they still excude charm and character. But a new Jensen Interceptor will have to update the hairy-chested medallion man image that stuck with the car in the 1970s. In short, the new Jensen needs to be cool and desirable. Just as Aston Martin quickly discovered that James Bond won't sell cars for ever, CPP needs to make the Jensen Interceptor as good as it can be for the modern market, not a car that just rests on aging laurels.

We are very excited about the new Jensen and we wish CPP all the best. In the meantime, if you can't afford a new one or can't wait until it arrives, try the original - we have two Jensen Interceptors to hire from our bases in Yorkshire and Cotswolds. For more details call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.

Triumph Twins in Yorkshire

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has expanded its popular Yorkshire fleet with the additional of two iconic British sports cars. The two Old English White Triumph convertibles - a TR6 and a Stag - are available to hire on a daily, weekly or weekend basis.
The Triumph Stag and Triumph TR6 were very popular in the 1970s and remain sought after open top classics today. Both are perfect for a day or weekend away enjoying the stunning scenery and spectacular roads of the Yorkshire Moors, Dales and coast.
The new Great Escape Triumph Stag to hire in Yorkshire is a 1974 car finished in white with a tan leather interior and 3 litre V8 engine that emits a delicious burble. It is a full four seater convertible and is fitted with an automatic gearbox. The Triumph TR6 for hire in Yorkshire is an elegant 2 seater convertible with a manual gearbox and a 2.5 litre straight six engine.
"These two Triumph sports cars are in superb condition and ideal for a tour of the British countryside," says Graham Eason of Great Escape. "The TR6 is the perfect getaway car for 2 while the Stag provides open top wind in the hair fun for friends and family too."
The new cars are available to hire backed by Great Escape Classic Car Hire's transparent pricing package, which includes full 24 hour for every day booked, unlimited mileage, comprehensive insurance and full AA breakdown cover nationwide. Prices start competitively at just £175 for the TR6 and £195 for the Stag.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire is the UK's largest provider of classic and vintage sports cars for self drive rental. The company has a fleet of 50 classic cars based at 5 sites in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Shropshire, Suffolk and Worcestershire. For more details call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/.
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Beat the price rise

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has delayed the VAT increase by a further month but our prices must go up on 5th March. By announcing the date when we'll be raising prices we hope it gives our customers the chance to buy at 2010 rates.

Our prices for classic car hire are fully inclusive and therefore amongst the best value on offer. They include a full 24 hours use for every day you hire, unlimited mileage, full and genuine national AA breakdown cover and comprehensive insurance. Many of our cars have stared in film, TV, video and advertising.

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has the larges fleet of classic cars for hire in the UK. We have 50 vintage and sports cars ranging from the 1950s to 2000s available to hire from six UK locations. Each location is run independently by classic car enthusiasts working to systems and procedures set by Great Escape. So you have the best of both worlds - dealing with a small local company with personal service and the security of buying from the UK's largest classic car hire company.

For more information on Great Escape visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

The Jensen Interceptor is back (just ours that is)

Last autumn the Great Escape Classic Car Hire Cotswold site's Jensen Interceptor came a cropper on some armco, thanks to a wet road and powerful rear wheel drive. We got the car over to Cropredy Bridge Garage near Banbury, who specialise in Jensens. Now the car is back after major surgery.

There are plenty of Jensen Interceptors out there and the relatively low purchase prices that this sustains tends to mask the fact that this is a genuinely hand built bespoke car. Consequently, repairing the bodywork on a Jensen is a major task. The car also falls into the rare category of being a high volume handbuilt car, built by a company with constant cashflow problems. This means that build quality varies car to car and despite a programme of continuous cosmetic development by Jensen, the fundamental weaknesses of the car (which would have been expensive to rectify) remained, such as dodgy wiring (usually caused by heat soak) and poor quality ancillary components.

So when we knew that our Jensen Interceptor in the Cotswolds was going in for lengthy repair work we decided to invest in other improvements. The insurance work involved rebuilding the front suspension, respraying over half the car and rectifying various dents inflicted during the accident. In addition we had the rot fixed elsewhere on the car and fettled the engine and electrics. This work, which took several months to complete, cost in excess of £16,000.

Sure, we could have bought another Interceptor for that kind of money. But we need a reliable, high quality hire vehicle. This car has been on hire for two years, we know it inside out and we have continuously improved it. A new car would start without any track record - and no doubt would also need work in a year or two.

This experience, plus running Jensen Interceptor hire cars for 5 years and 60,000 miles, has taught us a few lessons, not just about these cars but hand built cars in general. Here goes.

1. Always use specialists - whatever the workshop manual says, these are handbuilt cars and every one is different. Specialists like Cropredy Bridge have seen most of the variations before

2. Pre-empt maintenance, don't react. We need reliable cars so we check and recheck and replace before failure. But it also saves us money by avoiding knock-on deterioration and damage

3. Buy a handbuilt car first and foremost on bodywork - it will always cost more to fix than anything else

4. Use good quality lubricants

5. Buy a carcoon - or use a dry and watertight storage unit (to protect the bodywork)

6. Agree a price for any major repair work before work starts - and regularly check up on it

7. Use it - Jensens hate lack of use

Perhaps these lessons are obvious, in which case they bear repeating. The Jensen is a very good classic car to own. But anyone buying one because they're cheap will get burned. Like the Porsche 928 (which we have also owned), the Jensen is a bargain, but only compared to an Iso or AC or Aston Martin. You can buy a Jensen for a fraction of the cost of one of those and get a car that is just as good if not better. But you need pockets just as deep as the Aston, AC and Iso owner.

