I have been driving the Islero for a few days now, enough time to get some
idea of what it is all about. Stop reading now if you don't want to be bored
by comparisons of the Jensen with the Islero.
I went to a free and somewhat chaotic Italian car event on Sunday -
everything from scooters, bicycles, Italian cars......there was even one
hanger-on in a Dodge Viper that came in with a bevy of noisy De Tomaso
Panteras. When someone asked me within hearing of the owner what that car was
doing there I couldn't resist saying fairly loudly "Comic relief, I assume".
There were a mess of Maseratis (including my fave - the Ghibli), a whole hill
of Ferraris, including one of the undervalued classics, the 365 GTC (one for
sale at only $99,000 C if anyone is looking), and the usual pack of Fiats and
Alfas, including one pre-war Alfa and a Topolino. Also a Renault that got in
by association - Gordini was Italian, right?
They had scooters, bicycles that cost more than a JH, the usual raft of
recognisable motorcycles and a few I had never heard of (Pirella?)
I was one of only two Lamborghinis (the other being a tidy Espada).
Interesting experience. I suppose I could have taken the Interceptor by
virtue of it's styling history, had the Islero not answered the bell.
Some impressions of the Islero (1969) in comparison to the Interceptor (1972,
although I have also owned 1974 and 1976).
The Interceptor wins the interior trim competition - nicer detail and finish
detail. You get the impression that such things were a bit of an afterthought
for the Italians, for whom body and engine were the first priorities.
Otherwise, the Islero is very much comparable in interior detail with the
Jensen - it is right after they both went to rocker switches and dashes that
wouldn't savage you if you banged your head against them. The wood is much
better on the Jensen, the upholstery is a draw - Italian leatherwork should
be good, no? BTW, an aside - I was waiting in a client's showroom, a VW-Audi
dealer, and had a look at the new TT. Nice car, but they had taken decent
leather seats and pierced and wound baseball glove rawhide stitching through
them, entirely cosmetic. When the dealer asked me what I thought of the car,
I suggested that if their marketing people were spot on with the seat
treatment, they better include a sixpack cooler as well....
I'd have to call it a draw between Interceptor and Islero in the body style
category. Had it been a knockdown gorgeous model like a Miura, or a Ghibli,
I'd go for the Italian car in an instant, but the Islero is a more refined
businessman's express (sound familiar) and not intended to draw unseemly
attention. And I have lived with the Interceptor styling for so many years
that my admiration of it is ingrained.
The ride and handling is a clear win for the Islero, with it's all
independent A arm suspension.
The braking is a draw, both cars with 4 wheel discs, the Jensen with
ventilated discs and the Islero with larger racing derived calipers. Both
function quite well - the Lamborghini is a bit heavier in the pedal.
It is in the engine that the Lamborghini shines. It was fun wandering around
the Ferraris - if the owner of a 308 or some such noticed me and asked what I
thought, I could offer that it was pretty good, though I preferred 12
cylinder cars. If it was a 12 cylinder car, I could say that it was pretty
good for something with only half enough cams. And for the 4 cam GTC, I just
asked what the power output was (320 bhp), after which of course the owner
had to reciprocate and ask me (350 bhp).
You start the engine by pulling a choke (it operates on only one bank of 3
Webers), and turning the switch without touching the gas. It starts and runs
smoothly, like a turbine. Once oil pressure is up (the large, one might say,
rampant, standing fit oil filter has no anti-drain back valve, an omission
IMHO), you are ready to go.
The (to me) amazing thing about the engine, is it's low end torque. You can
cruise at 2000 rpm and then floor it, and it just smoothly picks up, even
though well below it's torque band (peak torque is at 5100 rpm, where the
Jensen has it's power peak). The gearbox needs a couple of synchros, so I was
suitably gentle with shifts, but when you get it above 4000, it scoots very
well. I passed a couple of guys on a straight, leaving it in 5th gear, and
accelerating about half way, and looked down and was doing 155 kph (the
speedo is only in Metric and goes to 300 (180 mph). The accelerator has a
fairly stiff action with a lot of spring needed to make sure all 6 Webers
shut down properly.
Because of the extended rpm range (redline is 7800 rpm, although apparently
8000 is OK), they used a very low 4.55 diff. This would have made an
Interceptor fly as well, as they both have the same size tires, but the
Jensen would have run out of revs at about 100 mph. The combination of high
revving engine and 5th gear mean that you can cruise at highway speeds
without being too buzzy.
So it is a smaller (3200 lb) handier, faster, better sounding GT car with
worse interior and detail, wiring that is no better than the Interceptor, and
it probably has similar gas mileage if you keep your foot out of it.
Interesting similarities and differences. I won't be neglecting the
Interceptor (you can get far more into the rear, for one thing), but the new
addition is lots of fun right now, if currently more of a financial draw than
Old Faithful.
Bill
BTW - I found another common body item - I was missing a couple of trunk
panel retaining knobs, and it turns out that the Interceptor trunk panel
nuts, while smaller diameter, are the same thread, so I borrowed a couple
from the Jensen.
