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: Continue reading
