Fords in film: Every car a screen star

From left: 'Bessie' from Doctor Who, a Ford Granada as seen in The Sweeney, the Anglia 105E from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, FAB1 from Thunderbirds, the Mondeo in Casino Royale. Photo / Supplied

It's nostalgia time as Ford celebrates its centenary with a roll-out of some very special performers from the movies and TV.

It won't be hard to guess the common thread between this eclectic group of vehicles - they're all famous television and movie cars based on Ford vehicles.

The quintet in the photograph opposite were wheeled out last week at Elstree Studios in London, as part of Ford of Britain's centenary celebrations. From left to right, they include "Bessie" - the canary-yellow roadster from the Doctor Who sci-fi series - a Ford Granada as seen in later seasons of The Sweeney, the Anglia 105E from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and the outrageous Ford-badged FAB1 six-wheeler from the 2004 Thunderbirds movie. Last but certainly not least is a rather anonymous-looking 2007 Mondeo - if you can guess its significance, you're definitely a movie-car buff. We'll come back to it.

Bessie is second only to the Tardis as the most famous vehicle piloted by Doctor Who. It's primarily associated with the third doctor, played by John Pertwee (1970-74), although it appeared in subsequent series right up until 1997. In the show, Bessie boasted such features as an anti-theft forcefield, remote control and a "minimum inertia hyperdrive" that allowed it to stop suddenly without throwing passengers forward. In real life, Bessie was based on an Edwardian-style kit-car produced by a British company, using Ford Popular underpinnings.

The Sweeney Granada is the ringer of the group - an "as seen in" effort rather than the real thing. The only car known to survive from The Sweeney is the famous copper-coloured Consul GT featured in the first three series. The silver Granada shown is simply the same model/colour as that used in series four (1978) and the Sweeney 2 movie. A note for car geeks: the Granada used in the title sequence of series four has a different number plate from the car featured in the series proper and Sweeney 2 film - although they are probably the same vehicle. A similar Granada also features in The Professionals television series.

The origin of the Anglia from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is more straightforward. The car was even accompanied by its former owner at the Elstree photo shoot. "I'd been involved with Anglia clubs for 30 years when I was asked by the film-makers to provide a car for the movie," says John Coyler. "After that it just took off and I ended up supplying about 15."

Lady Penelope's pink FAB1 may be pure fantasy - in the Thunderbirds film it's multi-functional, gets plenty of CGI assistance and can take to the air if required. But the vehicle was built with the assistance of Ford and is fully road-legal. It's 8.1m long, features tandem seating for two under its glass canopy and rides on six 22-inch wheels. It features many styling cues from the Thunderbird production model on which it is based.

Ford of America celebrated its own television and movie cars in a similar way when it reached its centenary back in 2003. Some of the most famous include James Dean's 1949 Mercury in Rebel Without a Cause, the 1946 Fat Fender Ford Coupe from Grease, Steve McQueen's 1968 Mustang GT 390 in Bullitt, the Batmobile from the 1966 television series (originally a 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car) and the red-and-white Ford Gran Torino from Starsky & Hutch (1975-79).

And the humble Mondeo at Elstree Studios? It's from the 2007 movie Casino Royale and is the first car driven on-screen by Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. It's a hand-built prototype made before the model was launched, so it's probably the world's most special Mondeo. If you ever thought there could be such a thing.