One-of-three supercar that was the star of A Clockwork Orange was actually way ahead of its time

This super cool one-of-three 1969 M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 appeared in A Clockwork Orange – and had a slick design that was lightyears ahead of its time.

The M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 – or simply the Probe 16 for short – was a Britsh-designed and made sports car released in 1969. 

Only three were ever made and were all snapped up by celebrities. 

One of them even made its way into the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange where it was given a new name.

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1969 M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 has a unique bold design

The M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 was created – as the name suggests – by brothers Dennis and Peter Adams. 

The car was designed to be ‘an investigation into extremes of styling’ and they certainly managed that. 

The Probe 16 has a bold, futuristic fiberglass body with a super-sharp nose, swooping arches, and a raised rear – the car looked nothing like the sort of vehicles you’d see back in the 1960s. 

It was also low – very low – measuring just 34 inches (86cm) in height. 

In fact, the Probe 16 was so low that it didn’t even have doors – to hop behind the wheel of the bright orange-colored sports car, you’d need to slide back the glass roof and climb in, which sounds kind of fun, right?

Its unusual design was a huge hit and the Probe 16 went on to win an award for ‘Best Styling Exercise’ at the 1969 London Motor Show.

It was powered by a BMC 1.8 liter OHV inline 4-cylinder engine, tuned by JanSpeed, and capable of producing just 100 horsepower.

Performance specs for the Probe 16 were never shared by its creators, but given its small engine size, it’s unlikely that it went like a rocket – although it does look a bit like one.

And when a car looks this good, does it really need to be a powerful speed demon?

One of three cars appeared in A Clockwork Orange

The Adams brothers made just three Probe 16s – two were bought by celebrities and the third ended up on the big screen. 

The first – Chassis AB/2 – was finished in ‘Wedgewood Blue’ and was made for and sold to American singer and songwriter Jimmy Webb. 

Chassis AB/3 was sold to Jack Bruce – the bassist from the British rock group Cream who later gave it to his bandmate Corky Laing. 

The third and final Probe 16 – Chassis AB/4 – was bought by a man named Robin Gibbons, who happened to be a friend of Hollywood director Stanley Kubrick. 

When Kubrick was making the 1971 flick A Clockwork Orange, Gibbons loaned him the car to appear in the movie, where it was referred to as the ‘Durango 95’ – not to be confused with the very-real Dodge Durango.

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