The 33rd Footman James Bristol classic car show was again held at the Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, over the weekend of the 21st & 22nd April.
Our Club display at this year’s show celebrated the 50th Birthday of the TV Series ‘The Saint’ (1962-2012) and featured Kevin Price’s (Our founder/Hon President) ongoing rebuild of the original 1962 Roger Moore’s Volvo P1800 71 DXC used in the first TV Series of ‘The Saint’. And Colin Hughes’s (Principle Club Contact) Volvo 740 Pick-up.
Since ‘The Saint’ P1800 71 DXC was displayed on our Stand at the Classic Motor Show, held at the NEC Birmingham last November, much work has been undertaken on the car which includes the fitting of the Brakes, Brake & Fuel Pipes, Engine and Gearbox and Petrol Tank.
The Car this time was displayed on a CJ Auto’s Chassis Tilter which had been supplied to show the car at Birmingham and help with final assembly but unfortunately due to problems with the brackets (would not fit a Jensen Shell) it could not be tilted. Since then Colin at CJ Auto’s had provided a new set of attachment brackets and therefore the car could at this show be displayed ‘Tilted’, allowing visitors to view all over the car and work so far undertaken.
Colin Hughes’s 740 Pickup, which had been made by converting a 740 Estate by its previous owner to transport his Classic motor bikes formed part of the display by carrying many of the items still to be fitted to the Saint Car.
Also manning the Stand were club Members Jonathon Bell, Simon Biddlecomb and Robert Hughes, who were along with Kevin and Colin kept busy throughout the weekend by visitors and fellow Members keen to view and ask questions about the cars on display, Club Membership and other technical queries.
Thanks to all those who helped and visited over the weekend – See you all at the Restoration Show at the same venue on 1st & 2nd November, 2012, where it is hoped the final restoration of 71 DXC will be undertaken.
Parts Required: In order to complete the restoration of the Saint Car – Kevin is trying to locate an original set of good condition rubber front floor mats – The P1800 (1961-63) only had carpet over the tunnel and in rear, the front floors had rubber mats which were press-studded up along the tunnel and inner sills. If you can help or have any information of the Original TV Saint Car 71 DXC - please contact kevinprice.vec@btinternet.com
Club Display Car Information:
F136 MBW
1989 Volvo 740 Pick-up
1986cc
5 Speed manual gearbox
Converted from estate to a Pick-Up in 2000 by previous owner to carry his Royal Enfield Motorbike to rallies and shows.
Engine has done 265,000 miles (new instrument panel fitted in 2010)
Has full service history.
Now used as a service/recovery vehicle for his own "fleet" of Volvos.
Needs some work to the side timber rails, which will happen when time allows.
Owned by VEC member Colin Hughes, Northampton.
The Original TV Saint Car
‘ST 1’ 1962 Volvo P1800
(Jensen West Bromwich, England Built)
Early History:
In the Spring of 1962 Lew Grade of ATV Television held a Press Conference where he launched ‘The Saint’ Series with actor Roger Moore, who would play the famous Simon Templar in a series of 26 one hour shows (News to Roger Moore who had been contracted as he believed for only half hour episodes).
The famous Simon Templar like other dashing TV/Film hero’s e.g. Batman, James Bond etc required a recognisable form of transport and ATV’s first choice was a white ‘E’ type Jaguar, which had been launched at the Geneva Motor Show the previous year. Jaguar were approached to lend the TV company a car in lieu of advertising but in view of the already high demand for the model in the USA and being unable to keep up with current production requirements they declined the offer, suggesting that they did not require the publicity the series would provide. It is rumoured that Roger Moore even offered to personally purchase a MK10 Jaguar to use in the series, as the best supply date for an ‘E’ type was over 2 months.
Search for an alternative car was on and again it was Roger Moore who came to the rescue suggesting that the company look at the new Volvo P1800, which had only just been launched in RHD form on the UK market.
Within a week a white Volvo P1800 was delivered to ITC from a London Dealership – Reg: No: 71 DXC (Plate ‘ST 1’ was placed over the cars ordinary number plate only while filming) and it is believed that they were invoiced full price for the car. As no white P1800 was available, unbelievable as the cars were being produced at Jensen Motors Ltd, West Bromwich in England, it is said that a car had to be air-freighted back from Sweden to for fill the order at such short notice.
The Jensen built P1800 - 71 DXC appeared in the opening sequences of the very first episode “The Talented Husband” and was used in many of the original 26 episodes, where its owner, The Saint could be seen visiting places as far afield as Germany, France and even the Bahamas (how the car got there was not explained). In fact due to financial constants the car never left the British Isles, it was all ticks of the camera.
With production of the 1800 moving to Sweden in 1963. Volvo in 1964 provided ITC with a new replacement car, an 1800S – Reg. No: 77 GYL. In order to provide continuity in the series the later fitted ‘V’ Red Hubs were replaced with the original ‘Jensen Caps’ from 71 DXC. Both cars can be seen in early 1964 episodes but if you look carefully there are some scenes where the car was still fitted with its original Red ‘V’ caps.
71 DXC was finally fully replaced by 77 GYL in late 1964 but the original car was used for publicity of the Series and by Roger Moore as personal transport.
The ‘Original’ TV Saint Car is currently undergoing a full restoration to be completed it is hoped in late 2012.
Owned by VEC Member - Kevin Price, Worcestershire
