1968 Marcos 1600 GT Coupé

Registration no. BAR 64F Chassis no. 5138 Engine no. D5248/2

Footnotes

'BAR 64F' is a unique piece of motoring history: the 1968 Marcos 1600 GT driven by Roger Moore in the last ever episode of the iconic 1960s TV series, The Saint. Entitled The World Beater, it was first broadcast in February 1969 with the opening sequence seeing Simon Templar (The Saint) driving 'BAR 64F' on a rally before ending up in a (staged) crash following sabotage (search YouTube – especially 'BAR 64F – The World Beater' – for thrills, spills and informative dialogue). Shortly after completing The Saint series, Moore went on to become the second actor to play the iconic British Secret Service agent, James Bond.

'BAR 64F' was originally intended to be a 1500 GT with the Ford 1500 engine. It was ordered in August 1967 by a Mr Marston in Spa White with a red 'Poppy' interior. The Ford 1500 unit having ceased to be available, the car was upgraded to 1600 GT specification complete with a Webasto sunroof, but Mr Marston decided not to proceed with the purchase.

The car was first registered on 19th January 1968 and passed through Marcos dealer and well-known racer John Sprinzel's legendary London dealership before being purchased by a Mr J Pales of Borehamwood, which is less than a mile from Elstree Studios where The World Beater was made. Research shows that a Mr J Pales was employed at Elstree Studios in the 1960's as an engineer, so it is entirely possible that this was the connection that led to the car's use in The Saint.

After Mr Pales' ownership, the car's colour scheme was changed to black. 'BAR 64F' was eventually tracked down and bought from a Mr Welby of Dorking by renowned marque specialist and ex-Marcos Cars workshop manager, Rory McMath of Marcos Heritage. Having rediscovered this historically important car, Rory made a gentleman's agreement with the current owner (a longstanding customer and Marcos aficionado) that he would have first refusal when Mr McMath was ready to sell. In 2020 the vendor purchased 'BAR 64F' with a friend, and they commissioned Marcos Heritage, arguably the world's premier Marcos workshop, to restore the car to its original production specification as driven by Roger Moore.

A full body and mechanical restoration commenced in late 2020 and completed in November 2021. Upgrades include an engine bored out to 1,700cc; polished and ported cylinder head; fast-road '234' camshaft; up-rated brake callipers; vented front disks; Marcos Heritage Big Bore manifold; fast-road clutch; new shock absorbers and springs, etc, etc... A detailed breakdown of the full rebuild is available within the History file which also contains a potted chronology of the car together with a CD of the re-build, a copy of the original Build Sheet and a new MoT.

Presented in pristine condition, 'BAR 64F' represents a rare opportunity to own a fully restored and unique piece of motoring history with an excellent provenance having starred in 'The Saint'.