60 YEARS OF THE SAINT

The first episode of The Saint aired on Thursday 4^th October 1962, with viewers mesmerised by Roger Moore’s hairstyle -

- and that white Volvo P1800. Here are twenty facts about ‘ST 1’.

• Volvo made its London Motor Show debut in 1958 with the ‘Amazon’ saloon, launching the P1800 at the 1960 Brussels Motor Show.
• RHD P1800s went on sale in March 1962 - at £1,836 12s 9d, they cost more than two Vauxhall Victor FBs.
• Until 1963 Volvo subcontracted P1800 production to Jensen Motors due to their lack of factory space.
• During the planning of the television series the producers Robert S Baker and Monty Berman wanted Simon Templar to drive the recently launched Jaguar Mk. X. However, Browns Lane refused to loan a car to the production company, or even sell an example to Roger Moore, such was their waiting list.
• Eventually, a production member named Malcolm Christopher saw a P1800 in a London showroom. Negotiations with Volvo followed, and the company agreed to sell a newly registered demonstrator at a reduced price to New World Productions.

• The P1800, Chassis No. 301,8 left the West Bromwich factory on 23^rd March 1962, and arrived at Elstree shortly afterwards.
• The P1800’s real registration was 71 DXC; the show borrowed ST 1 from the Chief Constable of Stirlingshire.
• Volvo also provided a mock-up interior for the studio sequences – this did seem to be used for a number of cars throughout the series.
• Moore told the press that the P1800 corners beautifully and I can drive it in comfort on wet and icy roads.
• 71 DXC featured on screen until 1964, when our hero started to use a more recent P1800S (for Swedish-built), registered 77 GYL. However, it was disguised as the earlier Jensen-built model until 1965’s The Frightened Inn-Keeper.
• That same year Corgi chose the P1800 as their first TV/film spin-off die-cast model. The company sold 312,000 Volvos at the end of 1965.
• By 1967 Templar drove a facelifted model, fitted with a more powerful engine and alloy wheels.
• Volvo provided The Saint with two cars, NUV 647 E and NUV 648 E, the former mainly for Roger Moore’s offscreen use.
• Villains often favoured a not terribly rapid Ford Zephyr 4 Mk. III in the black and white episodes.
• Inspector Teal’s squad car was usually a black Wolseley 6/99 or 6/110.
• The other two vehicles associated with The Saint are the ‘ITC White Jaguar’ and the ‘ITC Red Renault Dauphine’.
• Future stars who appeared in The Saint include Steven Berkoff, Julie Christie, Ronnie Corbett, Oliver Reed and Donald Sutherland.
• The last of 118 stories, The World Beater, aired on 9^th February 1969 and guest-starred a Marcos 1600 GT.
• In 1991 the Volvo enthusiast Kevin Price discovered 71 DXC in Wales. The story of its incredible restoration may be found here - http://www.thesaintvolvo.co.uk/index.asp
• The refurbished ST1 was one of the major stars of the 2012 Classic Car Show. 71 DXC’s appearance is a testament to Kevin’s dedication - and a tribute to one of the most entertaining shows of its generation.