Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle

In 2002, Gerry Anderson explained how the vehicle's safety features were borne out of his "preoccupation" – demonstrated in various aspects of Captain Scarlet – "with things not being what they seemed ...With a flick of a switch the walls of these buildings would collapse to reveal this astonishing vehicle inside. I knew kids would find that exciting." He quickly regretted his decision to make the seats rear-facing, commenting: " ... we began to realise that the audience was going to say, 'Why are these people facing backwards?' So we wrote an explanation into the first script. Then I realised that not everyone would have seen that episode so we had to put explanations in again and again."

{{Quote box|quote=There were moves afoot to have rear-facing seats in airliners. In the event of a crash-landing the passengers would be forced into their seats as the plane decelerated, as opposed to being hurled forwards ... I thought, 'I'll be very smart here and on this futuristic SPV we'll have seats facing backwards'.|source=— Gerry Anderson on the concept{{Cite book | last1 = Archer | first1 = Simon | author1-link=Simon Archer (author)| last2 = Hearn | first2 = Marcus | title=What Made Thunderbirds Go! The Authorised Biography of Gerry Anderson | year = 2002 | publisher = BBC Books | isbn = 978-0-563-53481-5 | pages = 149–150}}{{Cite book|last1=La Rivière|first1=Stephen|author1-link=Stephen La Rivière|title=Filmed in Supermarionation: A History of the Future|year=2009|publisher=Hermes Press|isbn=978-1-932563-23-8|page=156}}|align=left|salign=right|width=22%}}

The SPV was designed by special effects director Derek Meddings based on a brief description given in the Andersons' original script for the first episode, which specified only that the SPV was a high-speed armoured vehicle with reversed seating (and therefore no windscreen), running on a removable "lightweight power unit".Meddings & Denham 1993, p. 90.{{Cite book|title=The Century 21 Script Book|editor1-first=Chris|editor1-last=Bentley|year=1995|publisher=Fanderson|chapter=Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: 'The Mysterons'|page=12}} Noting that the occupants faced backwards and viewed the road through a TV monitor, Meddings said that "all [this] meant to me was that I could design the vehicle without windows."{{Cite magazine|magazine=Action TV|issue=6|date=Spring 2002|publisher=The Shipley Print Company|location=Leeds, UK|title=Colours of the Spectrum|last1=Jones|first1=Keith|editor1-last=Richardson|editor1-first=Michael|page=32}} For added realism, these were replaced with grilles and air vents.Meddings & Denham 1993, pp. 94{{ndash}}95.

To fulfil his vision of a "menacing, shark-like" assault vehicle, Meddings added a tail fin to the design. He also incorporated a broad front bumper, intended to be shock-absorbent, and five pairs of wheels (in two sizes), as he thought that vehicles with a large number of wheels "looked more interesting on screen." He said that he was pleased with the SPV design because he believed that it "could be filmed from any angle".Bentley 2017, p. 81.

Several filming models were built. They were made of either balsa or hardwood in a range of scales, the largest being {{Convert|24|in|cm}} long.Bentley 2001, p. 21.

Spectrum's main armoured land vehicle, the SPV is an amphibious, all-terrain machine that can be driven in extreme environments as well as in cities. It is {{Convert|25|ft}} long and has a maximum speed of either {{Convert|200|or|250|mph}} on land. It is fitted with five pairs of wheels (the three over the front, middle and rear axles constituting the main drive), with additional traction for mountainous environments provided by rear-mounted, hydraulically-lowered caterpillar tracks.

Within the hermetically-sealed cabin, the driver, co-driver and a passenger are seated backwards, facing the rear, to reduce the possibility of injury in the event of a crash. The driver is aided by a video monitor displaying horizontally-flipped front and rear views. The SPV is armed with a front-mounted rocket cannon, housed underneath a foldaway panel, and is also equipped with a radar system and ejector seats. The hydrogenic power unit can be removed and re-assembled as a personal jet pack or other devices of comparable size, components for which are stored in the vehicle's rear compartment.

