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Supercar
Region 2 DVD release
Format	Sci-Fi Adventure
Created by	Gerry Anderson
Starring	Graydon Gould Sylvia Anderson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	39 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	January 28, 1961 – April 29, 1962

Supercar was a children's TV show produced by Arthur Provis and Gerry Anderson's AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment. 39 episodes were produced between 1961 and 1962, and it was Anderson's first half-hour series. In the UK it was seen on ITV and in the US in syndication (the first Anderson series to be shown overseas). The format utilizes puppets in a technique called supermarionation, a name that was first seen in the closing titles of the last 13 episodes.

Supercar was a vertical takeoff and landing craft. On land it rode on a cushion of air rather than wheels. Jets in the rear allowed it to fly like a jet and retractable wings were incorporated in the back of car. Retrorockets on the side of the car slowed the vehicle. The car used "Clear-Vu" which had an inside television monitor that allowed the occupant to see through fog and smoke.

The series inaugurates what would become an Anderson trademark, the launch sequence. Every one of his series up until Space: 1999 would include these – in Supercar's case, the charging of port and starboard engines, the activation of an interlock, the opening of (overhead) hangar doors, and finally the vertical take-off.

Main article: List of Supercar episodes

After Granada Television failed to renew Four Feather Falls, Anderson was approached by Lew Grade of ATV, who asked him to make a half-hour puppet show along similar lines. After developing the format and budgeting the series Anderson returned to Grade, who approved it but demanded a budget cut. Fortunately Anderson was able to make the necessary economies and brought the show in on budget.

The first 26 scripts for Supercar were written by brothers Martin and Hugh Woodhouse, at the rate of one complete 'shooting (camera-ready) script' per week, in order to fit Anderson and Grade's cost and production schedule.

Anderson always claimed that he invented a futuristic vehicle as an excuse to reduce the amount of walking the puppets had to do, which could never be made to look realistic. This was finally taken to its logical conclusion in Captain Scarlet, in which the puppets are almost never seen walking.

The complete series is available on DVD in the United Kingdom and North America.

The series name was used in Italy in the Eighties for the local airing of Knight Rider, as the original Supercar series was practically unknown.

Big Bang Comics paid tribute to the show with their character Mike Merlin, in honour of Supercars' leading hero, Mike Mercury.

• Gerry Anderson's Supercar
• Yahoo Supercar Group "Black Rock 1"
• The Unofficial Supercar Screensaver and Desktop Themes Homepage
• Supercar at the Internet Movie Database