George Cole talks to Brian Hawkins about Jags

During the preparation of Brian Hawkins’s book The Phenomenon that was Minder, author Brian Hawkins asked George Cole about the cars of Minder. George Cole mentioned that over the years he became a dedicated Jaguar enthusiast. The following information, not included in the book, has been included here with the kind permission of both Brian Hawkins and George Cole.

George Cole said: “We always had a production base in London – it was a different one each series. I would leave home at 5:30 in the morning and drive to the base and a driver would take me on to the location. For the first few series’ I used to drive an old Ford Capri (not the one in the opening credits). When we got to the end of the fourth or fifth series I was talking to the location manager about the Minder Jag and he said, ‘You ought to put in a bid to the company to buy it.’ I thought about it for a while and said, ‘Why not.’ So I put in a bid and it was accepted.

A couple of days later the TV Times phoned me and asked if it was true that I had bought the Minder Jag. I said that it was and they said they wanted it as a prize in a competition. I said, ‘I’m sorry but I want it.’ A few days later they came back to me and said, ‘If we can get Jaguar to make you an offer you can’t refuse on a brand new Jag would you let us have the old one back.’ I said, ‘Of course’ and Jaguar made me a good offer. I’m on to something like my seventh or eighth new Jag now. Currently I’ve got an X Type. It’s a bit shorter than all the others and it’s the first one I’ve been able to get into my garage!”.

The first Jaguar that Arthur drove was a Silver Series II Jaguar XJ6 and featured throughout both series 1, 2 and briefly in certain episodes of series 3. Pictures of the car also feature in both the opening titles and the closing credits. This shot here is taken from series #3.7 The Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs.

In series 3, this car only appeared #3.2 You Need Hands, #3.7 Birdman of Wormwood Scrubs and #3.8 The Son Also Rises which also happen to be the only episodes that feature Terry’s original white SLE 71R Capri or we don’t see Terry with his own car. This could perhaps suggest that certain episodes in series 3 were filmed at different times. Unconfirmed reports say this car has been auctioned off since the series, but its current location is unknown if it still exists at all.

In series 3, Arthur temporarily dropped his Jaguar for a silver Mercedes 280 SE.

This car can be seen in five episodes #3.3 Rembrandt Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, #3.5 Dreamhouse, #3.9 Why Pay Tax, #3.12 Back In Good Old England and #3.13 In. The shot on the left is taken from #3.3 Rembrandt Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and the shot on the right is taken from #3.5 Dreamhouse.