The Sweeney-A Handful Of Car Chases

[@procta2343]

love the 70s car chases! The sweeney rocks! Denis will always be George Carter to me Rip

[@druunderwood5602]

Lock Stock & A Fistful of Car Chases,

[@brianthesnail3815]

I always like watching old TV and film clips because you see how bits of London used to look that have since been gentrified.

[@Mk7adxm]

Yeah 100%, I’m a bit of an old film and old tv buff myself.And yeah London looks completely different now, I’d reccomend watching the sweeney pilot, Regan (1974), you see some good bits of old London from early 70s and the plot is good too.

[@brianthesnail3815]

@@Mk7adxm The Talking pictures channel is superb for this. Even rubbish old black and white films matinee fillers from the 50s are great for the background. In some its possible to still see bombed out buildings from WWII and of course the soot covering all the buildings.

[@geecars6263]

There’s something that sounds so wrong when you hear the Winkworth bell on the Sweeney’s Consul, even if it is period correct it sounds as if it should be on a 50s Wolseley 😂

[@MorristheMinor]

Yup, it's usually preceded by Margaret Rutherford straightening up and saying 'I'm afraid he's dead!', then the shot of the Wolseley gunning it down the High Street with people in A35s and Morris 1000s pulling over to let it through.😉

[@geecars6263]

@@MorristheMinor 😂😂

[@888ssss]

the ruc still used them right up until 1983

[@geecars6263]

@@888ssss I think that’s about when the Met finally stopped using them

[@888ssss]

@@geecars6263 they are starting to use them again in belfast.

[@jimsimpson1006]

1980 - cops jump out of the car and nick the baddies. 2024 - cops jump out of the car and do the Macarena.

[@markcf83]

Ain't that the inconvenient truth.....

[@andrewallen9993]

You can tell it's TV program, the ford is catching the Jaguar.

[@honeysuckle4537]

Brilliant actors , fantastic car chases, and Dennis had a Gift of running bloody fast great technique ❤❤❤❤❤

[@analystab1]

That green Mk1 Escort never stood a chance of outrunning a Rover 3500S, even if it was the RS1600 version.

[@timonsolus]

Which it wasn't

[@marguskiis7711]

Escort was still faster doing curves

[@jondrizzle4554]

Around town it would destroy the rover plus the rover would overheat after 2 mins 😂

[@SM-dt1pr]

It didn't need to outrun anything, just to stay ahead. Which is easily possible on tight streets

[@siatelecomsltdLondon]

Those car chases were the business! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@tenthdimension1]

This is why they invented sway bars.

[@Mk7adxm]

100%, still, not as soft as the suspension of American cars of this time

[@martytdd1606]

Anti roll bars in the UK.

[@TRPGpilot]

You mean Anti roll bars. You want to reduce the rolling while cornering.

[@Markcain268]

They had sway bars

[@CauliflowerMcPugg]

Love a bit of waste ground tango. The 70s when coppers knew how to deal with criminals .

[@brain8484]

i dont know what was more hilarious the oversteer or the understeer of those 70's cars . but it taught us car control . me and my mates would re-enact sweeney car chases in our second hand motors back in the day . mostly down muddy or gravel tracks was easy getting the back end to let got and of cause the wheels spins . great days

[@cycy2425]

In a memorial film for John Thaw Abigail Thaw tells how he would ride with her and excitedly tell about the fun of driving those scenes. RIP

[@87654321j]

Love the Rover police car so beautiful just like the Sweeney's Ford Granada 😊

[@markeyhendrix]

That's some body roll haha those tortured tires

[@giuliopedrali4794]

Soft sospensions was spectacular

[@James-nl6fu]

"A Fistful of Sweeny Car Chases" would be a good title. No Mk2 Jaguars are safe

[@brianwood9913]

They were 'S' types, similar but with a bigger boot for the loot and independent rear suspension. Had 3 of those back in the day.

[@philhawley1219]

@@brianwood9913 Oo didja fence the loot tah you slaag? Not Reggie the nonce dahn the Ballspond Rahhd. Big Vern is afta ya, yer bleedin coppas nark.

[@johnsmith-rs2vk]

The good old days !

[@milehighclassics]

Wonderful suspension the jaguar body was level all the way

[@Glenn1967ful]

Nee naw, nee naw, I miss the old school sirens and the old school British police cars like Granada 3000 GXLs and Rover 3500s.

[@50YearOldTeenager]

Why are most British car chases more exciting than watching the Yanks in action, is it because we know the cars and places. Bullitt is probably one of the most exciting though even that was directed by Peter Yates who did Robbery!

[@njd2342]

Khan's ULEZ zone would be expensive for these bangers.

