BOSSREG - Number One For Number Plates

The Cars The Star!

Well It Is In Graeme's Garage

The Cars The Star!

SOMEWHERE among the classic TV cop dramas like The Avengers, Starsky and Hutch and The Sweeney, The Professionals often gets lost, its exploits not as famous or as iconic as others.
For one Invernesian, though, The Professionals can’t be beaten.
Graeme Jamieson, 40, from Balvonie of Inches, sees many new models of cars in his day job in the motor trade, but it’s when he closes up for the night and goes home to his own collection of motors that he’s happiest.
You see, Graeme is such a fan of The Professionals that not only has he bought a number of models seen in the show, but he has also tracked down their number plates.
“I was a huge fan of the series,” he said. “I grew up watching it.
“I can remember being allowed to stay up late to watch The Professionals, which shows my age.”
Unlike many of the other British dramas of the time, The Professionals was based on a fictional government agency, CI5, and followed the exploits of George Cowley (Gordon Jackson), Raymond Doyle (Martin Shaw) and William Andrew Philip Bodie (Lewis Collins).
Of course what made The Professionals so popular was the fact that they used unconventional and sometimes illegal methods to beat the criminals. This often meant taking to the streets in their motors.
In later shows, the gang used Ford Capris and Granadas, but in the early years they were more likely to be seen in a Leyland Princess, a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, or Graeme’s favourite, the Rover SD1.
“My father had them when we were young, and seeing them on TV made them so cool,” he said.
“I always liked them. They were always quite ahead of their time.”
So when Graeme began collecting cars from the 1970s and 1980s, he decided it was the perfect time to get his hands on a yellow Rover SD1 just like his idol Gordon Jackson’s. The only issue was that, in order to get a nice model, he’d have to buy a few and dismantle them for their best bits.
“I’ve only owned this 1979 car since February, but I’ve got a few other SD1s which I keep for parts that are in good condition,” said Graeme.
“I got this one in Southend-on-Sea, through the SD1 Owners Club. These models are getting quite rare, because, unfortunately, the build quality was quite poor and very few have survived so they’re hard to get hold of.”
Graeme was fairly lucky in that this model had been well loved by its previous owners.
“The first owner had it until 2006, and had spent a fair bit of money on it over the years. In the folders I’ve got, there is £4,800 worth of receipts for work she had done from 1992-2006,” he said.
“She’d had engine rebuilds and all sorts of things. She was obviously very fond of it. She’s no longer with us, I’m afraid, and the chap who bought it was a family friend who couldn’t get the parts to get it back up to scratch so it was looking a little tired when I got it.”
So with some cosmetic work, Graeme set to work repairing the dodgy 1970s interior.
“The original parts are quite flimsy, so they were falling apart, and it was leaking water quite badly too,” he said.
“I had to change all of the doors and it was stripped down to a shell, and then put it back together with new parts, or ones that weren’t so tired.
“The windscreen had to be removed and resealed as it was letting in a lot of water. Luckily, with my spare cars that I’ve collected, I have some parts that are quite hard to get.
“The interior came from another car that had mechanically passed its sell-by date but hadn’t done a lot of miles. The roof lining was hanging down. They’re made with velour material, and the glue dries out and it sags down. I’ve seen a lot of these cars with the roof lining held up with drawing pins. Now, mine has a very good interior, and it makes it look like a new car again.”
It’s not just the paintwork or the model that makes this Rover a Professionals replica. Oh no, Graeme has gone the whole hog and sourced the number plate used on Gordon Jackson’s model in the series.
“When the show was launched in 1977, the car that Gordon Jackson was driving was MOC 229P. Because that car was actually a year old, they wanted to make it look like he had this fantastic new model so they changed the plate to MOO and changed the P to an R with some black tape, so that’s how his number plate came to be,” he said.
“That number was never actually issued until 2003, when the DVLA were having an auction. They tried their hand at looking up some of the plates that were used in different TV shows. The Italian Job ones were in the same lot. I bought this before I got the Rover, and some others from The Professionals too.
“I think it just finishes it off.”
Though he has never taken part in any car chases like those so popular in The Professionals, he has taken on one mammoth trip in the Rover.
“I have taken the car to a couple of classic shows and it always gets a lot of attention, but the best trip was to a car meet in London,” he said.
“We drove it down and back again in two days and didn’t have any bother with it. The chap who had it before me had it for five years and did 600 miles, and then I did 700 in a day and a half.
“The car did me proud.”
What’s your favourite car from TV or film? People in Aberdeen give their views...
“It has to be James Bond’s Aston Martin Vantage. It’s a modern classic, and it’s got a really sleek look. Plus it has a feature that turns it invisible, which is just brilliant.”
Angus Turner, 22, PR consultant
“The Chevrolet Camaro Bumblebee from Transformers is awesome. It’s a great-looking American car, it can talk and, best of all, it comes with Megan Fox.”
Greg Cooper, 21, electronic engineering student
“I first saw the Mitsubishi Evo in Fast and Furious and knew I had to have one. I have one now, and I am in love with it.”
Riccardo DeNiro, 29, hair stylist
“I quite like Mr Bean’s Mini, because it’s really quirky.”
Rebecca Sutherland, 22, pharmacy graduate
“I love Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It must be one of the most famous cars. Mind you, I quite like Rodney and Del Boy’s Reliant Robin too.”
Amina Belfakih, 20, retail assistant
“I really like the Bugatti Veyron in Chris Brown and Lil Wayne’s video for I Can Transform Ya. It’s slick, it’s got swag. You could get a lot of ladies in a car like that.”
DJ Kojo, 32, DJ

2012-12