... He was the (in)famous Simon Templar, a.k.a. The Saint.

Those old enough to remember (or who have seen it on some classic pay TV station over the years) will know well the distinctive high pitched "deoo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doooooo" theme song, the stick figure with the halo in the opening credits, and of course the fact that before Roger Moore went on Her Majesty's Secret Service (yes, I know, wrong Bond) his most notable role was as Simon Templar, the (anti) hero of Leslie Charteris' "The Saint" books. Moore's Templar was a much more refined character than the books' one; robbing from the bad, giving to the poor... well, himself, mostly, but he was still one of the first morally ambivalent and ambiguous characters to grace the small screen, in contrast to the traditional distinction between "goodies" and "baddies". Of course you may not have seen it since I believe that the first four of six seasons (running over the course of 1962 to 1969) were in black and white and only the last two in colour so it hasn't been as repeatable as some 60's series. Nonetheless, it remains a classic to those of us whose long term memories still work even if our short term memories are, uh, sorry, what?

Oh, right; aside from Moore's suaveness, the star of the show was Templar's Volvo P1800. (It was Moore's own car apparently, which I like the idea of. So if you ever see a new action TV series with the hero driving around in a Mitsubishi Lancer SX Sportsback, you'll know who the star is. Oh come on, the guy was driving a Volvo. Granted, it's not a bad looking Volvo as Volvos go, but it's still a Volvo. In the circumstances I feel more than justified in saying that I wear the triple diamond with pride, especially as the sportsback is such a sleek and sexy machine.)

However clearly someone else liked the idea even more and obtained an almost exact, fully restored copy of Moore's car, even down to the red(ish) interior. (Moore's was bright red, and I think that the interior of this one is a bit darker. Similarly I believe that Moore's car was white, while this is slightly off white. Mind you, that may be down to the limits of 1960's cinematography rather than faulty reproduction.)

The Saint's actual numberplate was ST 1 (hardly useful when you're an internationally famous jewel thief who wants to remain incognito) but that is taken (I just checked) so ST 01 was the closest available, it seems. Mind you, in NSW a personalised plate like that will set you back $495 *per year*, which seems a bit obscene.

Unfortunately this is only one photo a day, or I'd also show you the back which has the Simon Templar stick figure decal on it.