RV8
seen on TV series
Paul
Mascall in Australia posted a note on the V8BB syaying "this
might be today's useless piece of information, or it may even
be old information, but I am sitting here watching "Vanity
dies hard" - a 1995 (or thereabouts) episode of a Ruth
Rendell mystery series. Blow me down but an RV8 features quite
prominently in the show. I'm not sure of the correct colour
description, but it appears to be an iridescent blue. I've never
seen our pride and joy on TV before!"
Victor Smith responded "not useless, just a lighthearted
thread! From my online
checks it seems this episode was first aired in the UK on
31st March 1995 so the RV8 would have been a topical choice
as a vehicle prop. Unfortunately the online notes don't mention
the car."
Update: David Knowles has traced
some photos from the series. 121111
More
Posted: 111111
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David
Knowles has sent in a screen grab from the Ruth
Rendell TV series showing an RV8 with the registration
plate L 251 CDU. He had responded to Paul saying
"it seems this was a three-part drama filmed
in Hampshire first shown in the UK in March 1995."
Then Ron Toothill spotted the clip
on YouTube and reported he had seen the registration
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number
as L 251 CDU.
David Knowles responded "I can now fill in
some gaps - for one thing, the leading male heart-throb
is the late Mark Frankel who also drove an RV8 in
the forgettable rom-com film 'Solitaire for Two'.
Mark was killed in a motorcycle accident about a
year after this programme was made. Now L 251 CDU
does not exist – at least according to the
DVLA records in the UK – but K 251 CDU was
a Le Mans Green dealer demonstration car (VIN 900006)
which appears to have disappeared off the radar
in 1994. Could this be that car? Perhaps the makers
of the programme wanted a false plate, and maybe
they thought that a ‘K’ prefix was already
‘too old’ in 1994/5 for something that
is supposed to represent a new gift from bride to
her groom. Ron, your next mission, should you choose
to accept it, is to find the episode of ITV's 'Peak
Practice' featuring an RV8. It is almost certainly
the same car, but possibly wearing its real number,
K251 CDU. "
Victor Smith added "Yes there is a K 251 CDU
(Le Mans Green VIN900006) ADDVAL13 on the V8 Database
which is recorded as a "customer viewing and
dealer support car" and that it was "used
in the PeaK Practice TV series" screened in
the UK back in the 1990s. So it seems it has been
used as a TV prop before. I think David is likely
to be on the right track in suggesting MG Rover
used a false plate changing the ageing prefix "K"
for an "L". Yes this car seems to have
vanished as we have no record of its whereabouts." |
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