FAB 1
FAB 1 (1960s) | |
---|---|
Defences | Bulletproof construction |
Maximum speed | Over 200 miles per hour (320 km/h)[2][3] On water: 50 knots (58 mph; 93 km/h)[2] |
Propulsion | Rolls-Royce gas turbine On water: Vortex aquajet |
Power | Conventional fuel sources, boosted by solid oxide fuel cells[1] |
Mass | 3 tons[2] |
Length | 21 feet (6.4 m)[2][3] |
Width | 8 feet (2.4 m)[2] |
FAB 1 is a pink, six-wheeled car seen in the 1960s British science-fiction television series Thunderbirds,[4][5] its three film adaptations and its reboot, Thunderbirds Are Go.
Depiction
1960s TV series and films
In the original Thunderbirds (1965–66), as well as the feature films Thunderbirds Are Go (1966)[6] and Thunderbird 6 (1968),[7] FAB 1 is depicted as a modified Rolls-Royce. Owned by International Rescue agent Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, the car is usually driven by her butler, Aloysius Parker. The driver sits in a central position at the front of the passenger compartment, which is covered by a bulletproof bubble canopy.
FAB 1 was modified by Brains, the inventor of the Thunderbirds machines, to include weaponry and gadgetry such as front- and rear-mounted machine guns (although grappling hooks are seen to shoot out of the rear in the episode "The Perils of Penelope"). The car is also equipped with a smoke screen canister and oil slick dispenser, extendable tyre studs (for increased traction), and hydrofoils and skis (for travel on water and snow).
Background
On the choice of make, series co-creator Gerry Anderson said: "Considering [Penelope's] personality, and the role she played in International Rescue, it could only be a Rolls-Royce."[8] AP Films (APF) approached Rolls-Royce Limited, which consented to the use of its brand. In 2004, Rolls-Royce's head of public relations in the 1960s said that the company "couldn't see any harm in [APF's] request, and as the series was aimed at children we thought it would be good for the cars – give them a modern image and, you never know, inspire a child to own one, one day."[9] In return for its co-operation, the company asked that all on-screen references to the make of the car use the full brand name "Rolls-Royce", rather than the abbreviation "Rolls".[10]
To distinguish the look from that of real-life cars, designer Derek Meddings gave FAB 1 a six-wheel drive.[11] He said that his decision to place two sets of wheels at the front, instead of at the back, was motivated purely by aesthetics: "My excuse [...] was that the engine was so big and powerful it needed them, but it wasn't done for any technical reason."[10] He remembered FAB 1 for its "outrageous styling, which bore no resemblance to any Rolls-Royce ever produced".[12]
Several shooting models were built in various sizes, the smallest being a six-inch-long (15 cm) miniature and the largest a puppet-size version, measuring six or seven feet (1.8 or 2.1 m), to accommodate the 1⁄3 human-scale marionette characters.
Noting FAB 1's weaponry and gadgets, Robert Sellers and Marcus Hearn liken the car to the modified Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond in the films Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965).[10][17]
2004 film
FAB 1 (2004) | |
---|---|
mini-guns 2 heat-seeking missile launchers 2 torpedo tubes | |
Maximum speed | 320 kilometres per hour (200 mph) On water: 180 or 185 km/h (112 or 115 mph; 97 or 100 kn) In air: 9,120 km/h (5,670 mph; 4,920 kn) |
Propulsion | Gas turbine jet engine Mini hover engines |
Power | Miniature nuclear fusion reactor |
Mass | 3.4 tonnes (3.3 long tons; 3.7 short tons) |
Length | 7.9 metres (26 ft) |
Width | 2.1 metres (6 ft 11 in) 3.5 metres (11 ft) with hydrofoils deployed 4.7 metres (15 ft) with wings deployed |
Height | 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in)[18] |
In the 2004 live-action film,
Background
Ford's designers said that due to the car's versatility, "there was a level of restriction that we had to encompass [...] Then we had to identify the link with the Thunderbirds theme and, from our perspective, identify a T-bird essence that wasn't a deliberate rip-off."[9] The finished car was fully functional and roadworthy, and appeared in a segment of the motoring TV series Top Gear, during which it was road-tested by presenter James May. May noted that it was not the most practical of cars, its excessive length making it difficult to drive through small English villages. Testing the car for The Daily Telegraph, Ian Adcock compared the driver's section to a "command module", noting its armrest controls and "fighter aircraft-style joystick" in place of a conventional steering wheel. He also observed that the car "understeers like a yacht, so you constantly have to feed more and more lock on as you power through corners."[9]
Following its appearance in the film, the car was put on display at the
-
Top view
-
Side-rear view
-
At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 2004
-
Interior, 2012
-
Interior close-up, 2015
Thunderbirds Are Go (TV series)
In the remake series Thunderbirds Are Go, FAB 1 is given a slightly different design that still retains a Rolls-Royce silhouette and is as close to a Rolls-Royce as possible without actually being one. It has the classic pink colour scheme from the original, but the colour is no longer solid throughout the body, as the hood and trunk covers are now a dark grey-silver colour (heavily resembling the real Rolls-Royce Ghost "FAB-1" charity car). The headlights are more streamlined and the wheels are larger, though the tires are thinner. It still retains the same role it has in the original series with new features compared to its original counterpart, being capable of flying much like its live-action counterpart and can also travel under water, as well as an electromagnetic grille concealing numerous tools, and a camouflage setting which turns the car black. All machine guns have been removed, including the one in the grille, and replaced with explosives such as missiles and torpedoes but still retains the smoke screen and oil slick dispensers.
