Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, or SPV, is a fictional pursuit and attack vehicle from Gerry Anderson's science fiction TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

It has ten sets of wheels (six sets over the front, middle and rear axles which are double) and an auxiliary traction system of hydraulically lowered caterpillar tracks at the rear. It is coloured grey-blue. The seats are positioned so that if the vehicle drives to the north, the driver sits facing south, i.e. backwards driving by looking at a large television screen in the vehicle. A co-driver mans the weaponry systems, e.g. missile. SPVs are distributed around the world at specific Spectrum safehouses, such as commercial buildings. A Spectrum agent can obtain the SPV by showing his identification.

In the recent (2005) CGI series Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet, the SPV is known as the Spectrum "Rhino". The minor differences between the two versions are largely cosmetic, although the Rhino is seen to employ a far greater armoury than the original SPV ever did, and unlike the original is incapable of travelling on water. Instead of being hidden in safehouses, they are deployed from Skybase using "Albatross" dropships.