SPVs are distributed worldwide and are requisitioned from disguised buildings and other structures, guarded by undercover operatives. A Spectrum agent can access an SPV only upon presenting his or her identification.

James Taylor of Car magazine ranks the SPV as one of the top ten vehicles in Gerry Anderson productions. On the vehicle's design, he comments that "all-round visibility [was] clearly not a priority of Captain Scarlet's employers."{{Cite web|url=https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/top-10s/the-car-top-10-gerry-anderson-vehicles/|title=The Car Top 10: Gerry Anderson Vehicles|first1=James|last1=Taylor|date=2 October 2015|work=carmagazine.co.uk|publisher=Bauer Consumer Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002091641/http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/top-10s/the-car-top-10-gerry-anderson-vehicles/|archive-date=2 October 2017|access-date=1 January 2020|url-status=live}} Andrew Blair of website Den of Geek calls the SPV "clearly the best vehicle" in Captain Scarlet. Comparing it to "a tank driven at ludicrous speeds, while facing backwards and located in secret garages around the world", he argues that the vehicle represents "probably the fastest transformation from covert to ridiculously unsubtle that fiction has ever seen."{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/gerry-anderson/38738/remembering-90s-thunderbirds-captain-scarlet-toys|title=Remembering '90s Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet Toys|date=2 February 2016|first1=Andrew|last1=Blair|work=Den of Geek|access-date=11 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217233707/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/gerry-anderson/38738/remembering-90s-thunderbirds-captain-scarlet-toys|archive-date=17 December 2019|url-status=live}} Tat Wood of TV Zone magazine questions Spectrum's logic in keeping its SPVs hidden until they are needed ("inside caravans, gasometers, tubes of Pringles or wherever") given that they are "then abandoned on the road".{{Cite magazine|title=The 5 Essential Anderson Archetypes|magazine=TV Zone Special|first1=Tat|last1=Wood|author1-link=Tat Wood|issue=57|date=June 2004|publisher=Visual Imagination|issn=0960-8230|page=31}}

The rear-facing system is praised by commentators Jim Sangster and Paul Condon, who credit the feature as an innovative "work of genius".{{Cite book|title=Collins Telly Guide|author1=Sangster, Jim |author2=Condon, Paul |year=2005|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-007190-99-7|page=165}} Drawing a parallel between Anderson's comments on aircraft design and the Paul Klee monoprint Angelus Novus, Mark Bould of the University of the West of England argues that the system is "full of metaphorical potential" in that it represents Anderson "[promulgating] a naive vision of progress while reinforcing the status quo. Consequently, while the SPV driver [...] might be oriented like the angel of history, he is incapable of seeing what lies behind its forward thrust. Not for him the catastrophe accumulating in his wake; just the deceptively uncluttered road ahead. His [monitor] screen screens: it shows and it obscures. And in such an echo chamber, as Benjamin's fifth thesis notes, 'every image of the past that is not recognised by the present as one of its own concerns, threatens to disappear irretrievably.'"{{Cite book|title=American Science Fiction Television and Space: Productions and (Re)configurations (1987{{ndash}}2021)|editor1-first=Joel|editor1-last=Hawkes|editor2-first=Alex|editor2-last=Christie|editor3-first=Tom|editor3-last=Nienhuis|isbn=9783031105289|pages=267–269|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|chapter=Post-Production: Screening Futures{{snd}}from Scarlet to Ebon|first=Mark|last=Bould|year=2023}}

