{{Short description|British TV car programme (1964–1975)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox television | image = Wheelbase title.jpg | caption = ''Wheelbase'' title screen | genre = [[Driving|Motoring]]<br>[[Talk show]] | runtime = 30 mins | presenter = [[Gordon Wilkins (presenter)|Gordon Wilkins]] <br> [[Cliff Michelmore]] | country = United Kingdom | network = [[BBC2]] | first_aired = {{start date|1964}} | last_aired = {{end date|1975}} | num_episodes = 207 {{Dubious|date=July 2011}} | producer = | related = {{Plainlist| * ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|Top Gear]]'' }} }}
'''''Wheelbase''''' is a [[BBC]] television series about cars, that was broadcast on [[BBC2]] between 1964 and 1975.<ref>[http://open.bbc.co.uk/catalogue/infax/series/WHEELBASE BBC Programme Catalogue: Wheelbase]{{dead link|date=September 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
==Presenters== Amongst its presenters were Gordon Wilkins between 1964 and 1973<ref>{{cite news | title = Gordon Wilkins Obituary | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1790034.ece | work = The Times | date = 2007-05-15 | accessdate = 2008-01-06 | archiveurl = https://archive.today/20080106205659/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1790034.ece | archivedate = 2008-01-06 | url-status = dead | location=London}}</ref> and [[Cliff Michelmore]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/tellyyears/september1972.htm |title= Telly Years: September 1972 |accessdate=2008-01-06 |author=Williams, Robert |work= TV & Radio Bits |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20080106205338/http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/tellyyears/september1972.htm |archivedate= 2008-01-06 |url-status=live | quote = Wheelbase presenter Cliff Michelmore's own driving skills were put to the test at Brands Hatch}}</ref> The show was the predecessor of ''[[Top Gear (1977 TV series)|Top Gear]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/tellyyears/october1964.htm |title= Telly Years: October 1964 |accessdate=2008-01-06 |author=Williams, Robert |work= TV & Radio Bits |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20080106160909/http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/tellyyears/october1964.htm |url-status=live |archivedate= 2008-01-06}}</ref>
It featured Judith Jackson in the late 1960s, who also presented the BBC education series 'Exploring Science' in the early 1970s. Her husband was international racing driver [[Peter Jopp]].<ref>''Derby Evening Telegraph'' Thursday 27 June 1968, page 4</ref> They married in 1963, when he was aged 31, and she was 26 and working for ATV, living in [[West Bridgford]]. <ref>''Nottingham Evening News'' Friday 8 March 1963, page 10</ref> They divorced in 1976, when she was 40, and the motoring correspondent of the Sunday Times. Her son is Surrey Conservative MP [[Lincoln Jopp]]. <ref>''Western Daily Press'' Wednesday 29 September 1976, page 14</ref>
==History== Wheelbase was amongst the first programmes in the United Kingdom to be shown in [[History of television#Color television|colour]] during BBC2's "colour launching period".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tvhistory.btinternet.co.uk/html/colour_launch.html |title= BBC2 Colour Launching Programmes |accessdate=2008-01-06 |author=Mathias PT |work= British TV History |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722121110/http://www.tvhistory.btinternet.co.uk/html/colour_launch.html |url-status=dead |archivedate= 2009-07-22}}</ref>
''Wheelbase'''s coverage of [[Formula One]] motor racing in the late 1960s was repeated during 2007 on United Kingdom satellite channel [[ESPN Classic (UK)|ESPN Classic]]. The programmes were transmitted largely as originally broadcast, but with occasional captions to put period commentary into context.
A subsequent series in October 1977 on BBC2 was 'Roadworthy' with Judith Jackson, repeated on BBC1 in October 1978.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Top Gear}}
[[Category:1964 British television series debuts]] [[Category:1975 British television series endings]] [[Category:1960s British television series]] [[Category:1970s British television series]] [[Category:Automotive television series]] [[Category:Driving in the United Kingdom]]
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