capri_cz

Although most people will, of course, recall the Ford Capris, Granadas and Escort RS2000, early episodes from the first season used a variety of British Leyland vehicles. Given that during filming of The New Avengers, Brian Clemens and his team were constantly suffering shooting delays due to the poor reliability of these cars, it seems strange that he should have continued with them into The Professionals.

Detailed below are all the main vehicles used by the stars. There are some exceptions such as the two Leyland Princess models Gordon drove in 'Private Madness' and 'Female Factor' plus the blue Ford Cortina Mk IV used by Bodie in 'Everest was Also Conquered' but as these were seen just briefly, I don't think they really count!
Although we have given the registration number of each, most of them cars actually bore false plates. Indeed in one episode we actually see Cowley's Granada briefly bearing the number 'UOO 303T' which is, of course, supposed to be the number of Bodie's 1978 Capri! Also in the episode 'Wild Justice', Bodie's later Capri bears the number 'OWC 827W'. That last 'W' would indicate that the car was registered on or after 1st August 1980, yet this episode was filmed in the June of that year! The same can be said of the black Granada Cowley uses in the same story.

However when it comes to the five episodes filmed in 1981, Bodie and Doyle both had new Capris: the registration numbers 'VHK 11W' and 'VHK 12W'. These would appear to be genuine as they are still being sported on these recently-restored cars. Motor enthusiast and Professionals fan Alan Jarvis from Nottingham, England employed a private detective to help track down these two cars during 1994. Although both were eventually located, Bodie's silver car had been left to die under a pile of old tyres with most of the roof paint missing due to a leaky battery being dumped on top of it! Doyle's car had been resprayed white. Both cars showed obvious signs of having bore arduous lives, as Martin Shaw once commented: "These cars really got hammered as they spent most of their lives in second gear with the revs off the clock doing all those stunts!". Jarvis reputedly spent Ł25,000 bringing the cars back to showroom condition (though found that much of the tough, original mechanicals were still in good condition, anyway).

Three of CI5 cars at Ford Fair in Oxford, 1999

Type: Ford Capri MkII 3.0 Series X

Plate: SOO 636R

Driver: Doyle

Episodes: 'Everest was Also Conquered', 'Stakeout', 'When the Heat Cools Off', 'Klansmen'

The Professionals and the Ford Capri are synonymous with each other. This particular car was fitted with a special Rallye Sport bodykit (which was normally reserved for the 'S' model) and actually used extensively by Ford in their advertisements during 1977 (Thanks to Trevor Alder and Nigel Hopes for info). It is rumoured that this car is still in existence, repainted black but languishing away in dereliction in somebody's garage! It hasn't been taxed since 1985. (Thanks to Mark Gibbon and Gill Roche)

Type: Ford Capri MkII 3.0 Ghia Automatic

Plate: PNO 580R

Driver: Bodie

Episodes: 'Close Quarters', 'Everest was Also Conquered', 'When the Heat Cools Off', 'Look After Annie', 'Klansmen'

Contrary to previous information this car apparently survives today, owned by somebody living just a few miles from me! I'll have to keep an eye out for it though apparently it is currently in storage undergoing restoration

Type: Ford Capri MkIII 3.0S

Plate: UOO 303T

Driver: Bodie

Episodes: 1978-1979

According to fan Bob Rocca (who has done an enormous amount of research on the series!) the silver Capri seen in the 1978 and 1979 episodes is actually two different cars. The first one bore a registration plate of VHK 495S (and was sadly written off in a traffic accident in 1988) while the genuine number for the 1979 car is COO 251T, which is actually briefly seen in 'The Madness of Mickey Hamilton', the first ep to be filmed for that season. The crew obviously forgot to change the plates! COO 251T is still running today...

Type: Ford Capri MkIII 3.0S

Plate: OAR 576W

Driver: Doyle

Episodes: 1980

The genuine license plate is OAR 576V, car was fully restored..

Type: Ford Capri MkIII 3.0S

Plate: OWC 827W

Driver: Bodie

Episodes: 1980

The genuine license plate is OWC 827V. Car is undergoing a full restoration in Northern Ireland, so its such a poor (and unoriginal) state is the past now.

Type: Ford Capri MkIII 3.0S

Plate: VHK 11W

Driver: Doyle

Episodes: 1981

This particular car was rediscovered by Alan Jarvis in 1994, having been resprayed white. (Thanks to Mark Osborne, Mark Gibbon and Bob Rocca)

Type: Ford Capri MkIII 3.0S

Plate: VHK 12W

Driver: Bodie

Episodes: 1981

Similarly it is rumoured that this car is a re-registration of OWC 827V but, again, this is denied by others. Alan Jarvis found the car in 1994 under a pile of old tyres with most of the roof paint missing due to a leaky battery being dumped on top of it!

Another cars used in the episodes:

Tommy Mackay's black Mk2 Capri vith black vinyl roof and interior used in episode Heroes.