01/07/2025
Filmed in and around Elstree and London, the classic image of Roger Moore driving his Volvo sports car in the 1960's TV show, The Saint, endures even today.
Originally, the producers had asked to feature a Jaguar E-type. But the order book for E-types was full and Jaguar’s management couldn’t see the benefit in offering several of their cars for free just so it could appear in a fledgling TV series and declined to take part. So the acquisition of the Volvo P1800 was agreed with the Volvo management instead.
The Volvo Car Corporation supplied the The Saint television producers a total of five P1800 models for use on their show. Volvo happily supplied the first one in 1962, registered as 71 DXC, within a week of its being requested. The Saint's car carried registration ST1; but this was added purely for filming, the plates often crudely hooked over the official number plate while shooting took place.
In 1964, Volvo moved production of the P1800 line from England to Sweden, and sent one of the new 1800S models, registration 77 GYL, to the set of The Saint. The first car was then chopped up for better interior shot access.
Three years later, in 1967, Volvo supplied yet another car. This car, however, didn't get much use as it was wrecked in a crash fairly soon after its arrival. The production company did manage to salvage some of the parts, and used them to update the 1964 car with the new straight bumpers, chrome, and more modern trim rings for the wheels.
A short time after the crash, Volvo supplied two more cars. One, registered as NUV 647E, was used for Roger Moore's personal use, and the other, NUV 648E, was used for filming.😍❤
