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Comedian Eric Morecambe bought Jensen Interceptor for £4,500 in 1968
Said to be his favourite car and was kept in garage of Hertfordshire home
The car was sold to Silverstone Auctions, Warwickshire for £27,000 in 2014
It has since been fully restored and now on display for estimated £150,000
A classic car once owned by comedian Eric Morecambe has been put on sale for £150,000 – a staggering £145,000 more than the entertainer paid for it nearly 50 years ago.
The star bought the Jensen Interceptor for just £4,500 at the height of his fame in September 1968 and kept it in the garage of his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.
He was said to be very fond of driving the sports car and was behind the wheel when he suffered his first heart attack in November 1968 after appearing at Batley variety club in Leeds with Ernie Wise.
Eric Morecambe (above) was said to be very fond of driving the sports car and was behind the wheel when he suffered his first heart attack in November 1968 after appearing at Batley variety club in Leeds with Ernie Wise
Following his death in May 1984, the car remained within his estate until it was sold to Silverstone Auctions in Warwickshire for £27,000.
It has since been fully restored and went on display at the London Classic Car Show at the ExCel arena in London Docklands this weekend with an estimated value of £150,000.
Work has been carried out to the engine, braking system, rear axle, body and exhaust.
The Interceptor was said to be Mr Morecambe's favourite car, according to his former chauffeur Mike Fountain who ferried him and his wife Joan around for decades.
In an interview in 2007, he revealed: 'There was no room at all (in the back) for a third person. It was more of a sports car – that was the only downside.
'When Eric and Joan went out together and I was driving, someone had to be screwed up in the back. It usually turned out to be Eric.'
However, despite being fond of the motor, the comic also had issues with the car when he first purchased it from a factory in West Bromwich, on September 23, 1968.
Mr Morecambe's Jensen Interceptor has since been fully restored and it went on display at the London Classic Car Show at the ExCel arena in London Docklands this weekend with an estimated value of £150,000 (above)
He was dissatisfied with rust to the wheels and bumpers and pitted chrome, stating that 'it is not what I expect of a £4,500 motor car', in correspondence with Jensen Motor Company Managing Director A.W. Wickers, in 1970.
In a letter to the company chief, he wrote: 'Whilst bearing in mind that even the best chrome does not last for ever, the car has not had much use as the mileage is now only fourteen-and-a-half thousand miles and has always been kept in a garage.
'As for the paintwork, I would refrain from comment, but would say that it is not what I expect of a £4,500 motor car.'
Not wanting to upset the entertainer, Mr Wickers had work carried out to resolve the problems.
Eric Morecambe was one half of British comedy double Morecambe and Wise.
The duo learned their trade in music halls up and down the country until radio and TV beckoned.
Their first television show, Running Wild in 1954, was not a success and one critic even wrote 'Definition of the week: TV set—the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise.'
A nice little Ern-er! Eric Morecambe's classic car goes on sale for £150,000 - £145,000 more than he paid for it
Comedian Eric Morecambe bought Jensen Interceptor for £4,500 in 1968
Said to be his favourite car and was kept in garage of Hertfordshire home
The car was sold to Silverstone Auctions, Warwickshire for £27,000 in 2014
It has since been fully restored and now on display for estimated £150,000
By EMMA GLANFIELD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:56 GMT, 21 February 2016 | UPDATED: 12:31 GMT, 21 February 2016
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A classic car once owned by comedian Eric Morecambe has been put on sale for £150,000 – a staggering £145,000 more than the entertainer paid for it nearly 50 years ago.
The star bought the Jensen Interceptor for just £4,500 at the height of his fame in September 1968 and kept it in the garage of his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.
He was said to be very fond of driving the sports car and was behind the wheel when he suffered his first heart attack in November 1968 after appearing at Batley variety club in Leeds with Ernie Wise.
Comedian Eric Morecambe bought the Jensen Interceptor (pictured) for £4,500 at the height of his fame in September 1968 and kept it in the garage of his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. It is now worth £150,000
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Comedian Eric Morecambe bought the Jensen Interceptor (pictured) for £4,500 at the height of his fame in September 1968 and kept it in the garage of his home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire. It is now worth £150,000
Eric Morecambe (above) was said to be very fond of driving the sports car and was behind the wheel when he suffered his first heart attack in November 1968 after appearing at Batley variety club in Leeds with Ernie Wise
Eric Morecambe (above) was said to be very fond of driving the sports car and was behind the wheel when he suffered his first heart attack in November 1968 after appearing at Batley variety club in Leeds with Ernie Wise
Following his death in May 1984, the car remained within his estate until it was sold to Silverstone Auctions in Warwickshire for £27,000.