For more information on hiring the Great Escape Jensen Interceptor cars based in Yorkshire and Cotswolds call 01527 893733 or visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/

Hire a classic Alfa Romeo Spider in Yorkshire

Great Escape Classic Car Hire has added a classic Alfa Romeo Spider convertible to its self drive sports car rental fleet based in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Easy and rewarding to drive, the silver Alfa Spider is the perfect weekend getaway car.
The new Alfa Romeo Spider for hire in Yorkshire is a stylish two seater convertible with good size boot, five speed gearbox and power steering. The car's appearance is based on the iconic Alfa Romeo Duetto of the 1960s, made famous by Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate. It is available to hire by the day, week or weekend from Harrogate. Prices start at £165 for 24 hrs and include full 24 hours use for every day booked, unlimited mileage, insurance for 1 driver and full UK AA breakdown cover. Until Christmas 2010 you can receive 10% off these prices by booking online.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire operates a fleet of 50 classic cars for self drive rental in the UK from locations in Shropshire, Suffolk, Worcestershire, East Midlands, Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and Dorset. The new Alfa joins Great Escape's existing fleet of three Alfa Romeo Spiders for hire in Suffolk, Worcestershire and East Midlands.
To find out more about the new Alfa Romeo Spider for hire in Yorkshire click here or call 01527 893733
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Great Escape with Sky TV

Great Escape Classic Car Hire recently took part in a macabre re-enactment of a brutal 1970s murder. Of course, it was all for the cameras and no animals or people were harmed. The film shoot for Sky TV's Crime and Punishment documentary channel told the story of a brutal 1974 murder of a young London man.
The producers were after authenticity and required a Jaguar XJ6 saloon as driven by one of the gang. Great Escape has the only non-white Jaguar XJ6 for hire in the UK and we were only too happy to help. We again provided the car at short notice, taking a brief by phone and email and delivering the car to central London the following day for the all-day shoot.
The Jaguar XJ6 was used to film the gang capturing the victim, arriving and leaving the murder scene and loading the 'dead body' into the back of the car. Fortunately the Jaguar's capacious boot and interior space was perfect for transporting the gang and the body, perhaps something the original criminals were aware of when they chose the big cat.
While William Lyons, who designed the Jaguar XJ6, may not rate this appearance as the pinnacle of the classic Jaguar's career, we felt the car helped the create a period feel to the film, particularly with its Sable and green colour scheme.
To find out more about the Jaguar XJ6 for hire in Yorkshire click here.

Italy vs Germany

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've decided to go to extremes this summer. The hot weather got us thinking about adding more classic convertibles to our hire fleet (we have always run short at busy times). When we started looking at suitable options our choice came down to two extremes - either an Alfa Romeo Spider or a Mercedes 300SL. Two very different cars that probably appeal to different people. So what to do?

Well, we ended up buying both. It has meant losing the Porsche 928 but once we started looking at Mercedes and Alfa Romeo cars we realised that both of these convertible are just perfect. They're easy to live with, reliable, easy to drive and stylish. Even though the Germans and Italians seem to have approach the idea of a stylish convertible from different directions, the end result is a pair of classic convertibles that achieve the same result - a great and entertaining day out.

We've bought a lovely Mercedes 300SL for our Yorkshire fleet - finished in metallic green with a cloth interior and automatic gearbox. It's the more leisurely, relaxed alternative to our new Alfa Romeo Spider, which we've added to our Suffolk fleet. It is a 1989 Series 3 'aerodynamica' car finished in metallic blue with a black interior and a manual gearbox. It is a 1600cc car running on carburettors - not as powerful as the 2000cc version of this engine but what it sacrifices in power it makes up for in smoothness and sweetness.

You can find out more about the cars on the Great Escape Classic Car Hire website or clicking here to view our Suffolk fleet or Yorkshire fleet. Or call 01527 893733.

Hire a MGB in Yorkshire

Great Escape Classic Car Hire, which has the largest choice of classic cars for hire in the UK, has added a 1964 MGB convertible to its self drive rental fleet in Yorkshire.
The red MGB two seater sports convertible is the latest addition to Great Escape Classic Car Hire's new Yorkshire fleet, which is based in Harrogate. The car is an early 1964 MGB with manual overdrive gearbox, classic 'crackle' dashboard and a tan interior. It is ideal for weekdays or weekends away on a self drive basis or for weddings.
The MGB convertible for hire in Yorkshire is backed by Great Escape's comprehensive hire package. This means that the price you see is the full price you pay - every hire day includes a full 24 hours use, unlimited mileage, insurance for 1 driver and breakdown cover.
Great Escape Classic Car Hire has the largest choice of MGs for self drive rental in the UK from its four sites in Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Suffolk and Dorset. The range of MGs for hire includes MGB, MGB GT, MGA and MG TD.
"The MGB is one of the most popular classic cars for hire in the UK," says Graham Eason of Great Escape Classic Car Hire. "Yorkshire is a great location for exploring some of Britain's best scenery and what better car to drive there than one of Britain's greatest ever sports cars?"
For more details on hiring the MGB convertible click here.