Whomobile Whereabouts?

[warped in storage]

  Actually designed under another name, "The Alien". Pertwee and Peter Farries, a designer from Nottingham(?) sketched out the car, together. Made in only two molds, (many car customizers said it would take several moldings to create such an unusual shape) the completed car was 14 feet long, 7 feet across, with fins that reached 5 feet into the air.
 Seen yet incomplete, (The windscreen shown in the episode, as well as in Blue Peter, was from a boat, added to make the vehicle roadworthy) on "Invasion of the Dinosaurs". Its second and final appearance was in Pertwee's final story "Planet of the Spiders", where the vehicle was shown to fly.

 Even after his tenure as the Doctor was over, Pertwee used the car for personal appearances . Eventually he gave it to a fan bereaved over the tragic death of his mother, with Pertwee simply "borrowing" it back on occasion. Shortly before Pertwee´s death, the car went up for auction and went for around £1200.(I really hope that they forgot to type two or three zeros, it sounds way too cheap)

[Mark]

I have heard the bloke that built it had a garage in an area of Nottingham called "Carlton Hill".

I have been to the area a number of times however I don't know where the garage was/is located nor if the man in question is still in the area.

Can't be 100% but I'm sure I remember hearing or reading that the basis for this vehicle was a car known as a "Bond Bug", this being used under the sci fi exterior.

[Senseidale]

I to have heard say that the who mobile aka the Alien was in the Carlton area of Nottingham
Pete Farries was/ is  from Beeston, Nottingham and had a workshop in the Carlton area and built the  Whomobile there, as we all know for Jon Pertwee after he spotted one of his other creations the Californian Hot Rod at the opening of the new Ford showroom in Nottingham in the early 1970s.
Jon approached Pete and asked him if he'd like to build something he could use in the TV series.
it is said  "It could do 105 mph. and the only thing that  moved lorries out of the way.

it might be an idea to  put a add in the local paper or Evening post under "Where are you Now or have you seen or know of the Whereabouts of the Whomobile , just might be worth the effort or start an Internet campaign to  find her assuming it a she.

Also I did play with the idea of building 1:1 but don't have the faintest how to  go  about it. but I know the Master will stop me doing something outrages as the Whomobile.

Dale

[warped in storage]

Well, I have done some research, and the cheapest Bond Bug I found was around £6000; I don't know what your budget could be, but it takes quite a lot of fiberglass.
If you (or someone else) build a 1:1 replica, it would look much better whit a touch screen computer instead of a television set.
I also found a detailed video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acAS8ZrISoo

[Senseidale]

Thanks for the link I have had a look and I do remember the Whomobile on Blue Peter when first aired. and talking  to my Mum (Dad sadly in the afterlife ) and she recalls the opening of the Ford Show room and seeing the Whomobile also seeing FAB 1 from Thunderbirds there sometime later. Mum says that they brought a Ford Escort mk2 four door deluxe as I recall was not that deluxe. But I would have loved to have seen the "car".
dale

[lorisarvendu]

http://www.imps4ever.info/specials/whomobil.html

[superrichi1a]

I know this is a bit of a detour, but I'm genuinely just interested to gauge the love of this , what do we all think?

I was never that keen myself, I always thought that whilst Pertwee had the right idea about creating a mad mix of styles and times on screen, this car contrasted too much with his Doctor, whereas his love for Bessie on the other hand was genuine and believable for his attitude. That, and I just thought it looked unappealing, though I can recognise a thumping good effort when I see one, and I see one here, backed truly by the best intentions.

If I ever were to build/refurb a car to add to my collection though, it would either be Bessie or Dean Winchester's '66 Impala, this wouldn't get a look in.
What sort of condition, if it's still around today, do we reckon it would be in? It could look like a very generic "space car" to the untrained eye, and I bet it's likely that that's the sort of track this could have fallen into.

[Senseidale]

You are right in what you are saying it is not the most pleasant thing to look at, but it would turn lots of heads young and old alike the young ones saying what the ..... Is that and the older ones saying I remember that, I wonder what it is like to drive! Rubbish I would guess. Give me a Unit land Rover.

[lorisarvendu]

I never liked it. It seemed tacky.  This was the Doctor who said "What did you expect, some kind of space rocket with Batman at the controls?", and then he trundles out some thing like this!  Low point for my favourite Doctor there!  Plus mid-70s CSO was not the best way to make the Whomobile believably fly.

[markofrani]

I agree. For me it was the first of many tacky gimmicks (the next was to be K9!) to be brought in to the show. Bessie seemed about right, but this resembled something from a fairground!
Here are some more pics of her anyway...

[Senseidale]

On closer inspection it is not nice at all and I never did like K9. I still would like to know what happened to it.
Dale

[handofomega]

One wonders if the Doctor patterned the car after transportation on Gallifrey.   I could just see fleets of these things zooming about all around the domed cities...

[starcross]

If I ever were to build/refurb a car to add to my collection though, it would either be Bessie or Dean Winchester's '66 Impala, this wouldn't get a look in.

Dean's car in supernatural is actually a 1967 four door impala. the body style was only made for one year. I have one myself and I can tell you parts are not cheap especially all that chrome.

[thascalos]

Hi I am new to the site, I just seen this post and thought I add what little I know about the fate of the Whomobile.

After Pertwee died in 1996, Peter Farries (who had originally designed and built the car for Pertwee) took over his interest in it.According to Farries, it was sold at auction in 2003, to someone who wasn't a Who fan, and thought it was a motorboat and it is now according to the latest public information, it's owned by an unnamed private collector. Also I did read last year the person that had it didn't let anyone see it and I did hear it was locked away and just being left to rack and ruin. How much truth there is to that I can't say. If it is true it is very sad, it who brought it was never a Doctor Who fan why not sell it to Doctor Who Experience where it could be put on display for fans to see.

[lorisarvendu]

I never liked it. It seemed tacky.  This was the Doctor who said "What did you expect, some kind of space rocket with Batman at the controls?", and then he trundles out some thing like this!  Low point for my favourite Doctor there!  Plus mid-70s CSO was not the best way to make the Whomobile believably fly.

Having said that, if CO brought out a model, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.  Don't get me wrong, it's a lovely design, but for me it just didn't go with Pertwee's elegent old-school frills and velvet Doctor.  Like the Giant Robot.  Gorgeous to look at (and I'm chuffed with the fact that I managed to collect all the CO pieces and build one), but it just jarred with Doctor Who.

Of course if it could be dug out of whatever hole it's been hiding in, I'm sure it would be very popular.  Its retro-futuristic design is very "in" at the moment.