Myth Buster
Minder’s Ford Capri
Debunking the most common old wives’ tales 1 TERRY SHOULD HAVE HAD AN ESCORT MkII
Indeed. He was originally meant to drive an Escort MkII Harrier, but such an expensive, desirable car was deemed to be out of reach for an ex-lag. Enter a certain soon-tobe-iconic Polar White Capri MkII 2.0S – smart enough for Terry’s requirements, but still within his means. The aforementioned Escort never quite left Terry’s sight, though – it appears in the background of every 1979-1989 Minder title sequence as he and Arthur famously close the deal on the Capri.
2 THERE WAS ONLY ONE CAPRI – SLE 71R
In fact, two Fords wore the
SLE 71R mark associated with Terry McCann’s car – a MkI that appears briefly in Series 2 and the far better known MkII 2.0S that survives today. Terry also drove four other MkIIs with different registration numbers, one of which (RLW 17R) reverts to SLE 71R in Series 1! Subsequent series saw Terry also at the wheel of various Capri MkIIIs. The SLE 71R plate also appeared on a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow on the other side of the law in a promotional shot featuring Gordon Jackson, better known as George Cowley of The Professionals.
3 IT NEARLY GOT CRUSHED
SLE 71R found itself in a metal recyclers after Minder ended but Capri Club International chairman, John Hill, stepped in to save it. He said: ‘ The club was offered the 2.0 S in the Eighties via a scrapyard.’ On realising that it was no ordinary Capri, thanks to its distinctive registration number he cashed it in for three times the then-going value of a Capri MkII. The club then commissioned Capri Care of Milton Keynes to restore it. The car passed to a collector, who sold it in an H&H auction for £52,000 in 2016.