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For Sale - 1960's Oldsmobile

Good working order, slight age related damage to bodywork POA and memories of Thursday nights

By Alan RussellPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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The Corgi Man From U.N.C.L.E Oldsmobile

Backstory laden with optimism and altruism - fictional of course

"The Man From U.N.C.L.E" was a TV series that aired 105 episodes between 1964 and 1968. It successfully slip streamed in the wake of the block buster success of the early Bond movies; Dr No 1962 and From Russia With Love 1963.

And that is where there is a strong almost familial, even "avuncular", relationship between Bond and U.N.C.L.E.

Bond's creator, Ian Fleming (1908-1964) was drafted in as one the co-creators of U.N.C.L.E. and to further develop the concept originated by Sam Rolfe (1924-1993) and Norman Felton (1913 - 2012).

Apart from the glamour of the international fictional espionage game there was the perennial underlying theme of "Good" (U.N.C.L.E) vs "Evil" (THRUSH). The following explanation of the acronym comes with a strong linguistics warning:

Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.

THRUSH was created deliberately not represent the Soviet Union as Russia was known back then as the force of evil. Even though the Cold War was thawing glacially from one of its most Arctic periods; the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

The series did bow to an altruistic, if not optimistic view, by basing the two main characters on an American and a Russian. Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn 1932 - 2016) was the smooth American. While Ilya Kuryakin was played by David McCallum (1933 - ). The input and influence of Ian Fleming to the creation of the series was recognised by their spymaster, Alexander Waverley (Leo G Carroll 1886 - 1972) who was British.

Robert Vaughn, David McCallum and Leo G Carroll

Testament to U.N.C.L.E.'s cultural influence

The TV series took such a strong place in its audiences' psyches, especially in America, that there is a collection of artifacts and memorabilia on permanent display in the "Ronald Reagan Presidential and Museum" and in the museums of the "Central Intelligence Agency".

As far as we know there are no such collections of memorabilia in the vaults of MI5 or MI6 the two elite branches of the British intelligence services. That is unless information about such a collection is secret. If anything these two services try to disown the world of Bond.

The Toy Car

This was manufactured by the Corgi toy company based here in the UK. They had already made the iconic Bond Aston Martin DB5 complete with bullet proof shield, sun roof and fully functioning ejector seat with a little man whose trajectory was about nine inches high. These little men often ended up under furniture with the ignominious end of being sucked up by a vacuum. Oh well it is the ones that got lost that made the survivors so valuable.

The only functionality on the U.N.C.L.E. car was the siren or flashing light unit on the roof which operated the gun men to come out of their windows alternately. None of these men have and ignominious endings.

What I Remember

I would have been between ten and fourteen when this series ran on the BBC here in the UK. It was broadcast on Thursday evenings between eight and nine and was one of the best television nights which my two elder brothers and I shared conditionally. The attached conditions were that we had helped Mum and Dad clear up from the evening meal and had completed all of our due homework. Then we could gather in the living room just before seven to start our television evening.

That would be when Tomorrow's World started. This was a review of new technology and a preview of what it could mean for our futures. It was during one these programmes that the host showed a piece of portable equipment about the size of a standard breeze block. He announced that in less than a generation we would all have one. We all laughed at the prospect. No way would we be seen dead with one of those. If we needed to phone anyone quickly we would use a call box. Sure enough mobile phones that big became part of the iconography of the era of the YUPPIE before being downsized by technological evolution to what we take for granted today, the iPhone in all of its guises. not quite within a generation.

At half seven there was Top of The Pops, a weekly run down of what was going up the charts and what was the current number one. May be the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys. Whatever the number one for the week was it could not finish soon enough to make way for the closing credits and then:

It consistently started with the two main characters, Solo and Kuryakin, slipping in to a tailors shop in a basement in downtown New York. It may even have been in the shadow of the United Nations headquarters. Once inside the shop they would slip through a changing room, into a lift and be whisked into the fantastical fictional world of international espionage and intrigue.

Their spymaster was referred to politely and deferentially as "Mr Waverley". He would brief and instruct them on their mission for the week. This involved saving the world and rescuing an innocent swept up in the international intrigue within 60 minutes. During their adventure it was Napoleon Solo who got the clean end of the job and the girl. While poor old Ilya Kuryakin got to do the dirty work and never got the girl. Occasionally the car would be involved in a car chase, shoot out and inevitable reprieve for the world.

Inevitably the credits would roll against a background of stock pictures. Our television evening together would end. Mum and Dad would come into the living room to join my two brothers to watch whatever came on at nine. That was my cue to head off to bed wondering how I could get a job like that of Solo and Kuryakin.

PS The car has been withdrawn from sale as it has now taken up shelf space and is on permanent display in our dining room.

tv review
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About the Creator

Alan Russell

When you read my words they may not be perfect but I hope they:

1. Engage you

2. Entertain you

3. At least make you smile (Omar's Diaries) or

4. Think about this crazy world we live in and

5. Never accept anything at face value

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