Fire up the Escort!
Life on Mars actor Philip Glenister helps to restore six classic British cars
In the minds of TV viewers, Philip Glenister is inextricably linked with the Ford Cortina Mark III and Audi Quattro, thanks to his role as Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. Now, the 51 year old actor is getting behind the wheel of more classic vehicles for a new Channel 4 series which aims to tell the story of Britain’s post-war automobile industry through the restoration of six iconic motors: a Ford Escort Mexico, 1947 MG TC, Austin Mini Cooper MK1, Triumph Stag, Land Rover and a DeLorean. For the Love of Cars follows Glenister as he oversees the rebuilding of the cars and meets past and present owners before the gleaming motors are sold at auction.
The Car’s the Star
Gene Hunt’s catchphrase may have been ‘Fire up the Quattro’, but Glenister is the first to admit he is no expert when it comes to what goes on under the bonnet. ‘I don’t really know anything about cars really,’ he says. ‘I’m not a petrolhead, but I do like the aesthetic aspect of them. Appropriately, he says he love of cars originated in the TV shows he watched as a child. ‘Cars seemed to be much more prominent on TV series back then, from The Persuaders and The Saint to American shows like Starsky & Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard.’
Hunt the Shunt
Glenister has previously been seen flooring it round a test track in a Lacetti as the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear, where Jeremy Clarkson gave him a hard time about the authenticity of Hunt’s Cortina in Life on Mars, but the Mad Dogs actor says he is usually a cautious driver. ‘Touch wood, I’ve never had a major accident,’ he reveals. ‘But I had a close shave as a passenger in a friend’s Golf GTi. We were coming back from the pub and I was in the back seat with a half pint of lager. We were going too fast and the car took off, when over the hedge and landed in a field. Through it all I still had my lager – not a drop had been spilt – but had it been a wall and not a hedge, I wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale.
Back to the Fuchsia
Despite having no mechanical know0how, Glenister was allowed to play one vital role in the makeover process. ‘I chose the colours,’ he says proudly. ‘I was the Laurence Llewelyn-Bown of the car world and the colours are all in keeping with the cars. For instance, the Escort is a boy racer type of car, which is why I chose bright orange.’ The Escort and Mini Cooper certainly brought out the boy racer in him and were his two favourite of the six cars. He was considerably less keen on the stainless steel DeLorean. ‘It’s heavy, really wide, and to get it around corners is a really big effort. And those tiny windows on the doors? If you go to a drive-thru McDonald’s, you ain’t gonna get a Happy Meal through one of them…’
Dream Machines
Despite making the series, Glenister, whose own car history has included an Min Clubman and a BMW 330, can’t see himself owning a classic. ‘I used to fantasise about James Bond’s Aston Martin and the Ferrari Dino from the Persuaders,’ he admits. ‘But I think you have to know how they work and, as I said, I’m hopeless o the side of things.
In the minds of TV viewers, Philip Glenister is inextricably linked with the Ford Cortina Mark III and Audi Quattro, thanks to his role as Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes. Now, the 51 year old actor is getting behind the wheel of more classic vehicles for a new Channel 4 series which aims to tell the story of Britain’s post-war automobile industry through the restoration of six iconic motors: a Ford Escort Mexico, 1947 MG TC, Austin Mini Cooper MK1, Triumph Stag, Land Rover and a DeLorean. For the Love of Cars follows Glenister as he oversees the rebuilding of the cars and meets past and present owners before the gleaming motors are sold at auction.
The Car’s the Star
Gene Hunt’s catchphrase may have been ‘Fire up the Quattro’, but Glenister is the first to admit he is no expert when it comes to what goes on under the bonnet. ‘I don’t really know anything about cars really,’ he says. ‘I’m not a petrolhead, but I do like the aesthetic aspect of them. Appropriately, he says he love of cars originated in the TV shows he watched as a child. ‘Cars seemed to be much more prominent on TV series back then, from The Persuaders and The Saint to American shows like Starsky & Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard.’
Hunt the Shunt
Glenister has previously been seen flooring it round a test track in a Lacetti as the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear, where Jeremy Clarkson gave him a hard time about the authenticity of Hunt’s Cortina in Life on Mars, but the Mad Dogs actor says he is usually a cautious driver. ‘Touch wood, I’ve never had a major accident,’ he reveals. ‘But I had a close shave as a passenger in a friend’s Golf GTi. We were coming back from the pub and I was in the back seat with a half pint of lager. We were going too fast and the car took off, when over the hedge and landed in a field. Through it all I still had my lager – not a drop had been spilt – but had it been a wall and not a hedge, I wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale.
Back to the Fuchsia
Despite having no mechanical know0how, Glenister was allowed to play one vital role in the makeover process. ‘I chose the colours,’ he says proudly. ‘I was the Laurence Llewelyn-Bown of the car world and the colours are all in keeping with the cars. For instance, the Escort is a boy racer type of car, which is why I chose bright orange.’ The Escort and Mini Cooper certainly brought out the boy racer in him and were his two favourite of the six cars. He was considerably less keen on the stainless steel DeLorean. ‘It’s heavy, really wide, and to get it around corners is a really big effort. And those tiny windows on the doors? If you go to a drive-thru McDonald’s, you ain’t gonna get a Happy Meal through one of them…’
Dream Machines
Despite making the series, Glenister, whose own car history has included an Min Clubman and a BMW 330, can’t see himself owning a classic. ‘I used to fantasise about James Bond’s Aston Martin and the Ferrari Dino from the Persuaders,’ he admits. ‘But I think you have to know how they work and, as I said, I’m hopeless o the side of things.
