Insomnia - Inspector Morse Lancia

[frankxhv773t]

I just re-read this thread and thought about the 1975 publication date for the first book.

So going a bit off piste here, Morse was a chief inspector, he lived in a flat in an old house which I don't think would have been enormously expensive back then, but he indulged himself with the finer things in life. That would mean he was quite well paid, with low outgoings but having to drive around Oxfordshire for work might he not have gone for a new car. Is the old car idea another BBC invention? Also Lewis had to take Morse's car out once and remarked on its' performance.

So here's a guess for the Beta Boys.........a dark blue Beta Sedan. Elegant in a modern way, still quite special in the early seventies before rust (or was it Esther Rantzen and the daily Hate Mail ) tarnished its' reputation and performance worth remarking on.

Now somebody will tell me that the books say it was an old  car and spoil my idea.

Frank

[Neil]

Alan, it was ITV not The BBC who made the series and broadcast them over the years.

[westernlancia]

Alan, it was ITV not The BBC who made the series and broadcast them over the years.

Oops! Mind you, they were even worse! I particularly hate the Beeb though, because I wrote things for them 3 times, and none of the experiences was in any way positive!

[stanley sweet]

I am re-reading the Inspector Morse novels as a cure for insomnia and have always known that the learned gent drove a Lancia rather than the Jaguar ..... but which one ?

My money would be on a gunmetal or 'blu Lancia' Flavia 1800 or 2000 berlina. I had always thought a Flam until I saw the quote about 300 miles to the tankful (in your dreams, with a Flam). But in that case it has to be a Flavia 1.8 or 2000 berlina - the 50s cars would be too old, the 1500 is too slow, the coupés not dignified enough, and the colours choose themselves.

I have always though the choice of a Mk2 Jag for the TV prog showed what a low state the Beeb was in at the time (actually even worse now...) - wrong colour, vinyl roof was because it was a write-off bought cheaply from a scrapyard (whatever Peter says!), and most of all, wrong kind of car.

In the 70s Mk2 Jags had NO image, and were driven by thugs, petty crooks and bank robbers (on TV and in real life), simply because they were fast, common and cheap (not the ideal car for Morse then!). The idea of someone who loved opera and the finer things in life driving one back then would have been completely preposterous and just shows that the Beeb will have sent some spotty 22-year-old, who knew sod all about cars and cared less, down the nearest scrapyard to White City with £150, which was par for the course for them both then and now (cf. Top Gear). A Lancia as specified by Colin Dexter, however, was right on the money for the character.

What a shame the Beeb had to go and dumb it down. A shame, but not a surprise.

Being brought up in the East End in the 60's if someone had a Mk II Jag we would say he has a 'bank robbers Jag'.

[westernlancia]

Being brought up in the East End in the 60's if someone had a Mk II Jag we would say he has a 'bank robbers Jag'.

Exactly - Mk2s were more Kray twins than Inspector Morse!

[frankxhv773t]

I saw a documentary featuring one of the drivers from the Great train Robbery (the drivers were lads who fancied themselves a bit as racing drivers rather than hardened criminals) he said what they really wanted was Aurelias but the Ford Cortina Lotus' were more available.

[westernlancia]

I saw a documentary featuring one of the drivers from the Great train Robbery (the drivers were lads who fancied themselves a bit as racing drivers rather than hardened criminals) he said what they really wanted was Aurelias but the Ford Cortina Lotus' were more available.

Crooks with taste!