Jaguar and Ian Ogilvy as The Saint XJS

In the late 1970's Robert S. Baker starting gathering a production team for The Son of The Saint in which a young and up-and-coming star would play Simon Templar's son. The idea would be to have Roger Moore introduce the series, and then occasionally have a small reoccurring role from time to time as was needed. There were a couple of issues with the idea, including the fact that Roger Moore was now tied up doing James Bond films most of the time. So the series transformed in The Return of The Saint with Ian Ogilvy playing the lead role of Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar.

This time, when the producers approached Jaguar they were immediately given the latest Jaguar XJS sports car to have in the new TV series. Jaguar had by this time learned their lesson, and did not want a repeat of the Volvo 1800 taking what should have been a Jaguar E-Type's role as The Saint's car.

The Return of The Saint TV series with Ian Ogilvy only lasted two short years, and it turned out that was plenty of time to get a large amount of Jaguar Saint merchandise out on the market.

Jaguar supplied only one car to ITC for filming, although at least two other cars loaned from dealers local to the international locations were used in various shots. You can see some of the difference between the cars in 'The Saint and the Brave Goose' where in one shot the Jaguar has a sunroof, and in the very next shot the sunroof is missing. The original Saint's Jaguar supplied directly from the factory was originally registered as PWK 530R and was marked as a XJ27 (aka XJS) test vehicle that British Leyland had borrowed previously to modify the engine and suspension. The chassis number was 2W 1138, with an engine number of 3S 1166 SA, and a gearbox numbered KM 1004 (the fourth manual gearbox fitted) A metal sunroof option was added, and the car features a rare V-12 with manual gearbox drive-train (99% of all V-12 XJS' were equipped with automatic transmissions). The car was listed as number 138 on the right-hand drive list. The body number was 1409 with white exterior and a tan "cinnamon" leather interior. The car was built on August 22, 1975 and given to the television series, The Return of The Saint, on April 15, 1977.

The primary Jaguar XJS used in the shooting of Return of the Saint was found in 1993 by Saint fans David Cleary and Alisdair Stewart. The car was purchased by Alisdair and moved to Aberdeen. Alisdair sold the car a couple years later (around 1995) at a classic car auction to a car dealer named Ivor Bleaney of IB Classic Cars. It was then sold on to an owner in the Scottish (Shetland) Islands, where it was stored in a shed for a few years before the owner tried to sell the car in 2003.

The XJ-S was sold in 2003 to the current owner, who returned it to London at that time. In 2008 it was moved to the Northwest part of the UK. The car continues to be restored and driven, having passed MOT on first attempt after those years of storage. As of April 2008, the registration has been changed from PWK 530R to something a little more personalized.

Here are a few more notes from the current owner:

• No, the car is not for sale at this time. He has thought about it from time to time, and at this point wants to keep it.
• The car was featured in Classic Cars magazine sometime around 2003/2004, with photos taken outside The Saint's house in Eaton Mews.
• The car has not been shown in public for a long time, and there are some plans shaping up for a few UK car shows in 2008.
• The car is owned by a private individual, so make the most of any public showings.
• The condition is mechanically sound, with the full restoration still in process. The car needs a bit more daily driving to identify any flaws in the drive-train.
• It will be repainted at some point to get a better finish on it -- the car wants stripping to bare metal and repainting.
• The interior is in excellent condition and will be kept original.
• The Saint's Jaguar is quicker than most old XJS's and hit 133mph on a private track recently with more to offer. It handles well and doesn't roll as much as normal XJS's.
• It has a little Saint stickman on the bonnet that obviously wasn't in the series. People do stop and ask about the car.
• The car came with a big info folder with pics/receipts for work done etc and a certificate from Jaguar confirming it was the main car used.

Additional facts about The Saint's Jaguar:

The car supplied to the TV studio was an early prototype XJS built in 1975. The car was numbered 138 of the right-hand drive models (left-hand drive models were numbered on a separate sheet) The power-train was a V-12 engine with a four-speed manual transmission. The gearbox was number 4 of the manual versions. The Saint's Jaguar was used in 20 of the 24 episodes of Return of The Saint, starring Ian Ogilvy. The original 1977 registration was PWK 530R and had false ST 1 plates when shooting the television show. Simon Templar has a mobile car phone added to his Jaguar XJS -- quite a rarity for 1978. The Saint's Jaguar was unique due to special features of a sunroof and a manual gearbox. The car used in the series still exists, having been stored for a few years in a car museum on the Shetland islands. The original car was offered for sale on eBay in 2003, and is one of only 352 XJS' with a manual gearbox. The first car was replaced with a second XJS for the last four episodes after Ogilvy reportedly burned out the clutch. There were actually three different cars used in the filming of Return of The Saint, and the differences are as listed: Primary Car (PWK 530R): Tan Interior / Factory steel sunroof / Manual Gearbox / Silver B-posts / Bullet type mirrors; used in 13 episodes: 2,4,6,7,8,10,12,14,15,16,20, & 24 Alternate 1: Black Interior / Jaguar "Leaper" ornament fitted to rear of bonnet (not a factory installation on any XJS) / Automatic transmission / Black B-posts / Bullet mirrors / "Supercover" Warranty services window sticker; used in 6 episodes: 1,5,13,19,21, & 22 Alternate 2: Tan Interior / Automatic transmission / Black B-posts / Non adjustable mirrors; used in 7 episodes: 6,7,8,10,15,16, & 24 The Judas Game - Car seen in opening and closing shot only The Nightmare Man Duel In Venice - Car not used One Black September The Village that sold it's Soul - Italian location used in a few shots Assault Force Yesterdays Heroes The Poppy Chain The Arrangement The Armageddon Alternative - Mainly seen on the M4 and in underground car park. The Imprudent Professor - Car not used Signal Stop The Roman Touch Tower Bridge is Falling Down - Open shot only. The Debt Collectors - Bit of a car chase around the Wembley Gasworks Collision Course Part 1 Collision Course Part 2 - Car not used Hot Run - Car not used Murder Cartel The Obono Affair Vicious Circle Dragonseed - Car not used Appointment in Florance The Diplomat's Daughter - The Saint chases his own car on his motorbike (ST2 of course) The black interior car was used for the episodes filmed in Europe, and the alternate tan interior car was used for second unit shooting in the UK. There is one exception to the rule as during the filming of the the two-part "Brave Goose" episodes the continuity was all over the place due to the fact that the primary car (PWK 530R) was also used in France. According to Ian Ogilvy he requested to use the car to drive back from Italy to England with his family when filming had been completed but he managed to burn the clutch out after only a few miles. This differs from reports that the only car used in European location shooting was the black interior automatic transmission version, so burning out a clutch would have been difficult to do.