Cars that started on TV
Every TV show has some kind of signature by which it is known. Seinfeld as the diner, Friends focused on his apartment, but nothing beats a show featuring a high-powered car. You find yourself waiting for the scenes when they jump out and start tearing up the streets. The next thing you know, you see the same cars driving around your neighborhood because everyone wants to be like Mike.
The 1969 Dodge Charger for the Dukes of Hazzard was one such vehicle. With the big old Confederate flag on the roof, it was usually around our television for about six years. The Duke boys managed to outrun the sheriff on many occasions because no car could fly like General Lee.
Herbie didn’t have anywhere near the strength of General Lee, but the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle did have some pretty good moves. The car first appeared on the small screen in the late ’60s and early ’70s and finally became a star in 2005 when it hit the big screen. Herbie may not have been able to fly like General Lee, but the Porsche 356 engine was enough to get him around the track and win a couple of races.
The late 1960s and early 1970s produced some of the best muscle cars on the planet. Today’s cars may have a little more power, but very few of them can make an entrance like the cars of that era. Another monster that made it from the small screen to the big screen is a 1974 Ford Gran Torino. Starsky and Hutch took down the bad guys in this bright red and white striped Ford that sported a 351 Cleveland and a Holley four-barrel carburetor. He lived for the signature moment where Starsky would slide off the hood and then jump behind the wheel and catch the bad guys. A little injustice may have been done to the car when it went to the big screen, but it still brings back memories of one of the best muscle cars of the ’70s.
The first time this gang appeared on TV, it was actually animated, but how could you possibly lead Scooby Doo and the 1972 Bedford CF Mystery Machine? Sporting around 20 different colors splashed in various patterns, the van came to life in 2002 when Scooby Doo went to Hollywood.
Not all of the vehicles were able to make the transition from TV to the big screen, as movies often adapt them for the current times in which they were filmed. It’s too bad, as you’d love to see some of those old 1960s TV shows have the same cars they were originally filmed with.
The one thing that has always surprised me is when a TV show is made into a movie and the first thing out of the guy’s mouth after the movie ends is that they just can’t believe they didn’t use the original car. . Just another point of how obsessed we are with the cars we see on TV and in the movies.