CPP announces new Jensen Interceptor

Wed, 21 Sep 2011

Coventry Prototype Panels is on an impressive roll. Following heady investment from its Russian investor and a passionate drive from its founder and Managing Director, Brendan O'Toole, the coachbuilding specialist has expanded rapidly over the past two years, acquiring brands and forming partnerships.

The latest chapter in the ongoing development of the company aims to resurrect not only the Jensen brand, but also its most famous creation: the Interceptor.

The new car, set to publicly unveiled in late 2012, has been penned by Coventry-based design consultancies and echoes the original built between 1966 and 1976. Following a deal with the Jensen brand's owner, Healey Sports Cars Switzerland, the iconic four-seat grand tourer is scheduled for launch early 2014. It will be based on an all-new aluminium chassis and handcrafted aluminium body.

But that isn't all in the rapid growth of CPP. Back in July the company announced its intentions to acquire the Italian design studio Zagato, a move that the brand believes is integral to its strategy of becoming ‘a world-leading specialist automotive group based in Coventry.'

With that goal in mind, 2011 also saw the acquisition of Bowler, famous for its ‘off-road supercars', the Wildcat and Nemesis that compete in rally-raids across the globe. CPP will also push forward the build of Bowler's new EXR road car.

In 2010 it was announced that Spyker would be moving its entire manufacturing operation to the UK midlands from Zeewolde in the Netherlands, following a long-established partnership between the two brands. The signing of a ‘Memorandum of Understanding' between CPP and Spyker, following Victor Muller's attainment of Saab, will eventually see ownership of the Dutch supercar brand relinquished to CPP.

This rapid expansion also requires new facilities, something CPP already has covered with its intentions of redeveloping the famous ex-Jaguar Brown's Lane site in Coventry. The Interceptor will be built at the new Brown's Lane site from 2014.

All of this is happening in tandem with CPP's ongoing research and development for both the automotive and aeronautical industries as well as contractual builds for specialist cars such as Aston-Martin's One-77.