It has since been fully restored and went on display at the London Classic Car Show at the ExCel arena in London Docklands this weekend with an estimated value of £150,000.
Work has been carried out to the engine, braking system, rear axle, body and exhaust.
The Interceptor was said to be Mr Morecambe's favourite car, according to his former chauffeur Mike Fountain who ferried him and his wife Joan around for decades.
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In an interview in 2007, he revealed: 'There was no room at all (in the back) for a third person. It was more of a sports car – that was the only downside.
'When Eric and Joan went out together and I was driving, someone had to be screwed up in the back. It usually turned out to be Eric.'
However, despite being fond of the motor, the comic also had issues with the car when he first purchased it from a factory in West Bromwich, on September 23, 1968.
Mr Morecambe's Jensen Interceptor has since been fully restored and it went on display at the London Classic Car Show at the ExCel arena in London Docklands this weekend with an estimated value of £150,000 (above)
Mr Morecambe's Jensen Interceptor has since been fully restored and it went on display at the London Classic Car Show at the ExCel arena in London Docklands this weekend with an estimated value of £150,000 (above)
He was dissatisfied with rust to the wheels and bumpers and pitted chrome, stating that 'it is not what I expect of a £4,500 motor car', in correspondence with Jensen Motor Company Managing Director A.W. Wickers, in 1970.
In a letter to the company chief, he wrote: 'Whilst bearing in mind that even the best chrome does not last for ever, the car has not had much use as the mileage is now only fourteen-and-a-half thousand miles and has always been kept in a garage.
'As for the paintwork, I would refrain from comment, but would say that it is not what I expect of a £4,500 motor car.'
Not wanting to upset the entertainer, Mr Wickers had work carried out to resolve the problems.
Eric Morecambe was one half of British comedy double Morecambe and Wise.
The duo learned their trade in music halls up and down the country until radio and TV beckoned.
Their first television show, Running Wild in 1954, was not a success and one critic even wrote 'Definition of the week: TV set—the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise.'
The Interceptor was said to be favourite of comedian Eric Morecambe, pictured with his sidekick Ernie Wise
The Interceptor was said to be favourite of comedian Eric Morecambe, pictured with his sidekick Ernie Wise
Eric was one half of British comedy double Morecambe and Wise, who were a huge success in the 1970s
Eric was one half of British comedy double Morecambe and Wise, who were a huge success in the 1970s
Seven years later at ITV they launched Two of a Kind with writers Dick Hills and Sid Green. In 1968, they were signed to the BBC where they hired Eddie Braben to write their shows.
Their theme tune was Bring Me Sunshine and their famous dance was based on one performed by Groucho Marx in the film Horse Feathers. In 1976, they were both awarded the OBE.
Mr Morecambe suffered from heart trouble and had his first coronary in 1968, when he was 42.
Although he recovered, it was always feared he would have another and on May 28, 1984 - two weeks after his 58th birthday - he died after taking part in a show hosted by his close friend and comedian Stan Stennett at the Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
Meanwhile, Ernie Wise died in 1999.
On July 23, 1999, the Queen unveiled the statue of Eric on the promenade at Morecambe.
A MUCH-LOVED SPORTS CAR: THE JENSEN INTERCEPTOR
The Jensen Interceptor was a sporting Grand Tourer class car hand-built in the UK
It was produced by Jensen Motors in West Bromwich after being designed in Italy
It was made between 1966 and 1976 and 6,408 cars were produced
The car is a two-door four-seater
It broke with Jensen tradition by having a steel bodyshell instead of glass-reinforced plastic
The body was also the first to be designed by an outside firm, Carrozzeria Touring of Italy
The engine was a Chrysler V8 initially of 6276 cc (383 c.i.)
It grew to 7212 cc (440 c.i.) in late 1971
The Interceptor was briefly re-introduced in the 1980s as the Series 4 (S4), as a low-volume 'specialist' motor car
Famous owners included John Thaw and Henry Cooper, and it was loved by Princess Anne
The Jensen Interceptor was a sporting Grand Tourer class car hand-built in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s
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