Friday 26th June 2009

Star Turn: Capri From The Professionals On Ebay

Bodie's 1981 Capri 3.0S from cult TV series is looking for a loving new owner

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Ready for another car chase...

Used Capris are not ordinarily the subject of front-page news on PistonHeads, but this 1981 Mk3 3.0S is something a bit different - this is Bodie's silver 3.0S , used in the final series of The Professionals.

The car, with its distinctive VHK 12W registration plate, is up for sale on internet auction site eBay. At the time of writing, the car is currently bid up to £9,250, but the auction still has several days left to run, so the final figure could be comfortably more than that.

Like any good secondhand car should, VHK 12W comes with a 12-month MoT and plenty of history, although in this case part of that history are two signed letters from Lewis Collins - the actor who played Bodie in the TV series.

Distinctive plate a clue to the car's past

The car, which is listed as having had 10 owners, was recently rebuilt and, according to the vendor "is still in good condition for year with just a few rust spots starting to come through." The owner also says that the carburettor-fed 153bhp Essex V6 "runs fine with no smoke".

There is also what sounds like a shedload of spares thrown in with the car, so the new owner should be able to patch their new baby up after a tyre-smoking car chase through back streets packed with cardboard boxes.

If you have a hankering after a piece of early eighties TV nostalgia, or if you simply like cars with a fine tartan seat fabric, go and make a bid by clicking here (auction ends 1 July, 9pm).

 

[x200sxy]

£9250 for a MkIII Capri!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[j_s14a]

I love watching them 'hooning' around in thier Capris. So cool.

Edited by j_s14a on Friday 26th June 14:22

[GingerWizard]

3.0l V6 156 BHP? really?

sleeper anyone?

[LuS1fer]

I'll never really understand why having a "celebrity link" makes anything worth more...ever. Here's a mint Capri for £4000. Here's one used in a rubbish TV series for £10000. Duh! It's just a car and I need some letters from Lewis Collins like I need some technical articles written by Jade Goody.

[dudleybloke]

i love the professionals but not that much!

[aarondrs]

LuS1fer said:

I'll never really understand why having a "celebrity link" makes anything worth more...ever. Here's a mint Capri for £4000. Here's one used in a rubbish TV series for £10000. Duh! It's just a car and I need some letters from Lewis Collins like I need some technical articles written by Jade Goody.

Excellent!

cant say I'd pay more for a pre celebrity-owned car either. Surely it can only lose money... one day soon it'll be Lewis who...? the Professionals.... was that the one about the street walkers?

I do like Capris though. I saw one on youtube with a Chevy v8, now thats the car Ford should have built (substitute Chevy for Ford obviously).

Edited by aarondrs on Friday 26th June 14:37

[GC8]

Definitely no the ;first series'; as that preceded 'W' suffixes by a fair margin. Didnt he drive a Dolomite Sprint in the first series?

[aarondrs]

GC8 said:

Definitely no the ;first series'; as that preceded 'W' suffixes by a fair margin. Didnt he drive a Dolomite Sprint in the first series?

Doesnt the article say 'final' series?

[hugo a gogo]

just buy this one instead

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CorgiThe-Professionals-Repro...

[LuS1fer]

Oddly, the same applies to toy cars - cars like Batmobiles, Noddy, Knight Rider, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Star wars always command more so can only assume it's a mentality issue.

[VR6 Eug]

153BHP from a std essex 3.0L, I dont think so, maybe 143 on a really really cold day, I used to build these engines in the early 90's and std form at best is 140...

[S7Paul]

I recall that the quoted figure at the time was 138bhp. Plenty of torque though (or at least it felt like it at the time).

[Nick_F]

138bhp & 172lb/ft

Allegedly.

[Gompo]

LuS1fer said:

rubbish TV series

Just curious, have you watched many?

I think it's quality tv personally, although I'd choose the RS2k..

[LuS1fer]

Gompo said:

LuS1fer said:

rubbish TV series

Just curious, have you watched many?

I think it's quality tv personally, although I'd choose the RS2k..

Yes (let's wait for that Mk II jag to roll...)but in fairness, it wasn't alone - Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, all utterly pants.

[Smiler.]

LuS1fer said:

rubbish TV series

Clearly, you are mad

[LuS1fer]

Smiler. said:

LuS1fer said:

rubbish TV series

Clearly, you are mad

Perhaps you need to be some sort of cockney geezer to appreciate it for the drivel it is.

[Gompo]

LuS1fer said:

Gompo said:

LuS1fer said:

rubbish TV series

Just curious, have you watched many?

I think it's quality tv personally, although I'd choose the RS2k..

Yes (let's wait for that Mk II jag to roll...)but in fairness, it wasn't alone - Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, all utterly pants.

I'd agree with most of the others (I dont mind Knightrider and Dukes, but only because I watched them as a kid - I know they're pap), the Professionals in my opinion is far better - aimed at adults as oppposed to children - atleast I thought it was!

[Fort Jefferson]

I had one of these in 1981 GHD 358S. I bought it when it was nearly three years old for £3250, it was yellow with a black vinyl roof.

[woad]

How many people have owned these cars? I've seen two newspaper articles with people who have owned both Bodie's & Doyle's capris', complete with photos of the owner posed between them, recreating a B&D photo pose. And the owner swearing blind they would never sell them, never. ISTR one of them was salvaged from a scrap dealer at one stage...