The SPV's curved front bumper inspired the rounded edges of LaCie's "Rugged" external hard drive, designed by Neil Poulton.{{Cite press release|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150812005076/en/LaCie-Celebrates-a-Decade-of-Rugged-Drives|title=LaCie Celebrates a Decade of Rugged Drives|agency=Business Wire|date=12 August 2015|access-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509153418/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150812005076/en/LaCie-Celebrates-a-Decade-of-Rugged-Drives|archive-date=9 May 2021|url-status=live}}{{Cite magazine|magazine=PC Magazine|page=119|date=22 August 2006|volume=25|number=14|issn=0888-8507|publisher=Ziff Davis Media|title=LaCie Rugged Hard Drive}}

In 2022, YouTuber Tom Scott published a video in which he and a tech company build a go-kart with backwards-facing driver and passenger seats, similar to the SPV.{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSmtKMx1CB4|title=Can You Really Drive While Facing Backwards?|people=Scott, Tom|date=20 June 2022|access-date=26 November 2024|via=YouTube}}{{Cite web|url=https://boingboing.net/2022/09/27/can-you-drive-a-car-while-facing-backwards.html|first=Gareth|last=Branwyn|date=27 September 2022|title=Can You Drive a Car While Facing Backwards?|website=Boing Boing|access-date=10 February 2025}} Motorsport Network reported that the experiment had been a success: "It's a little tricky for the mind, especially at higher speeds, but everything works as it should. Does it make any sense? No, not all. But is it fun? A hundred percent."{{Cite web|url=https://www.motor1.com/news/594757/driving-car-facing-backwards/|title=Driving A Car Facing Backwards Is Possible But Pointless|website=motor1.com|first=Angel|last=Sergeev|date=28 June 2022|access-date=10 February 2025}}

In a preview of the Polestar 4, Andrew English of The Daily Telegraph compared the car's lack of a rear window in favour of an external camera system to an SPV driver's reliance on a video monitor while seated backwards.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/hybrid-electric-cars/polestar-unveils-electric-car-with-no-rear-window/|title=Polestar Unveils Electric Car with No Rear Window|first=Andrew|last=English|date=19 April 2023|website=telegraph.co.uk|access-date=10 February 2025}}

Several toys and miniature models of the SPV have been released.{{Cite web|url=https://televisionheaven.co.uk/tvh-plus/fab-to-sig|title=F.A.B. To S.I.G. (The Anderson Die Cast Toys)|first=Paul|last=Webb|access-date=13 February 2025|date=29 December 2021|website=televisionheaven.co.uk}} These include a 1960s friction-drive toy by Century 21 Toys and die-cast models by Dinky,{{Cite book|title=Gerry Anderson Collectables|first1=Rob|last1=Burman|year=2015|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn=978-1-44564-872-9}} as well as newer versions by Corgi, Vivid Imaginations and Product Enterprise.Bentley 2017, pp. 163–164; 196–197.{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caraccessories/2745724/The-gear-box-The-Grand-Prix-Saboteurs-sat-nav-and-Captain-Scarlet-twin-packs.html|title=The Gear Box: The Grand Prix Saboteurs, Sat-Nav And Captain Scarlet Twin Packs|first1=Simon|last1=Arron|date=17 February 2007|website=telegraph.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516215413/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/caraccessories/2745724/The-gear-box-The-Grand-Prix-Saboteurs-sat-nav-and-Captain-Scarlet-twin-packs.html|archive-date=16 May 2011|url-status=live|access-date=31 August 2020}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.salute.co.uk/slw-games/scarlet-thunder/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801055530/http://www.salute.co.uk/slw-games/scarlet-thunder/|archive-date=1 August 2019|url-status=live|year=2012|title=Scarlet Thunder|first1=John|last1=Treadaway|work=salute.co.uk|publisher=South London Warlords|access-date=11 May 2020}} Japanese company Imai released a model kit version in 1993.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Best of British: Past and Present|title=Captain Scarlet's SPV|page=73|first=Dave|last=Eyles|date=March 2017|issn=1355-6681|issue=248|publisher=Mortons Media Group}}

