What if: the Saint would drive a Nissan Silvia CSP311?

I had an interesting thought when I watched BANKAKUEMIKO’s video on a white Nissan Silvia CSP311: what if Roger Moore would have driven a Nissan Silvia CSP311 in the original Saint TV series? The white Silvia looked so classy, elegant and exciting that the Saint certainly would have bought one if he could have.

A little bit of background: The Saint (played by Roger Moore) drove a white Volvo P1800 coupe in the TV series where both the director and Roger Moore both owned one and used it for the TV series. They had to choose between the Jaguar E-type and the Volvo P1800 as they were brand new cars that got revealed at the Geneva Motor Show and chose for the latter. The Volvo P1800 initially was a hand built car by Jensen using a Volvo engine and suspension. Enter the Nissan Silvia CSP311: it was a hand built car using the Nissan Fairlady engine and suspension.

Now I know it could not have been the Nissan Silvia CSP311 as the original Saint TV series was aired from 1962 onwards (so filming started early 1962) and the Nissan Silvia CSP311 was revealed in September 1964 at the Tokyo Motor Show. So there was a gap of two and a half years. Also the main reason for featuring a foreign car on an English TV show was that it actually was built in the UK by Jensen so featuring an exotic car like the Silvia would have been out of the question. Still I would have loved the idea and therefore I made a terrible Photoshop of Roger Moore and the Silvia:

Yes I know: it is certainly a crappy Photoshop and that shadow behind Roger Moore is all over the place. Also Roger Moore is a tall man and the Nissan Silvia CSP311 is a small coupe so he should have been a bit larger. But when I made the proportions right he looked like a giant than would squash the fragile Silvia by just leaning against it. So I made him a tiny bit smaller. ;)

The Saint also featured a few action scenes featuring the Volvo P1800. They are not too wild but for that era quite well done. To give an impression on how that would look with the Silvia, this video shows a well used white Silvia on gymkhana:

For completeness, here is the video of the pristine white Nissan Silvia CSP311 by BANKAKUEMIKO:

Probably it is the same Silvia as I posted four years ago and yes I really would prefer the Saint driving the Silva over the P1800. ;)

Direct link to videos: 【 Classic Car Gymkhana 】 C-Class #3#5#6 Nissan Silvia CSP311 1本目カメラ1 【 第50回SHCCミーティング 】 and NISSAN SILVIA CPS311 日産 シルビア CPS311

Sources for the photoshop: JSAE and Roger Moore and the Volvo P1800
Photoshop: