Long forgotten British TV motoring shows
Discussion
Was going through some old VHS tapes recently and came across some old motoring shows which most people will have forgotten about. One series was "The Car Show" (what a creative name:-), which was shown on Channel 5 around 1998, presented by Mariella Frostrup and someone called Tristram Payne. One episode they discuss classic British sportscars such as the Caterham 7 and Caterham 21 (never heard of a Caterham 21), Morgan, TVR and the MGB, as well as the Porsche Boxster and BMW Z3. There's a short clip with a young James May and a younger Charles Morgan:
The Car's the Star presented by Quentin Willson in the late 90s was a great series IMO. What a classic motoring programme should be about, straight to the point, informative and no dodgy dealing or idiotic behaviour for the sake of ratings. Another well made series was Sporting Heroes and Classic British Cars presented by the late John Peel.
Apologies for the awful screenshots, typical poor Channel 5 reception of the day.
Anyone watching Granada Reports news in the North West in the late 90s may remember they had a series called Mad About Motors. One episode the presenters talk to classic car collectors, in particular a chap with a green racing E-Type and Lamborghini Contach, amongst others of course.
The Car's the Star presented by Quentin Willson in the late 90s was a great series IMO. What a classic motoring programme should be about, straight to the point, informative and no dodgy dealing or idiotic behaviour for the sake of ratings. Another well made series was Sporting Heroes and Classic British Cars presented by the late John Peel.
Apologies for the awful screenshots, typical poor Channel 5 reception of the day.
Anyone watching Granada Reports news in the North West in the late 90s may remember they had a series called Mad About Motors. One episode the presenters talk to classic car collectors, in particular a chap with a green racing E-Type and Lamborghini Contach, amongst others of course.
Edited by Jukebag on Friday 2nd December 13:50
Edited by Jukebag on Friday 2nd December 13:51
Edited by Jukebag on Friday 2nd December 14:03
Edited by Jukebag on Friday 2nd December 16:40
I have the box set of the BBC's The Power & the Glory on VHS which I keep meaning to transfer to DVD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_and_the_Gl...
Remember thinking it was a cracking little series in the early '90s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_and_the_Gl...
Remember thinking it was a cracking little series in the early '90s.
More entertainment that factual but what about The Winning Streak from 1985 with that Metro 6R4 prototype?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOJUYlaYz0
OK so it was poo, but so are most other old TV car shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDOJUYlaYz0
OK so it was poo, but so are most other old TV car shows.
Regarding the Granada Tonight short series Mad About Cars, in one episode the presenters travel in a Frogeye Sprite to Keswick to visit a motor museum of film/TV cars. The museum closed years ago. Geoff somebody his name was, can't recall surname, but apparently he used to do his own motors up, including a kit car and was a quite enthusiastic person. No idea if he's still around. Granada Tonight used to do a number of stories around classic motors (which I have on tape), one was of a chap who built his own kit car with a Scimitar Essex V6 engine in it, then it shows him on a large airfield racing in it with an Austin Healey 3000.
Someone told me they remembered watching a series on Channel 4 in the early 1980s in which former Top Gear presenter Chris Goffey re-builds an MGA, as well as other classic cars. No idea what this was called as I don't remember it myself, and nothing comes up about this particular series on Chris Goffey's IMDB page. Can anyone who is old enough shed any light on this programme?.
Someone told me they remembered watching a series on Channel 4 in the early 1980s in which former Top Gear presenter Chris Goffey re-builds an MGA, as well as other classic cars. No idea what this was called as I don't remember it myself, and nothing comes up about this particular series on Chris Goffey's IMDB page. Can anyone who is old enough shed any light on this programme?.
Edited by Jukebag on Friday 2nd December 17:03
33q said:
I can't remember the name...
ITV...I think...Friday evening...only lasted one season
Set in a car factory where they used a modified Chrysler Sunbeam....any ideas
T a guess that would be Chancer starring Clive Owen, trying to save an ailing car factory. I thought the cars were heavily modified Fiesta's to be honestITV...I think...Friday evening...only lasted one season
Set in a car factory where they used a modified Chrysler Sunbeam....any ideas
spaximus said:
33q said:
I can't remember the name...
ITV...I think...Friday evening...only lasted one season
Set in a car factory where they used a modified Chrysler Sunbeam....any ideas
T a guess that would be Chancer starring Clive Owen, trying to save an ailing car factory. I thought the cars were heavily modified Fiesta's to be honestITV...I think...Friday evening...only lasted one season
Set in a car factory where they used a modified Chrysler Sunbeam....any ideas
I think it was called 'on the line' or similar
Starred David Ryall.....
Edited by 33q on Friday 2nd December 21:45
I looked up the number of that racing E-Type in the screenshot to find out more about it, and it turns out it is 1 of only 3 built in the early 90s by Bryan Wingfield of DRL engineering. In the clip they stated it was worth £40,000, with the Contach being £80,000, and this was nearly 20 yrs ago.
vixen1700 said:
I have the box set of the BBC's The Power & the Glory on VHS which I keep meaning to transfer to DVD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_and_the_Gl...
Remember thinking it was a cracking little series in the early '90s.
I thought that was a great series too. So much so, I bought the book.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_and_the_Gl...
Remember thinking it was a cracking little series in the early '90s.
Elderly said:
john2443 said:
If you're old enough you'll remember Wheelbase, the BBC motoring programme before Top Gear...
I'm afraid I'm old enough to have worked on that ..... but boy did we have some fun 
.The name William Wollard (sp?) comes to memory , although Wiki says Clif Michelmore & Gordon Wilkins , Also Raymond Baxter comes to mind as well
Ran for 207 episodes ( wiki again )
There was also "Several Careful Owners" shown in the 1990s - this one was on a pretty little Frogeye
https://youtu.be/fjCdldFAVGo
There were also some Top Gear Specials too with a youthful Jeremy Clarkson and Tony Mason
https://youtu.be/AQcUyXRWX-Q
https://youtu.be/fjCdldFAVGo
There were also some Top Gear Specials too with a youthful Jeremy Clarkson and Tony Mason
https://youtu.be/AQcUyXRWX-Q
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