Action features on the Dinky model included a sliding driver's seat containing a Captain Scarlet figurine, as well as a spring-operated missile.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Meccano Magazine|date=March 1968|title=Spectrum Is Here! Chris Jelley Reports on the New Captain Scarlet S.P.V.|first=Chris|last=Jelley|pages=162–163}}{{Cite magazine|magazine=Sci-Fi & Fantasy FX International|issn=1470-9821|publisher=New Millennium Publishing|page=48|first=Martin|last=Gainsford|title=Dinky Classics: The Gerry Anderson Diecasts Story|issue=50|year=2000}} The latter was fired by squeezing the front sets of wheels, avoiding the need for what Century 21 considered to be "ugly-looking buttons". It remained on sale until 1975 and became Dinky's best-selling toy of all time, as well as one of the most popular die-casts ever made in the UK.{{Cite book|title=Mini Moke: Small Car, Big Fun|first1=John|last1=Christopher|publisher=Amberley Publishing|year=2013|isbn=9781445623733}}{{Cite book|last1=Archer|first1=Simon|title=Gerry Anderson's FAB Facts: Behind the Scenes of TV's Famous Adventures in the 21st Century|year=2004|orig-year=1993|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-00-638247-8|page=69|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/gerryandersonsfa00arch/page/69}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/shows_ca_to_ch.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202235715/http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/shows_ca_to_ch.htm|archive-date=2 February 2014|url-status=dead|title=TV Shows: Ca-Ch|work=televisionheaven.co.uk}}{{Cite magazine|title=Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: By Numbers|last1=Pixley|first1=Andrew|last2=Rogers|first2=Julie|editor1-last=Gillatt|editor1-first=Gary|magazine=Starburst|issue=280|date=December 2001|publication-date=November 2001|publisher=Visual Imagination|issn=0955-114X|oclc=79615651|page=47}} According to website Television Heaven, the SPV "was the toy to have in the early 1970s", and featured "almost as many gadgets and working parts as the ever-popular original Corgi James Bond Aston Martin DB5."

The 2003 version by Product Enterprise was larger than the earlier toys and given a duller spray finish. A 2023 Diecast Collector review of the product described it as "[i]n some ways [...] the best SPV model ever made, certainly in terms of detail and build quality", but criticised its "dusty, weathered" and "grubby" look.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Diecast Collector|date=3 January 2023|first=Mike|last=Pigott|title=Captain Scarlet returns: The SPV from Product Enterprise, by Mike Pigott}} Corgi released an updated version in 2024.{{Cite magazine|magazine=Diecast Collector|title=Set off in Hot Pursuit of Corgi's Latest Classic TV Model|date=1 February 2024}}

In the animated remake New Captain Scarlet (2005), the SPV is replaced by the Spectrum Rhino. The Rhino is more heavily armed than the SPV, and unlike the original is incapable of travelling on water. Instead of being hidden in safehouses, it is deployed from Skybase via Albatross dropships. Rhino drivers adopt a forward-facing driving position, unlike their predecessors.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book | last1 = Bentley | first1 = Chris | title = The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet | year = 2001 | publisher = Carlton Books | location = London, UK | isbn=978-1-84222-405-2}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Bentley|first1=Chris|editor1-last=Hearn|editor1-first=Marcus|title=Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault|year=2017|publisher=Signum Books|location=Cambridge, UK|isbn=978-0-995519-12-1}}
• {{Cite book | last1 = Meddings | first1 = Derek | author-link1 = Derek Meddings | author2-first=Sam | author2-last=Denham | title = 21st Century Visions | year = 1993 | publisher = Paper Tiger Books | location = Surrey, UK| isbn = 978-1-85028-243-3 | pages = 90; 94–95}}

{{Captain Scarlet}}

Category:1960s toys

Category:1970s toys

Category:Captain Scarlet (franchise) vehicles

Category:Fictional armoured fighting vehicles

Category:Fictional elements introduced in 1967