When Cortina cops were king

Just imagine then what it would be like to travel back to the era when cars were as butch and irritable and grittily glamorous as the men in sheepskin coats who drove them: men like Jack Regan in The Sweeney or Bodie and Doyle in The Professionals.

That’s what happens in Life on Mars, a programme starting next week on BBC1. One minute Detective Inspector Sam Tyler, a modern day cop played by John Simm, is cruising down the road, the next he crashes and wakes up to find himself transported to 1970s Manchester, where he struggles to continue his police work in a world without a computer or mobile phone.

The star of the show is a Cortina Mk III GXL. It is driven by DCI Gene Hunt, Tyler’s violent boss, and for Philip Glenister, the actor who plays Hunt, driving it was a joy.

“I forgot they had no power steering and used to stink of fuel inside,” says Glenister. “But there’s something special about Cortinas — they had a lot of style. There’s a sterility about modern cars. They can be like driving a very big hi-fi around, whereas older cars were there to make a big noise and go fast. You didn’t buy a Cortina to make a statement about your wealth.”