The Story of true FAB 1 (first part)
La FAB 1 is the car of Lady Penelope Thunderbirds Film (The Thunderbirds), an animated television series created by British Sylvia and Gerry Anderson. A series of 32 episodes 50 minute broadcast between 1965 and 1966 on ITV1 in England. The series aired in the late 60 in Quebec, and from 1976 in France. In 1966, a movie, always in puppet animation, Thunderbirds Are Go, was produced by Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, and this is where the story of the real FAB 1 begins.
In 2004, a film real people came out in a second room with FAB 1, see the page dedicated to this car on Sixmania.
Sixmania also hosts a page on the FAB 1 original and its diverse and numerous reproductions.
La FAB 1 is a well-known car by its characteristics. It is a pink Rolls Royce equipped with an oblique grille, to 6 drive wheels which 4 directional front and surmounted by a bubble roof. his driver, Parker, the driver on a front center seat, and a bench is present to accommodate passengers in the rear. It is full of gadgets, lance-missiles, machine guns, radars, it is amphibious and sometimes she flies !
A base, FAB 1 is a scale model of the son puppets used for the series. In reality, she is against plywood and measurement 2,10 meters. It was designed in 1964 by Derek Meddings team, visual effects supervisor, and has cost 2.500,00 £ back then, is around 42.000 € Today. The construction of the model was supervised by Rolls-Royce, which accounts for the wide grille. Given its fragility and its price, special procedures had been put in place during filming.
So, in 1966, Sylvia and Gerry Anderson released the film Thunderbirds Are Go. To promote this film, Anderson decided to build a replica of the actual FOB 1.
They entrust this construction to Toby Baxter company located in Biggleswade , Bedfordshire county in England, under the supervision of Sylvia Anderson.
Given the impressive size of the FAB 1 (6,50 meters 3 tonnes) and its system of 4 steerable wheels on the front, it was decided to use a bus chassis Bedford Duple Vega.
This chassis will be narrowed in length and axles enlarged to fit the original model. The gasoline engine 6 Bedford cylinders will be kept. The automatic gearbox is a Powerglide to 2 General Motors speeds. A tubular chassis ballasted will be mounted on the base Bedford. A fiberglass body will be fixed on the whole. The wheels will be provided by Land Rover, bullet aluminum shocks will be created for the occasion by a specialized company and the windshield bubble will be manufactured in Perspex, a plexiglas. 2 parts of the bubble will rise with an auger system to allow boarding in the FAB 1. As on the original, the 2 doors open vertically and fold underbody.
But what about the grille ? I do not know if a request was made or not Rolls Royce, Is it always a false front grille was built, inclined forwardly, with movable vertical slats to allow the exit of the machine gun before. The radiator cap and logo Rolls Royce summers taken on the replica, without the permission of Rolls Royce.
I guess his photos of the construction of the FAB 1 exist because Toby Baxter made a mistake, the headlights are among 6 and not of 4 !
To end specifications, license plates were rotating, with the famous FAB 1 on one side and the true registration of the other side, to allow him to ride on English roads. A Plexiglas had been added to protect the system from weather. The car's interior was reproduced quite faithfully, with a central driving seat, and a back seat. white leather piping on the seats have also reproduced summers, and the microphone attached to the driver's seat.
To my taste, only the dashboard, the steering wheel and the wheels do not look at all like the original.
240 km/h ? impossible with a bus engine !
The evening of the film, FAB 1 broke down after a few hundred meters, Sylvia and Gerry Anderson were forced to finish their journey by taxi !
Sylvia et Gerry Anderson. Lady Penelope's features have created summers on the facial features of Sylvia Anderson.
Rolls Royce has found that the body was not well done. They especially through the fact that the company Toby Baxter had used the Spirit of Ecstasy, emblem on the radiator cap and the RR logo without asking permission. Rolls Royce then began looking to buy the FAB 1 to destroy. Without having succeeded, Rolls Royce still got that society changes grille, the new logo was an LP. Apparently, La FAB 1 in anyway involved in film promotion, and was featured on many shows. The film, on the other hand, does not it seem at all market when it came out, but later became cult.
La FAB 1 then disappeared for many years, fans of the series were convinced that Rolls Royce had finally destroy ...
Several years later, Peter Nelson, a collector began in search of the FAB 1 to restore and show in his museum Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, in Cumbria, northwest England. He eventually find her abandoned in a barn. He completely redone, improving some details like the pointy hubcaps, Removal of the Plexiglas the registration plate, Additional projectors, front turn signals and mirrors.
Stars Motor Museum
This collection included only movie vehicles like KITT, the Batmobile, ou la Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Sadly, this European Museum has closed its doors 8 May 2011 and almost all vehicles sold in summers American collector Michael Dezer, founder of the Museum Auto Museum in Miami, Florida.
The sale of the FAB 1 was very lively because the Rolls Royce wanted again to destroy, the Bee Gees group also wanted the, Michael Dezer as that mounted high bids to acquire.
La FAB 1 is still today in Miami, with other star cars. I can tell you that it is forbidden to take photos in the museum !
The history of the FAB 1 is over. In fact the second FAB model 1 real has nothing to do with the first model…
The following, it's this way : Second part !
strongly following the adventure ….. 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful story that reminds me of my childhood .