THE SWEENEY CONSUL GT
Against all odds the Consul GT from The Sweeney survived filming and, following an extensive restoration, is back out on the streets. We discover where it’s been since 1976…
Against all odds the Consul GT from The Sweeney survived filming and, following an extensive restoration, is back out to patrol the streets.
Yes, this is the genuine Consul GT from The Sweeney. Not a tribute or replica. The owner is Mr S, who prefers to keep his identity private, so we meet in a secret location where he confesses everything.
“When I was 19 I swapped a three-year-old Mk1 Cavalier for a Consul GT that I rebuilt and took to an early AGM for the MK1 Granada Owners’ Club,” remembers Mr S. “The Sweeney Consul turned up and attracted a lot of attention. The chap had only owned it a month and we got chatting, I showed him my GT and he took my number in case he wanted more info or parts for the car — which was fairly rare even then. Around three months later he phoned explaining he was buying a Lamborghini and did I want to buy the
Consul? In May 1988 we struck a deal. “He’d bought it from the Thames Valley Auto Trader, and there were six previous owners before him. I had a mate in the trade so was able to check the VIN and the engine numbers to confirm the car was exactly what it was said to be. Years later I was lucky enough to talk with Peter Brayham, who was stunt coordinator on many Sweeney episodes and had arranged for Ford to supply the Consul GT from its press fleet — hence the NHK numberplate. He confirmed various aspects of the car were correct including the extra bracing across the bulkhead, and the sump and fuel tank guards underneath. These parts were optional extras for the European market fitted by Ford when the Consul was new in anticipation of it being used for stuntwork. Peter Brayham also confirmed there never was a second stunt car and stunt drivers were on strict instructions not to damage the Consul — though inevitably it happened.”
Built in March 1974 with optional power steering and sunroof, the Consul went on longterm loan to Euston Films until 1975 when Ford phased out the Consul model and loaned the production a Granada S replacement. Although it still appeared on screen into 1976, the Consul had its various scratches and dents removed, then was sold through internal auction in 1975 to a Ford main dealer for onward retail sale.
The GT’s second owner was a Kent policeman. “He drove it to work every day and got a lot of mickey-taking,” laughs Mr S, who has spent the past 30 years tracking down his car’s history. “Everyone knew it was the Sweeney car but it wasn’t that big a deal then. One chap owned the Consul twice, apparently only selling it to stop his wife getting the car during a divorce.”
Another former owner was a paramedic who took full advantage of the spacious boot for his kit, as did a lady who used it for meals-on-wheels delivery. At one point it was stolen and recovered by police an hour later. “The Consul was fine but all the meals were gone… She sold the car to a couple who lived in the same block of flats — it stayed virtually within Slough right up until I bought it.”
Crunchy time
“I drove it for four months but the MoT guy said it needed a lot of structural work to pass its next ticket. Mechanically it was OK, but it had been poorly repainted and had drooped on the front passenger side following a recent crash — years later when we completely stripped the front end the nearside front chassis leg popped back into place with a huge bang. I could have repaired and plated over the rotten jacking points, sills and chassis
“OTHER THAN METALWORK, 95 PER CENT OF THE CAR REMAINS ORIGINAL”
legs but it was prolonging the agony, and another winter would have killed it, so in 1989 I stripped it to a rolling shell with my friend at his barn in Devon.” The Consul stayed there for the next 14 years while Mr S collected the panels needed for repairs. “Back then I had no idea how to restore it or even where to go for advice,” admits Mr S. “When my friend needed his barn the car stayed in my garage until 2004 when I left the Consul with a restorer in Bedfordshire. He started work on the offside undertaking repairs and fitting new panels, he even fabricated a new rear valance when I couldn’t find one.
“I had to have a break to recoup some funds and during this time we had a difference of opinion so I moved the Consul to a different restorer. They had a great fabricator who noted the offside rear wing had been mounted 6 mm too low. He fixed that, fitted a new rear panel, repaired the boot floor, fitted both inner wheel tubs and outer wings, reskinned three of the doors, added new inner and outer sills then replaced virtually everything ahead of the bulkhead barring the offside chassis leg and inner wing. I know it sounds like it’s a virtually new car but so much was rotten that it couldn’t have been repaired to a satisfactory standard. Other than metalwork, 95 per cent of the car remains original — including the driveline and the interior.
Put the boot in
“I was then contacted by someone offering all sorts of structural panels; he proved invaluable during the body restoration and again later when I had the underside of the shell sandblasted and it blew out all the previously repaired pinholes in the boot floor. The same guy had a new-old stock Ford boot floor, but warned me it couldn’t be fitted if the bodyshell was assembled because the floor was the first thing fitted at the factory. By then that fabricator who’d completed the metalwork had emigrated, but in 2013 I was given the details of a garage in Cumbria who had an old-school bodyshop technician working for them. He said he could fit the boot floor, but wouldn’t reveal the method. I made him promise not to cut anything up and two weeks later it was ready. It looked perfect — I still have no idea how he did it.”
Once the shell was complete Mid Beds Vehicle Restoration were tasked with putting the car back together. Mr S continues, “The whole interior went back in including the carpet, only the headlining was beyond saving. The engine was stripped; the block and heads were acid
“THE CONSUL WAS USED FOR A GOOD AMOUNT OF FAST DRIVING AND THE OCCASIONAL CAR CHASE”
washed, the bores were honed, the crankshaft polished and new bearings, big ends, pistons and rings fitted. It had only done 72,000 miles but had obviously sat for a long time in storage. MBVR also rebuilt the gearbox and the differential — the oil in both still looked fresh.”
“The wiring needed a few small repairs where an alarm was fitted previously, new headlights were added but the iconic driving lamps are the originals that only needed a polish. Every piece of glass is original too, the rear bumper was replaced since that was badly dented. The car also had Ghia-spec rear end trim fitted on the bootlid and wing tops so they were changed for the correct GT pieces.
“The plan was for the car to look like it did when it left the factory but I didn’t want a concours example,” admits Mr S. “It had to be resprayed because of all the fabrication work but the interior looks more obviously used. MBVR finished the car for me in August 2019 and it debuted at the Classic Motor Show that November. Since then it’s largely been in storage although I did a 60-mile drive for fun last weekend and I’ll be using it for car shows whenever I can.”
“I’m very proud of it. People usually recognise the car, but then I put on the driveway at the weekend and my neighbour said ‘nice Cortina’. We then chatted about classic cars for a half an hour and never once mentioned The Sweeney...” Thanks to: Mid Beds Vehicle Restoration (01767 317855, www.mbvr.co.uk), Dave Harvey, Pete Wilson, Tony Ulyatt, Paul Loveridge, Nigel Braithwaite and Richard Warren.