Glamorous and interesting cars have always added to the pace, action and watchability of TV drama, as well as being a neat way of communicating the personality of the character driving them. Nobody understood this better than ITC which, headed by the late Lord Grade, produced easily the most memorable action series of the '60s and '70s. It is best known for 'The Saint' - featuring Roger Moore and the white Volvo P1800 - but ITC created an endless stream of one-hour programmes that cashed in on the public taste for international intrigue, espionage and glamorous locations in the wake of the James Bond phenomenon.

Under the guidance of the shrewd, Montecristo-puffing Lew Grade - surely the ultimate post-war showbiz impresario - the company was hugely successful: by the early '70s there were only two countries in the world that were not running ITC programmes. The shows were often made on a tight budget because much of the money was spent paying the stars: Patrick McGoohan was the highest-paid man on television in the '60s.

Lots of stock footage was used: one particular scene showing a white Mk 1 Jaguar careering off a cliff was used several times over in different series from 'The Saint' to 'Randall and Hopkirk Deceased'. Despite the glamorous international feel of the shows, scenes were rarely shot on location. The Pinewood back-lot stood in for everywhere you could imagine and, like many of the bit-part actors, the same cars popped up again and again in different shows. Such evidence of penny-pinching is all part of the genre's charm for the true connoisseur.

So settle back for our tribute to the motorised co-stars that still inhabit the collective psyche of a whole generation brought up on '60s and '70s television.