Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Dec 5, 2021 13:06:32 GMT
We mentioned this in connection with the Galaxie in the Randall and Hopkirk thread and you did see the occasional one over here, before the classic interest had started.
Most of the ones you did see were usually General Motors, as a concessionnaire in West London, Lendrum and Hartman acted as an importer and dealer for GM. Ford also had a few imports too, less so Chrysler, the other American manufacturer, AMC, also imported some in the 70s, I remember seeing a few of the big Ambassador saloons then, I think there was one in an episode of The Sweeney, can't remember which one though.
A few film appearances were a Buick in Hell is a City and a Studebaker in The lady killers.
Ones I remember seeing in the 70s were an early 60s Galaxie, a Dodge estate, I think it was D regd, a few Mustangs and Transams and the occasional Cadillac. One real oddity was a mid 50s Packard which used to park in Salford near where I worked in 78/9. I saw it from a distance from our office and couldn't work out what it was so I walked down to check it out one lunchtime. The guy seemed to be using it as his daily driver during that cold winter of 78, good on him, how did he get parts for that then?
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Post by Cartman on Dec 5, 2021 13:21:24 GMT
A couple of other film appearances I've remembered were a Cadillac in Get Carter and a Thunderbird in the 1956 Diana Dors film Yield to the Night.
There was another yank in the Sweeney episode May, an AMC of some sort
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Dec 5, 2021 17:19:18 GMT
Yes, American cars fascinated me as a boy whenever I saw one in the flesh. The British motoring magazines like Motor and Autocar tested them occassionally, and including during the 70's the Pontiac Firebird, Jeep CJ5 and AMC Pacer. A number of American cars were tested during the 60's too by the same magazines. Not bought new in great numbers though, as they were priced fairly high, and due to their running costs were classed as "exotics". Only often bought by celebrities or well of motorists who fancied something different. But often much cheaper in their home country as they were run of the mill cars there (with the exception of models like Cadillacs or Lincolns).
I think a few that came up on the secondhand markets were imports from American servicemen based here. Once they became older cars they were uneconomic to repatriate back to the states so ended up being left here or put up for sale privately or gone to auction, once the previous owner was due to return to their country or had ordered a replacement new car.
I remember a few cars over the years and the odd one appearing on car dealer forecourts in the 80's and early 90's like an AMC Pacer in yellow (which shared forecourt space with an N reg MK1 Granada coupe), a metallic blue P reg Mustang II - the compact 2nd generation Mustang launched in 1973 and for years derided by Mustang fans, but now an interesting piece of US 70's kitsch now - made famous by Charlie's Angels.
Yes the maroon car used by Shirley Hicks in Sweeney 2, which she parks as a decoy car, to confuse the squad when the blag is planned, is a 1972 AMC Ambassador sedan, which Carter calls a "Ford Monarch". Not sure why, maybe a Monarch was originally sourced for filming and the script was never altered. Perhaps the original car choice had to be changed at the last minute and they obtained the Ambassador instead. Actually the Monarch was a Mercury Model rather than a Ford, although the Mercury name was part of the US Ford group.
I could think of a fair few US cars in British TV series from the 60's to the 80's, making appearances actually. They could sometimes be seen parked in the background in street scenes too.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Dec 5, 2021 20:48:50 GMT
Before the war they did sell in moderate numbers, but after the war they quickly grew to such a size where they were all but unsaleable in Europe. However, the small niche market they had picked up didn't entirely disappear.
I always liked seeing them too, in Britain cars which in their home country would be considered run of the mill saloons, were thought of as exotics.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Dec 5, 2021 21:55:34 GMT
Another Sweeney appearance of a Yank motor was that fantastic breakdown truck in In from the Cold, series 3. It was a conversion of a 1958 Ford, not a bad basis for a towing wagon I would think, the big V8 would have plenty of grunt
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Palmer
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Post by Palmer on Dec 6, 2021 11:51:44 GMT
American cars offered so much more (way back when) didn't they...?!?!
It was a fascinating thing to see an American car a few decades ago but now the world has become so much smaller (and cars have become so much bigger!!) they aren't really that special now!!
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Post by Palmer on Dec 6, 2021 11:57:30 GMT
Another Sweeney appearance of a Yank motor was that fantastic breakdown truck in In from the Cold, series 3. It was a conversion of a 1958 Ford, not a bad basis for a towing wagon I would think, the big V8 would have plenty of grunt That wonderful machine actually appeared (blink and you'll miss it!!) twice... It was seen in 'May' also in the back of shot when (I think?!) Davey is being chased by the rozzers in the first act...
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Dec 6, 2021 19:36:04 GMT
Also in May - the American car Sheila Martin was driving is an AMC Javelin AMX. The Javelin was AMC's answer to the Mustang or Camaro.
In The Sweeney another notable American car was the 1961 Chevrolet Corvette in I want the Man. Although the registration number it wears is a 1930 London issue so was a private plate at the time.
Ford Mustangs make appearances too;
Max Deller drove a black convertible 1968 GT350 in "Golden Boy", (I believe it survives and is metallic blue now) with a later 1973/74 number.
Another dark green '68 Shelby GT 350 convertible is driven by one of Blakeney's heavies, when collecting Arty Ward in "In Loving Arms"
In "In from the Cold", Billy Medhurst Mrs is waiting in a red fastback which looks like a 1966 model.
Another 1966 Mustang, a dark blue "hardtop" (saloon style) can be seen in the background parked in the street, in Night Out (I think) after Regan gets out of a P6 Rover unmarked car.
A 1970 Shelby Mustang GT350 fastback is owned by Harry Poole in "The Placer" - I think that's supposed to have survived too but has a different reg number.
Then Tommy Garret's car in "Chalk and Cheese" is another Shelby GT350.
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Post by Steve Austin on Dec 6, 2021 20:08:44 GMT
I've never liked American cars. With the exception of the sporty cars (Camaro, Mustang etc), they are ugly box shapes. I thought they always look out of place here in the UK and always wondered why people would buy them, both here and in the USA.
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Dec 6, 2021 20:17:43 GMT
I've never liked American cars. With the exception of the sporty cars (Camaro, Mustang etc), they are ugly box shapes. I thought they always look out of place here in the UK and always wondered why prople would buy them. I agree, in the 70s they went huge with enormous engines with naff all power. They were never a fit for UK roads. The sporty ones were cool though.
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