Cars of UFO !

<html> <body bgcolor="#000000" link="#FFFFFF"> <font color="#1FFF00" face="Comic Sans MS" > <center> <h1>Cars from UFO !</h1><P><P><P> <h2 bgcolor="#ff0000"> </h2> <img src="http://toolbox.omnis.com/bin/counter.cgi?df=www.epguides.com.comics..shado.count|sh=0"> </font> </center> </body> </html> <body bgcolor="#000000" link="#FFFFFF"> <font color="#1FFF00"> <p><center><img src=" banner.jpg"> <p align="justify" > <p align="justify"> UFO is a British TV series by Gerry Anderson of Thunderbirds and Space: 1999 fame. The series was produced in 1969 and 1970 and began airing in England in the fall of 1970, it would take several years for all 26 episodes produced to be broadcast. A list of the episodes and airdates (for ATV in the Midlands) can be found <a href="http://epguides.com/ufo/">here</a>.</p> <p align="justify"> The series was set in the then future of 1980 and dealt with the efforts of SHADO a secret organization, whose headquarters were hidden beneath a film studio. SHADO's function was to protect Earth and mankind from alien invaders. To accomplish this they had a plethora of advanced technology, like aircraft, spaceships, a submarine with a jet fighter in its bow and a fully operational moonbase manned by hot women with purple hair. All of these vehicles were brought to the screen via very impressive, even by 2010 standards, model work. Two of the vehicles in UFO were not models but full sized vehicles there were the cars driven by SHADO's commander Ed Straker and one SHADO's field commanders Paul Foster.</p> <center> <P>Straker in his car<P> <img src=" straker.jpg"><P> Foster next to his car<P> <img src=" fostercar.jpg"></center> <p align="justify"> To the world at large both cars looked to be fancy custom sports cars, the type you would expect film company executives to drive. SHADO personal had working at the film studio as their cover. In reality they were fitted with many high tech devices such as: Car phones, radar, surveillance detection equipment and an alarm that goes off in SHADO HQ should anyone attempt to get into the car. They also had counter-balanced gull wing doors that opened at a touch of a button. They were also incredibly fast being able to outrun interstellar spaceships that had entered Earth's atmosphere while on the ground!</p> <P><center><img src=" ufoandcar2.jpg"> <p align="justify"> In reality however the cars as shown on screen were much cooler than they were on the set. Both cars were left over from Anderson's earlier feature film Doppleganger, known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun in America. Many props, costumes, models and actors from this film wound up being reused in UFO. Although the cars were modified for the TV series.</p> <p align="justify"> Three cars appeared in Doppleganger, and it is unknown why the third car never made it to UFO. Depending on whose story one believes the cars were either designed by special effects creator Derek Meddings or else by Ford stylist Len Bailey. The cars however were built by Alan Mann Racing on Ford Zephyr IV chassis and were powered by a Ford Cortina 1600 engine. The bodies themselves were hand made out of aluminium. The doors did not automatically open at a touch of a button. Instead when it was required to show someone getting out of a car, a stage hand off screen would manually lift the door. On at least one episode the door lifter's reflection can be seen in the window of the car. Pictures of the cars with the doors open always reveal some type of support keeping the door up. According to the actors who drove them the cars did not handle very well nor were they capable of going very fast. To show them at highway speeds, the film camera was slowed down to make it look like they were going faster when the film was shown at its proper speed.</p> <P><center> A car from Doppleganger<P> <img src=" doppleganger.jpg"> <p align="justify"> Although the 1980s would bring about car phones, the other advanced features of the SHADO cars have yet to see the light of day. But then again neither has the moonbase. The cars most distinctive feature, their gull wing doors, never made it mainstream. In the 1970's just shy of 3000 gullwinged doors Bricklins were made in Canada. While in the early 1980s under 10,000 Deloreans, made famous by Back to the Future, were manufactured in Northern Ireland.</p> <P><center> A Bricklin, the only gull wing door car made between the time UFO was produced and when it was set. <img src=" bricklin.jpg"><P><P><P> <img src="http://toolbox.omnis.com/bin/counter.cgi?df=www.epguides.com.comics.shadobody.asp"> </p> </body> </html> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final/EN"> <html> <body bgcolor="#000000" link="#FFFFFF"> <font color="#1FFF00"> <center><p> <a href="body.shtml" target="middlebit">Home</a> | <a href="straker.shtml" target="middlebit">Straker's Car</a> | <a href="foster.shtml" target="middlebit">Foster's Car</a<br> Last updated: Tuesday March 31 2026 </center> </font> </body> </html>