[@timonsolus]

No they wouldn't - 'historic cars' (cars over 40 years old) are exempt from ULEZ.

[@njd2342]

@@timonsolus That's great news - I have a 1978 mini - should be a good market in London for it as its very fuel efficient and would have left the Jag and Granada stuck down an alleyway.

[@adrianplatt4907]

Khan would not allow this in his politically correct London

[@njd2342]

@@adrianplatt4907 Rainbow painted Rovers?

[@timcrook2231]

Nice one Guvnor 🖖💯

[@p.istaker8862]

This Television series did more to inflate the future price of of Mk2 Jaguars than any thing else.

[@petersmith4455]

Jack Regan was the best RIP

[@sarahlivingstone8367]

No way that Granada would have caught the Jaaag. My first speeding ticket in 1987, I was driving a hired 1.6 Vauxhall Cavalier and the police in 2.8 Ghia X Granada said "We had trouble catching you up" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@PassportToPimlico]

Ford's sponsorship deal was that they would supply cars but they had to always be the good guys and never crash.

[@superplushtiman7ti075]

​@@PassportToPimlico also given that Jags were often used by the bad guys

[@PassportToPimlico]

@@superplushtiman7ti075 I think that Ford specified that the baddies had to have Jags and crash.

[@liverpoolscottish6430]

It's not a Granada, it's a Consul GT 3.0 manual, and it would easily have kept pace with the S-Type Jag in an urban environment- that's why the Flying Squad used the Consul GT, it had taut handling and was lighter than the Granada. It's not just about the car either- it's about driver training.

[@liverpoolscottish6430]

@@PassportToPimlico They didn't specify that Jags had to be used. The production team used the same S-Type Jag on different plates and sprayed in different colours to reflect on the fact that criminals regularly used Jags on bank jobs in the 60's and 70's as getaway cars.

[@mrmark8603]

2:57 Isn't anyone going to answer that car-phone? It could be important!

[@STEPHENFOSTER-nl6ju]

Love the ford consul such a classic car back in the day 😊

[@Star53815]

I’m American and at first for a split second I thought the siren at 1:02 was part of the music like the melody kicking in lol 😂

[@Rayfaedundee]

That poor green Mk1 Ford Escort tyres must have been on the limit to popping off the steel rims the angle the car was being driven at.

[@davidzof]

Probably remoulds

[@Glenn1967ful]

@@davidzof I used to buy them when I was in my twenties and skint. Couldn't afford new Goodyears, so used to head to some backstreet place I knew who could get me a remould to pass the MOT.

[@davidzof]

@@Glenn1967ful even worse were regrooved tyres, you could even get a tool to do it at home

[@Glenn1967ful]

@@davidzof How we got by then. I can remember having a car that needed oil every 250 miles, yet got me where I wanted to go.

[@davidzof]

@@Glenn1967ful Really I don't know, we drove less I guess but when you think a lot of engines needed a rebuild after 50,000 miles and car bodies could rust out in 3 years.

[@user-pl2qf6rm5k]

Loved the car's chasing good drivers 👏 and classic cars

[@STEPHENFOSTER-nl6ju]

That Ford Escort lovely mover

[@welshskies]

I remember watching the The Sweeney on television .............. in Cuba in 1986!

[@johnmurphy4601]

Amazing how he had time to stop and close the boot on the jag

[@willowman7721]

The jag. Always up for a blanging on the manor GUV 😂 😂

[@peskyparttimers8239]

Series 2 P6 V8 on a "G" plate, tut tut....

[@phil4977]

Nothing like some heavy body roll

[@SimonNoina]

Poor old Jaguar S Type getting hacked to death!

[@lackof548]

Christ, wasn’t car road holding appalling back in the 70/80’s!

[@terrancetyrell6797]

That body roll, though!! 👍🏻

[@stephenmanley4097]

You can't beat a Sweeny car chase, put your trousers on your nicked 😀

[@josephtdi8764]

For the time these are amazing!!!

[@paul10018]

Doubtless all filmed on open public roads on normal working weekdays, no H&S permits required. Get yer trousers on, you're nicked!

[@quavernote4307]

Yes also the different camera positions so many for each corner and building , No drones then for overhead shots !!

[@MrIrrepressible]

The cars look like they'll roll over everytime they corner.

[@mrjohn.whereyoufrom]

Took a lot of skill to throw that heavy Jag around corners.

[@pjrebordao]

Cara really had softer suspensions back then

[@ajay999999]

Always a silver jag

[@terryjacob8169]

An awful lot of the stunt driving in these film clips was done by a fella I had the priviledge to know in the early 1970's, Val Musetti. At the time Val was one of Britain's leading film and TV stuntmen, particularly specialising in car stunts. He was also the person who coached Michael Crawford through the stunts he performed in 'Some Mothers do have 'em' as Frank Spencer.

