Can you believe that The Sweeney, starring John Shaw and Dennis Waterman, first aired on our TV screens in 1975?

Alongside Shaw and Waterman, who starred as no-nonsense Scotland Yard detectives, Jack Regan and George Carter, were the cars which became almost as famous as the actors — particularly the the bronze, 3-litre Ford Consul GT used by Regan and Carter in the first two series, and frequently seen being driven round corners on its doorhandles.

The show was, and remains, so popular that since it first aired, The Sweeney has almost never been off our screens, and taking pride of place on the Classic Ford magazine display at the Classic Motor Show will be the starring Consul GT.

An icon of British television, Classic Ford recently told full story of the car from how it came to appear on screen, via Ford’s press fleet and its less well-known life after it was sold off. Can you believe that among the next six owners it belonged to a policeman and was used for meals-on-wheels deliveries? Or that it stayed within the outer London area for another 15 years?

Devoted owner ‘Mr Shifter’ took on the Consul in 1988, stripped it to a bare shell and gave it an extensive rebuild that was completed at Mid-Beds Vehicle Restoration. They were careful to retain the original extras specified by Euston Films, including sump and fuel tank guards and export-spec bracing across the bulkhead. In fact, other than replacement metalwork, 95 per cent of the car remains as it was on screen, including the interior.

The Consul returned to the road in 2019 and has caused a sensation ever since — 50 years after its last appearance on screen this Consul is more famous than ever, and you can see it in the metal on the Classic Ford magazine display in Hall 8.

Photos courtesy of Adrian Brannan/Classic Ford