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1973 Made for Movie Alien/Whomobile by Peter Farries - PCF Motors

1973 Made for Movie Alien/Whomobile in Doctor Who, TV Series, 1963-1989 IMDB Ep. 11.08

Class: Cars, Custom — Model origin: UK

1973 Made for Movie Alien/Whomobile by Peter Farries - PCF Motors

[*][*][*][*] Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time

Comments about this vehicle

AuthorMessage

G-MANN UK

2006-06-15 15:01

"You'll never get it off the ground, Doctor. Wouldn't you rather have a jeep?"
"Not a bit of it, Brigadier. This new car of mine is exactly what I need. Speed is of the essence, you know."

[Image: whomobile2_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile3_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile4_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile5_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile6_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile8_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile9_1.jpg]

In Part Four of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" the Doctor drives this around the deserted streets of London while trying to locate the energy source of the device that is causing dinosaurs to be appear all over the place.

It makes its second and final appearance in Part Two of "Planet of the Spiders", with a new lift-up cockpit roof and a redesigned dashboard. Lupton steals it while making a getaway with the blue Metebelis crystal leading to an epic chase sequence that covers land, sea and air and goes on for 11 minutes in total, involving Bessie (the Doctor's yellow vintage-style car), a gyrocopter, a police Austin 1100, a speedboat and a hovercraft.

[Image: whomobile11_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile12_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile15_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile17_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile18_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile19_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile20_1.jpg]
"Doctor, we're flying!"
"Yes, of course we're flying."
[Image: whomobile21_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile22_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile23_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile24_1.jpg] [Image: whomobile25_1.jpg]

Known popularly as the "Whomobile", originally called "The Alien" but unnamed in the show itself (the Doctor just calls it his car) this 3-wheeled fibreglass bodied car (made to appear onscreen as a jet-powered, hovering vehicle that can also fly) was built by Peter Farries of PCF Motors, Nottingham, and was specially commissioned and paid for by Jon Pertwee, who then fortunately managed to persuade producer Barry Letts to have it featured in the show. After leaving Doctor Who, Pertwee kept the car and sometimes used it for public appearances. He claimed it could do over 100 mph and got 50 mpg. He eventually gave it to a fan whose mother had died (although he still borrowed it occassionally), then in the 1980s it was auctioned for £1700 and apparentely has been kept in storage since 1996 (which was also the year Pertwee died)

Listed on the DVLA under "WHOMOBILE ALIEN":

The vehicle details for WVO 2M are:
Date of Liability 01 01 1997
Date of First Registration 01 11 1993
Year of Manufacture 1973
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 975cc
Fuel Type PETROL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour SILVER

Further info:
http://www.imps4ever.info/specials/whomobil.html
http://www.3wheelers.com/whomo.html
http://www.retrothing.com/2010/08/the-fate-of-the-whomobile.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/features/2003/11/doctor_who_car.shtml
http://www.messerschmittclub.org/karoscene/?q=node/279
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3noPBEtOBk (Pertwee talks about the car in a 1993 interview)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acAS8ZrISoo (Blue Peter episode from 1973)

-- Last edit: 2012-09-07 03:36:30

G-MANN UK

2012-08-19 23:28

Originally we didn't know the name of Peter Farries' company, but now I've discovered it was called PCF Motors (presumably his initials). But perhaps we should keep this as Made for Movie because then it can found among all the other novelty made for movie vehicles and currently there's no other cars mad by Farries on this site (although he did build other cars, see the BBC Nottingham link)

dsl SX

2012-08-19 23:48

So it's just a pimped Imp .... or perhaps as a 3 wheeler a rebodied http://bondcars.net/875.htm tricycle. Agree with comments on some links that 975cc is probably an error for 875cc - I don't know of any 975 conversion - 998cc was used for rally/race (eventually going to 1040cc and then 1140cc) and there was a 928cc for early Chrysler Sunbeams in poverty trim.

G-MANN UK

2012-08-20 00:00

It only has the engine from an Imp (if that's correct)

dsl SX

2012-08-20 00:16

I can't think of anything else 60s or early 70s with 975cc.

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