Above are screen shots from the series opening credits, where McGoohan drives to and from his boss's office. Provided that every shot was filmed at the same time (one source says 1966 for the on-track toward-the-camera shot), this car was a Lotus Super 7 S2 factory demonstrator, registration KAR 120C. It was used for promotion, testing, etc. As for the actual year of the vehicle, it appears to have been a 1965 model, though I haven't seen firm intel on that yet. It was originally black, then painted British Racing Green with a yellow nose for the show. Notice the metal-color grille and what appears to be a chip-guard on the rear fender.
The next appearance for the Lotus is in the episode "Many Happy Returns". This should also be the first car, KAR 120C. In this episode Number Six ends up back in London (or does he?) and some woman not only lives in his house, but is driving his car, which he says he built with his "own hands". Appearantly the Lotus had developed an overheating problem while Six was gone... Notice actress Georgina Cookson seems to be able to see out of the Lotus better than the 6'2" Patrick McGoohan!
By the time the episode "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" was filmed, KAR 120C had been sold. So for the car's third appearance, another Super 7, registration LC K88D, was used in some scenes, edited into older footage. Notice this car has the same "chip guard" on the rear fender. Also notice there is a different person behind the wheel... Patrick McGoohan was in America filming "Ice Station Zebra" at this time, and most of the episode has another actor playing Number 6.
In the controversial series finale "Fall Out", we see the fourth appearance of Number Six's Lotus. This car was a later, standard 7 that was altered to look more like Number 6's Super 7. Notice that this car appears to have a yellow grille, and there is no "chip guard" on the rear fender (by McGoohan's elbow). In this episode Number Six has won his freedom and returns home from the Village... or has he?
In 2019, when I first watched the 1967 British television series "The Prisoner", a few things became immediately apparent to me. First, I hadn't been aware that Patrick McGoohan was so darn handsome back then. Second, the show is highly unusual, but I found myself needing to watch every single episode. Many books and online sources have examined and argued the show's meaning, but I tend to lean toward McGoohan's own preference to not let any cats out of any bags, his opinion being people should decide for themselves what it was all about.
But then there's his character's vehicle of choice, a Lotus Super 7. Cars are something I will indeed talk about! I've always thought that a Super 7 would be a fun type of car to drive on windy New England roads in spring or fall. But modern Caterham kits don't truly capture the bare-bones rawness of the original cars (fat tires, roll cages and head rests??).
While searching online for info on the reclusive McGoohan, I found some websites with various bits of information about the cars used in "The Prisoner". That lead me to take a few screen shots from the show and put together this little page... not the be-all-end-all page on the topic, but a pictoral overview, if you will.
Be seeing you...
INFO SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
Part way through the episode we see the Lotus being delivered to Number Six's London home by a mechanic. This mechanic is Graham Nearn, founder of Caterham Cars, a major Lotus 7 dealer during the 1960s. Nearn purchased the rights to continue manufacture of the Seven design from Lotus in 1973.
This shot gives us a glimpse at the car's dashboard.
In 1990 Caterham released a limited edition "Prisoner Edition" Super 7. There were only 47 cars sold. Caterham somehow managed to get press-shy Patrick McGoohan back into England for promotion of the model at that year's Motor Show. He was given keys to his very own Super 7... appropriately, car #6.
No ownership or copyright of photos on this page are implied. Website © 2020 Jonelle DeFelice