OK, forgive us the headline – it’s not Roger Moore’s P1800 going under the hammer at SWVA’s Winter Classic Car Auction early next year. However, it is a last-of-the-line Volvo 144, first owned by Leslie Charteris, author of the Saint books that gave rise to the TV series of the same name.
The car is 1974 fuel-injected model, which was given by Charteris to his chauffeur, J W Baker, who put it into storage in 1992. It remained there for some three decades until the vendor purchased and recommissioned the car. The brakes have been completely renewed and the bodywork touched in, but it largely wears its original paint.
The exhaust, fuel tank and tyres have also been also replaced, while concessions to practicality include electronic ignition, an immobiliser and…