kevin@voder.UUCP (worthless scum) (11/01/84)
(I am not a bug! I am a feature!)
The November issue of Road & Track has an article on the Lotus 7
which was available as a kit car in Europe and the USA, is this the
same type of car that Patrick McGoohan (sp?), alias #6, drives in
the opening sequences of the TV program, The Prisoner?
--
Kevin Thompson {ucbvax,ihnp4!nsc}!voder!kevin
"It's sort of a threat, you see. I've never been very good at them
myself but I'm told they can be very effective."pennell@isosvax.UUCP (T.A. Pennell) (11/12/84)
Sorry, no Lotus on "The Prisoner". The star (and everyone else on the island)
drove a Mini-Moke, a sort of mechanical buckboard built by British Motor
Corporation (BMC) out of Morris Mini-Minor components. The transverse engine
and front-wheel-drive layout was ideal for this sort of VERY BASIC transport.
I'm not sure of the timing, but I think that the Mini-Moke predated the VW
"THING" by at least a couple of years. (Never mind that "The Thing" was a
resurrected WWII staff car). Lotuses of note on TV and movies are:
Emma Peel (The Avengers) drove a white Lotus Elan.
James Bond's submarine/car was a Lotus Esprit
Another James Bond car (it exploded when tampered with) was a Lotus.
As far as I know, the Lotus 7 has not appeared on TV. One of the "Death Racers"
in the movie "On The Beach" drove a 7. (Fred Astaire's car was a Ferrari).
By the way, Emma Peel's partner (John Steed, played by Patrick MacNee) drove a
classic Blower Bentley in The Avengers.
T.A. Pennell, Intel Deer Valley
"You can tell he's a British car nut. There's an oil spot under his chair."berry@zinfandel.UUCP (Berry Kercheval) (11/13/84)
Yes, there WAS TOO a Lotus Seven in the Prisoner -- in the opening sequence, he drives it into the MI5 headquarters (or whereever), resigns, and drives it back to his flat. I think in some of the episodes when he is back in London (or thinks he is) he drives it too. And Steed does not drive a Blower Bentley -- He drives a Speed Six. There were only 30 Blowers made, as the needed to build 30 to be homologated so they could race at Le Mans. This drove Bentley Motorcars Ltd into bankruptcy, and Rolls-royce bought them out. (considered the demise of the marque by purists). Steed's Speed Six has the 4.5 liter NON-supercharged engine on a short- wheelbase chassis with a 'Le Mans tourer' style body -- the same body style as the supercharged racers. This may have led to the confusion. The supercharged or 'Blower' cars may be readily identified by the large 'blower' pod attached to the crank and extending underneath the radiator between the front wheels. It sucks through two SU carbs and blows up a long pipe to the intake manifold, avoiding the 'pressurized carburetter' problem. but inducing a bit of throttle lag. This is all from memory, as my refernce books are at home. --B Berry Kercheval (no, the 'B' doesn't stand for Bentley') -- Berry Kercheval Zehntel Inc. (ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!berry) (415)932-6900
muth@amdahl.UUCP (John A. Muth) (11/15/84)
> Sorry, no Lotus on "The Prisoner". The star (and everyone else on the island) > drove a Mini-Moke, a sort of mechanical buckboard built by British Motor > Corporation (BMC) out of Morris Mini-Minor components. > ... > T.A. Pennell, Intel Deer Valley In the opening sequence of "The Prisoner" (were he drives into the headquaters and resigns) he is driving a Lotus 7. He is also shown driving the Lotus in the last episode (after he escapes the island). -- John Muth (408) 746-6069 ...{nsc,hplabs,ihnp4}!amdahl!muth [The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Amdahl Corporation, its management, or employees.]
mikey@trsvax.UUCP (11/22/84)
I think that the Bond Lotus that exploded in For Your Eyes Only was the Turbo Esprit, I guess they wanted it to look like the upgrade from the submarine car and get the audience expectations up, but I personally found the chase that followed more exciting than if they used the Turbo Esprit. (But then I think the best chase was the motorcycle chase in Never Say Never) mikey at trsvax
pennell@isosvax.UUCP (T.A. Pennell) (12/13/84)
I have received a question or two regarding the Prisoner's car, which I identified as a Mini-Moke, built by BMC. According to my resident source of Mini lore, the Mini-Moke was introduced to an unsuspecting world in 1960 or 1961, thereby predating the VW "THING" by at least ten years. As I said before, never mind that the "THING" was a resurrected WWII staff car. Hitler wasn't really interested in selling them. I really don't know what BMC's distribution of the Mini-Moke was, and have seen very few of them in the continental U.S. There were a few in the Virgin Islands in 1974 (my last visit there), but most of those had gone to rust. VW Things dominated the rental lots then. T.A. Pennell, Intel Phoenix "You can tell he's a British car nut. There's a puddle of oil under his chair."
kurt@aat.UUCP (12/20/84)
The Mini-Moke seemed to be fairly common in Australia when I was there a couple of years ago. They where especially popular as rental cars on the more touristy type islands off of the Queensland coast. With their little motorcycle engines and their lack of doors and windows, they were great for whizzing around the islands in, but I really don't think I'd want to try one out on the highways. Kurt Zimmer ..!aat!kurt