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CI5 Shootout<br />
The<br />
Profession<br />
Anarchy, terrorism, huge<br />
collars and smirks. To help<br />
combat it all we’ve assembled<br />
six special cars for a final<br />
showdown. Okay, sunshine?<br />
WORDS ANDREW ROBERTS INTERVIEWS<br />
DANNY HOPKINS PHOTOS MATT HOWELL<br />
F<br />
ifty minutes of airtime on the<br />
evening of December 30,<br />
1977, was all it took. The first<br />
episode of The Professionals<br />
redefined notions of what a British cop<br />
show could be. It was produced by Brian<br />
Clemens, the man behind The Avengers.<br />
Every script contained the words ‘malt<br />
Scotch’ and ‘sunshine’, and every edition<br />
saw William Bodie (Lewis Collins) and<br />
Ray Doyle (Martin Shaw), agents with<br />
C15 – Central Intelligence 5 – performing<br />
the finest handbrake turns and rearview<br />
mirror smirking in the history of ITV.<br />
Today we’ve drifted to a halt in the<br />
grounds of Harefield Grove Farm, CI5’s<br />
HQ in series one, and reassembled the<br />
six principal cars in The Professionals’<br />
motor pool. The show used a variety of<br />
vehicles, including Vauxhall Carltons,<br />
Datsun 180B Bluebirds and a Suzuki<br />
SJ40. But with the iconic CI5 fleet, a<br />
single, simple question remains: which<br />
is the ultimate Professionals car?<br />
➽<br />
24<br />
<strong>FORD</strong> <strong>CAPRI</strong> GUIDE 2015 // PRACTICAL CLASSICS<br />
www.practicalclassics.co.uk
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