Holy roller

Whether driving a convertible Range Rover in Octopussy, a Lotus Esprit in For Your Eyes Only, an Aston Martin DBS in The Persuaders! or that “other” silver DB5 in The Cannonball Run as pseudo-007 Seymour Goldfarb Jr, the late Sir Roger Moore always made a car look cool.

Yet seldom did he seem more urbane than at the controls of his white Volvo P1800 while starring as Simon Templar in the television series The Saint, a part he played through much of the 1960s, and which set him up to be the third official cinematic James Bond (not counting David Niven’s appearance in Casino Royale, a 007 parody made in 1967).

That Volvo and its unmistakeable ST 1 registration might be synonymous with Templar, but it wasn’t the only car he drove in the series – in the final episode, The World Beater, screened in 1969, he’s seen competing in a rally in the Marcos 1600 GT pictured here. The car’s moment of fame came after the customer who originally ordered it failed to go through with the purchase, leaving it to be sold to an engineer from Borehamwood – who worked at nearby Elstree Studios, where The Saint was filmed.

Other than the celluloid record of Moore driving the car, little is known of its history before it was tracked down and bought, decades later, by former Marcos Cars workshop manager Rory McMath. By then painted black, the car was almost unrecognisable – save for its distinctive registration plate, BAR 64F.

McMath kept the car until 2020, then sold it to a fan of The Saint who commissioned McMath’s firm, the leading marque specialist Marcos Heritage, to restore it to its exact specification during that fleeting small-screen appearance. Now in pristine condition, with its white paintwork gleaming and its sporting interior reupholstered in the correct red leather, the car retains its original chassis, gearbox, Ford 1600 GT engine and fold-back Webasto sunroof – but also benefits from a host of tweaks added during the rebuild.

These include an engine tuned to “fast road” specification, uprated brakes and suspension, and a more vocal big bore exhaust system (of which the gentlemanly Templar may well not have approved). If you fancy picking up where the Saint left off, the Marcos is set to cross the block at the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale on June 24. It won’t be the first car with filmic provenance to be sold by the house – or, indeed, the first to have passed through Moore’s hands.

Back in 2014, the Aston Martin DBS he drove while playing Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders! achieved a record £533,000 at a sale dedicated to the marque, and in 2020 the Mercury Cougar that appeared alongside George Lazenby’s Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service achieved £356,500 – more than double the estimate.

Bonhams has also sold the Leslie Special driven by Tony Curtis – Moore’s co-star in The Persuaders! – in the 1965 film The Great Race (it fetched $112,000 in 2019), and the 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible that features alongside Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. The star kept the car after making the film, but had it auctioned by Bonhams earlier this year, where it sold for $335,000.

The Simon Templar Marcos 1600 GT is more modestly estimated at £70,000-£80,000. As any Marcos fan will know, that is considerably more than examples of the car typically sell for, but few can match BAR 64F for condition. And no other example, of course, benefits from the Saint’s famous halo effect.

This sporty Marcos 1600 GT earned its stripes with an appearance in The Saint, driven by Roger Moore. Immaculately restored inside and out, it is sure to raise a few bids – and eyebrows – at the Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale

Words by Simon de Burton

BONHAMS

Far left: Roger Moore as the Saint, with the Marcos 1600 GT. Above: the restored devil-red leather interior