Lotus Cars played a large part in the Prisoner, the Lotus Seven of course being the Prisoner's car which Patrick McGoohan saw as a car for the individual, a car with a rebellious nature. The Lotus 7 being Lotus Cars demonstrator which was originally in black livery, but which was re-painted in what we are now
pleased to call Prisoner livery.
And in the episode The Girl Who Was Death Mr X got behind the wheel of a Lotus Elan, which is strange because when Graham Nearn first pointed out the Lotus Elan for the Prisoner, McGoohan rejected the little car in favour of the Lotus 7, which he found under a tarpaulin. Of course it was the Lotus Elan which was driven by Mrs Peel in the television series The Avengers
But before that in Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling Potter was seen to be driving a white livery, with green flash, Lotus Cortina.
The Lotus Cortina saw a collaboration between Lotus and Ford. in 1963, in order to produce an updated version of the Cortina MK1 with the engine rated at 105bhp and there was a 'racing' version with 145bhp.The resulting hybrid was very successful with 3301 being produced, however the MK1 was discontinued in the summer of 1966. Lotus had no production involvement in the MK2.
BCNU
I had a thought about Number 6's car the other day. We see Number 6 resign then drive back to his house to pick up his suitcase, where he gets gassed and abducted. But if his car was large enough to carry his suitcase comfortably, perhaps he wouldn't have needed to go home. He could have gone straight to the airport or wherever else he was going. So the Village would have had to get him somewhere else. (And the Village seem very capable of doing this.)
ReplyDeleteOne advantage of the Lotus however is that it's low enough to be driven under the barrier in the car park (in the longer "Arrival" version of the opening titles). The barrier is no barrier at all to the driver of such a car!
ZM72
Hello ZM72,
ReplyDeleteYou are of course absolutely correct, the barrier in the underground car park is no barrier at all to the driver of the Lotus 7 in 'Arrival's' opening sequence. I would suggest that time is of the essence for the Prisoner, the man is in a hurry, hence the car is driven under the barrier.
Regarding the case of the two suitcases, I suppose he could have taken them with him, put his passport and airline ticket in his pocket. But suppose those two suitcases were not packed by the Prisoner! Suppose they were packed by the Butler, and that's why he had to return to No.1 Buckingham Place for them.
At the end of 'Fall out' both the Butler and the Prisoner return to the Prisoner's home, but only one of them actually goes inside the house, the Butler, while the Prisoner drives off in his Lotus 7. Now if we think of 'the Prisoner' in allegorical terms {something which I don't usually do} or as a vicious circle, then the ending of 'Fall Out' is the beginning of 'Arrival,' and so it was the Buter who packed the Prisoner's two suitcases for him, and laid out both his passport and airline ticket for him. But just a minute, the Prisoner had his passport in his pocket anyway, as he was given his passport back in the cavern in 'Fall Out' along with the key to his house, travellers cheques, and a purse of petty cash.....oh damn!
Regards
David
BCNU
hi, doing a 'Girl Who Was Death' Corgi Diecast Car Prisoner Special Gift Set inspired by said episode and wondered if you could help clarify the Elan's Number Plate details? I'm fine with the white E Type but just wanted to confirm LVF 120E for the blue Lotus before I order some decals. If you could help I'd be grateful as getting it wrong would prove fatal:) good juxtaposition of Cars in that episode, the manly E Type and girly Lotus accelerating in equal times. regards from no.63
ReplyDeleteHello Matthew,
DeleteNice to hear from you.
I can confirm the registration number plate for the Lotus Elan is LVF 120E.
Good luck with the 'Girl Who Was Death' Corgi Diecast Car Prisoner Special Gift Set. It sounds an interesting project.
Regards
David
thankyou David! most kind of you to reply so quickly, glad I got it right but was a bit vague on the confirming parts of the plate. if I can I'll get some photo's to you of the project, nearly there with them including hopefully driving figures of No.6 and the striking 'Femme Fatale' Justine Lord who I must say was very impressive in that role. Will look for more here to read about her hopefully but thanks again David, top work. 'Be Seeing You'
DeleteThank you Matthew. This is a very exciting project, nothing like this has been done before regarding TGWWD, and with driving figures, I'm impressed. I look forward to seeing some photographs of said project, most kind of you.
DeletePlease keep in touch, if you wish here is my email address stimpyfor6@msn.com
Be seeing you
David