The original series' FAB 1 features heavily in the episode "Designated Driver", where it is renamed FAB 0 and has the same flight capabilities as, and similar gadgets to, this series' FAB 1.
Replica cars
In 1968 (not 1966, as many mistakenly believe), a 22-foot-long (6.7 m) replica of FAB 1, based on a "Chinese six" (four front, two back)
On the night of the premiere, the replica broke down after a few hundred yards and the Andersons were forced to complete the journey by taxi. Rolls-Royce were unimpressed by the car and made several attempts to buy it and have it destroyed. For a time, the company were successful in forcing the removal of the genuine Rolls-Royce grille, which was replaced with a facsimile bearing the initials "LP". After a full restoration, the vehicle was installed at the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, Cumbria in 1989.[9][25] Concerned that the vehicle could distract motorists and even cause traffic accidents, the local police asked the museum's owner, Peter Nelson, not to drive it on public roads. Nelson described the car as "utterly scary [to drive] at any sort of speed."[9] The car was subsequently sold to the Miami Auto Museum at the Dezer Collection in Florida (now the Orlando Auto Museum).[26]
Gerry Anderson would later commission a second full-sized FAB 1 replica. This vehicle was a modified Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, with the bonnet line extended to house the six-wheel drive, complemented by double Ackermann steering. It did not have the bubble canopy or centre-mounted steering of the original, and apart from the pink paint job and re-trim, the passenger compartment was stock Rolls-Royce. This model attended Anderson's funeral on 13 January 2013.[27]
The UK vehicle registration "FAB 1" was first issued in July 1946. It was later assigned to a white Jaguar XJ6 before the number was purchased by broadcaster Chris Evans in 2012 for £75,000.[28] In 2013, the registration was temporarily assigned to a bespoke pink Rolls-Royce Ghost that had been donated for use in raising breast cancer awareness.[28][29]
FABs 2 and 3
FAB 2, Lady Penelope's private yacht, appears in the Thunderbirds episode "The Man from MI.5". At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Parker has lost the ship in a game of poker.[30] FAB 3, Penelope's racehorse, is kept at the Ascot stables and is the winner of many derby races.[31]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-85733-823-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84222-091-7.
- ^ a b Bentley, p. 50.
- ^ Thunderbirds (1965–66), Century 21 Television/ITC – various episodes.
- ^ FAB 1 (Lady Penelope's Rolls Royce): Century 21 Tech Talk. 13 April 2019 – via YouTube.
- ^ Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), Century 21 Cinema/United Artists.
- ^ Thunderbird 6 (1968), Century 21 Cinema/United Artists.
- ^ Archer and Nicholls, p. 104.
- ^ a b c d e f g Adcock, Ian (29 May 2004). "FAB Two". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 6 November 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-753-55635-1.
- ISBN 978-0-00-638247-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85028-243-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85283-900-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5.
- ^ a b c Bentley, p. 14.
- ^ Archer and Nicholls, p. 105.
- ISBN 978-0-85965-388-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19911-249-4.
- ^ motortrend.com. 3 December 2003. Archivedfrom the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ a b English, Andrew; Johnson, Sarah (24 January 2004). "Lady Penelope fails to persuade Rolls-Royce to go along for the ride". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ^ OCLC 894415863.
- OCLC 498428578.
- ^ Golder, Dave (17 November 2012). "Sci-Fi's Greatest Flying Cars". sfx.co.uk. Future plc. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012.
- British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. Archived(PDF) from the original on 16 November 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "Television Cars – FAB 1 – Thunderbirds". Keswick, UK: Cars of the Stars Motor Museum. p. 9. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "1968 Rolls-Royce (Replica) FAB1". orlandoautomuseum.com. Orlando Auto Museum. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "Gerry Anderson Funeral" – BBC South, 11 January 2013. YouTube.
- ^ aol.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "Pink Rolls-Royce Ghost FAB 1 supports Breast Cancer Care". carsuk.net. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ Thunderbirds (1965), Century 21 Television/ITC – Series 1, Episode 17: "The Man from MI.5".
- ^ Bentley, p. 59.
Works cited
- ISBN 978-0-09-922442-6.
- Bentley, Chris (2005) [2000]. The Complete Book of Thunderbirds (2nd ed.). London, UK: ISBN 978-1-84442-454-2.
External links
- Media related to FAB 1 at Wikimedia Commons