[@jamesfrench7299]

They really thrashed those Jags. Goodness! The film quality made it look current but this was the 70s!

[@joenewman7033]

Brough back memories

[@Fordkent1600]

Those suspensions weren't built for racing.

[@stevehillier7018]

Who taught you to drive . Evil keneeval

[@tonycharlton4296]

Just what I was thinking.

[@ells-aviation]

Under steer central 🤣🤣

[@paulc3749]

That police siren was ancient

[@madunwagbo4769]

That third chase looks like it started on Latchmere or possibly Plough Road in Battersea

[@jaycfc6955]

Yep looked like the side streets of the latchmere Rd, I recognise the style of the houses , then they head down queenstown Rd. 👍

[@simonmaskell365]

The White Police Car and the Green Car starts off in the Walmer Road area. Them Buildings are now supposed to be where Verity Close is.

[@SuperCholdi]

My uncle Rob had a mk1 Escort in that very colour. He had some welding done on the sills and the guy somehow burned the front passenger seat. Guy swaps it out for a seat from a scrap yard that turned out to be full of fleas. Rob's then wife was less than impressed.

[@mikebarton]

Them cars sure didn't like corners... 🫣

[@sugarnads]

They cornered just fine. They also rode bloody well.

[@mikebarton]

@@sugarnads more accurately , they wallowed. 🦛

[@bryanduncan1640]

If somebody is driving an old “S” type Jag, you just KNOW that they are going to crash it! At no time has a particular car lost so much value and yet still seemed posh/fast so that it was a prime candidate for being driven through a brick wall!

[@davidzof]

Remember, clunk-click every trip

[@markjones-vx3kp]

That escort handles like crap ,the rover grips cos of de dion at rear still looks wicked😅😅

[@paulfrost8895]

OOOh taught ya ta drive? EVIL KNIEVIEL.

[@plunder1956]

They did these chases at full chat on normal city streets, in late 60s British cars designs. So they had suspension made of Jaffa Cakes & tyres made from compressed turd. HOW DID ANY OF THEM SURVIVE?

[@paulnolan1352]

And windscreens made of ice.

[@handymatt1970]

Lol you can't catch a Jag mkII Saloon those gals could handle the road

[@MrSpadehands]

A common mistake, both Jags were S Type's not Mk11's which did, and still do handle so much better than a Mk 11

[@grahamstubbs4962]

When you've got well-iffy suspensions on your jam jars, that's TV magic, innit? 🙂

[@ROCKINGMAN]

Quite exhilerating! They really throw those cars around don't they! I have many films where there are some very dangerous and fast car car chases. Some are french. These are good. The Professionals did many too!

[@darrensmith6999]

Go Granada (:

[@nwoerad3806]

I was getting sea sick watching them go around corners.

[@xr6lad]

@ 3:15. A major London road with no traffic on the dual carriageway side they are traveling down (either behind or in front). Not only incredible now; even then I reckon.

[@highdownmartin]

Four thirty in the morning in July. I assume they had to ask permission even in 76.

[@Mortimer50145]

​@highdownmartin I understand they didn't ask permission and occasionally got stopped by plod during filming.

[@jaycfc6955]

Jag getting chased down queenstown rd , battersea

[@Nikkii199045]

1:11 yeah I think that *plain* police car is illegel

[@southerndiy1]

Understeer galore!!

[@SortedGeeza-br5sc]

Ahh the days when you could actually drive your car.

[@hyena131]

@SortedGeeza-br5sc That's right - I'm sick of all these modern flying cars!!

[@budekins542]

Am surprised it didn't have more car chases.

[@deanthornby2026]

When men were men and cars were deadly

[@johnsmith-rs2vk]

ATM 's still no dye packs in these machines !

[@ifcukin8mufc168]

London at its best !

[@sugarnads]

The bloke in rbp2282f knew what he was doing

[@marguskiis7711]

The pre anti roll bar days

[@kiethblack3870]

It always makes me laugh when I see the baddies ALWAYS drive Jaguar's! A British car! But the police always use Ford's! American car! I'm a Californian, so I notice this to be amusing & strange. :)

[@TheRealBandit69]

Part of the Ford deal to lend them cars, fords always had to be the good guys car and always had to dominate the baddies car, usually competitiors of Ford 😂

[@Glenn1967ful]

American company, but Ford had a huge factory in London that made the cars used in The Sweeney. Also the police used Rovers as traffic cars.

[@sarahlivingstone8367]

The bad guys always seem to have Range Rovers now...

[@liverpoolscottish6430]

European Ford's are completely different to US Ford's.

[@sempafi899]

Nothing like stuffing some one into the back of a Mk 1 jag and a car chase

[@ElRel]

Were many of these derelict sites back in the day still unrepaired after the blitz? Or were they just derelict from failing industry?

[@markjones-vx3kp]

Good bye Sadiq !!!

[@williamegler8771]

Only on television do British-built vehicles run long enough to be in a car chase!

[@86501freightliner]

Interesting that the Granada has a bell instead of two-tone air horns in the third chase....

[@Mk7adxm]

I always wondered why it was like that as well

[@timwingham8952]

Yeah - sounds good! And it's a fair representation of the period - because the bell ("or gong" in Met parlance) was a standard fixture on all Met vehicles, even once two tone air horns became widespread. Many of their mid 70s unmarked cars still only had a bell. Bells were also standard as well as two tones on new vehicles for London Fire Brigade until 1978 and London Ambulance Service until 1980. The main reason being that at that time sounding a horn after 23:00hrs in a built up area was strictly speaking illegal, even for emergency vehicles - hence to be law compliant bells continued to be fitted. The Met abandoned bells for its new traffic cars and similar when the Rover SD1s came on the scene in the early 80s, but as late as the mid 90s some of their non-pursuit blue light equipped vehicles such as vans and dog vans still just a bell as their only audible warning. Incidentally - I always thought that car was a Granada but it seems I was wrong - apparently it's a Consul!

[@Doc_Rainbow]

@@timwingham8952 i cant get over it that the cars in the UK back than had no Blue Lights whatsoever... pretty stupid if you ask me... i mean its the 60s or 70s... blue or red lights are arround since the 20s

[@timwingham8952]

@@Doc_Rainbow Unmarked cars back then were literally that. Covert blue lights were a long way off as were demountable magnetic roof lights in the UK.

[@Doc_Rainbow]

@@timwingham8952 true but the marked cars sometimes as well did not had blue lights... just a police sign

[@oldgitsknowstuff]

Why does the S Type Jag have a weak boot latch ?

[@DrRock2009]

Grange Hill London….

[@charliewatson4248]

What was laughably called Kings Cross Coach Station and a Red Bristol VRT, Which company?

[@markcf83]

The VR is Alder Valley, likely on the Reading via Slough and Maidenhead service.

[@charliewatson4248]

@@markcf83 Thanks for the information

[@jacktattis]

Gee the Jag was very soft

[@timcarpenter2441]

While the Jag was good in its day, the handling cannot match even that of the Ford.

[@markcf83]

Make a name for yourself Cooney.

[@buy.to.let.britain]

frying squad

[@adampayn5453]

It's a pity there were no brake failure episodes.

[@sylvainmagne158]

Ils ont vraiment bousillé le tacot pour faire le film ?

[@josepetereo2123]

This terrible Rover P5 , (as most the cars made by Rover), seems a bath whit wheels.

[@cobbler40]

Not very good at cornering !

[@mrbigarms]

Love the way they used Rovers and Jags as getaway and police cars, nice soft rides on the straight but terrible going round bends.

[@liverpoolscottish6430]

The Rover P6 is anything but 'terrible' through the corners. I'm a former police driver and I own a P6 3500 as a classic car. The P6 had excellent road manners, it's only 'vice' was a tendency to roll. Whilst they roll in the corners, they grip extremely well indeed, the suspension was sophisticated, with a De Dion tube on the rear- that adjusts continually during cornering to ensure that the face of the tyre is always perpendicular to the road surface- maximising grip/traction. I own an XK8, a Capri with 285-290 Bhp, the P6B and a throwaway modern BMW 3 Series as a daily driver. The P6 has 50/50 weight distribution- which is the ideal balance, good handling characteristics and excellent road holding. Discs all round provide excellent braking- unlike many cars of that era, you can use a P6 today as a daily driver without having to anticipate in advance when to braking- the brakes are excellent. If you watch this clip again, watch how the P6 corners neutrally- despite rolling when cornering hard- there is very little understeer evident and the rear end of the P6 very rarely kicks out due to the excellent traction. The Met replaced MK2 Jags with the S-Type Jag, which had fully independent rear suspension. The P6 had better road manners than the S-Type Jag, so they replaced them with the P6. I wish the P6 had been in service during my stint in the job. My P6 has an uprated roll bar and it no longer scrapes it's door handles on the asphalt when cornering! lol

[@Eltonlaleham]

how crap this series was and today it would be, none PC and would not get made

[@highdownmartin]

Yeah mate no ones watching Sweeney clips and enjoying them are they? Sweeney? Crap? You’re faakin nicked!

[@markcf83]

Too bloody right Chief.

[@hideouslyugly]

Them cars took a hammering. I wonder how long the tyres and brakes lasted everytime they done those scenes.