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Does anyone else watch old movies and TV shows for the old cars?


rocketraider

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There was a Twilight Zone marathon on last night- some of the 1960-63 shows.

In the four episodes I watched, saw: 1959 Country Squire wagon, 1959 Mercury (think it was a Montclair) 4D hardtop, early-50s Plymouth convertible, 1961 Ford police car.

I'll also admit to loving "Hazel", Bewitched" and whole host of others simply to see 1960s cars when they were new, and "Bonanza" for the new Chevy commercials. I think TV Land actually showed some episodes complete with period commercials many years ago. It was great.

Maybe if these idiot carmakers would go back to sponsoring and product-placing their cars in TV shows, sales might improve? It worked back then...

Or is there even a modern car made that could be placed front and center in a TV show and make people want to own it? Nah, they'd rather yap about electronic entertainment gadgets and financing options.

Other sightings?

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I vaguely remember a show called "Highway Patrol" which featured an actor named (Robert?) Preston. Every week he pulled a car over and solved a crime the driver was involved in. At the end of the show he would say,"Tell it to the judge". I would love to see that series again.

Broderick Crawford is the guy I remember from "Highway Patrol".

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Guest Skyking

If you want to watch Highway Patrol, go here......

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Highway Patrol - Full Episodes and Clips streaming online - Hulu

I burned all the episodes on DVD. Tons of new old cars.........

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Guest thethirstymoose

I have seen the ole 51 buick in a few shows, last I remember was " A beautiful mind" I saw a few Buicks in there.I also like to watch " I dream of Jeannie" Ole Colonel Nelson (larry hagman) drove a nice 68 firebird, I hav a 68 fireird too so I like looking for old cars

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What breaks my heart is when you see some of these cars on television and you see some of those cars get wrecked. You see these cars get wrecked and think of the parts that got lost due to filming.

Even with the other shows, look at how many Trans Ams and Mopar police cars that got wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit. Let alone all of the other tv shows and movies.

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What breaks my heart is when you see some of these cars on television and you see some of those cars get wrecked. You see these cars get wrecked and think of the parts that got lost due to filming.

Even with the other shows, look at how many Trans Ams and Mopar police cars that got wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit. Let alone all of the other tv shows and movies.

I'm not so worried about it on old shows, since the cars were new then. Frankly, I'm not too worried about screaming chicken T/As, either. I do agree with you about new shows and movies, however. Why is it that every new movie needs to trash a number of 1960s musclecars. Keep in mind that for every one car you see on the screen, there are 3-6 cars built and trashed. I just refuse to pay money to watch those movies.

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Keiser31 is correct about "Highway Patrol".

Broderick Crawford was the headliner, but the Buicks, and later the Mercury models used by CHP were (in my opinion) the stars..............10-4?

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Guest Joe Kieliszek

Hello,

They had "Mad,mad,mad world" (not sure how many mads) with Buddy Hackett and

Mickey Rooney (and half of Hollywood) on the other night.

Lots of early 60's cars & trucks. Good chase scenes if only the storyline wasn't so corny...

Thanks,

Joe

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Why is it that every new movie needs to trash a number of 1960s musclecars. Keep in mind that for every one car you see on the screen, there are 3-6 cars built and trashed. I just refuse to pay money to watch those movies.

The new Green Hornet movie destroyed 26 1964-1966 Imperials. The Mythbusters TV show on the movie destroyed another.:mad:

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My Three Sons, beginning about 1960 and starring Fred MacMurray as Steve Douglas along with the venerable William Frawley as 'Bub' first featured Chevrolets in the show and as the credits rolled after each episode. Steve must have gotten a promotion in his TV series career as an aerospace engineer when about 3 years into the series, Pontiac replaced Chevrolet. The Douglas clan always had wagons, at first, middle of the road Chevy's, later, top of the line Pontiacs. I'm sure 'Tramp', the family dog, appreciated the extra space of those swell GM wagons.

In retrospect the move up the ladder to Pontiac reflected accurately on our American lifestyle back then.

post-67240-143138391136_thumb.jpg

Edited by Uncle_Buck (see edit history)
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Guest Skyking

Ward Cleaver started his show with Fords and ended with Plymouths. In one season he had a 57 Ford 4 door sedan and a 57 Ford 2dr HT.

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Guest billybird

Sure do! On TMC there is a Three Stooges marathon. I'm certain I saw a 1941 Willys Coupe on one episode. I almost forgot what they looked like not made into a Gasser!

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I also watch for the cars and trucks... sometimes they really add to the story. Sad to say the prop cars are cheap props...even when they cost $50,000 each or more... sad to see old stuff get destroyed... but hollywood has done that since day one.:(

Edited by mrspeedyt (see edit history)
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Dave@Moon, you remember it well. The car was a Model A, I think, and it was sold to a certain eastern European Comrad of the Khrushchev type. He planned to tell all his comrades it was the latest thing in America so they would all love their new style car...haha

There was another TZ with a guy that had a 1924 Rickenbacker, but I don't remember the plot in that one.

Another had a Lancia or Lagonda, some European type car, very expensive, and the owner did not get along with machines. They didn't like him and the car finally does him in.

Then there was I Love Lucy, when they were going to California, and Fred bought a 1923 Cadillac touring for the trip, and Ricky had already bought a new Pontiac convertible, 1954, I think.

And, lest we forget tht Three Stooges....they're working in a gas station, and a Packard DCP pulls up with 3 professors in the back seat. Larry puts water in the gas tank, and Curly puts gas in the radiator, and Moe checks the water level with a match, and the car goes boom...looks like it is totally dismantled, and all parts are there. It had a flat raiator front, so it had to be 1931 or before. Maybe a 645, 745 or 845...though it had a Cadillac=looking hood ornament.... See them all and enjoy..B

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What breaks my heart is when you see some of these cars on television and you see some of those cars get wrecked. You see these cars get wrecked and think of the parts that got lost due to filming.

Even with the other shows, look at how many Trans Ams and Mopar police cars that got wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit. Let alone all of the other tv shows and movies.

It's always painful to see the cool older cars that get wrecked in the "opening crash scene" for the old series "ChiPS" (Erik Estrada and I forget the name of his partner; two California motorcycle cops).

The old "BS" (Barbara Streisand) movie "What's Up Doc," also has an amazing chase scene with many cool older cars involved (including some that get mercilessly wrecked, such as a vintage VW microbus).

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My Three Sons, beginning about 1960 and starring Fred MacMurray as Steve Douglas along with the venerable William Frawley as 'Bub' first featured Chevrolets in the show and as the credits rolled after each episode. Steve must have gotten a promotion in his TV series career as an aerospace engineer when about 3 years into the series, Pontiac replaced Chevrolet. The Douglas clan always had wagons, at first, middle of the road Chevy's, later, top of the line Pontiacs. I'm sure 'Tramp', the family dog, appreciated the extra space of those swell GM wagons.

In retrospect the move up the ladder to Pontiac reflected accurately on our American lifestyle back then.

I forgot to mention one more tidbit about My Three Sons and why we started to watch it from episode #1 in our household. Fred MacMurray went to high school in Beaver Dam, WI and so did my mom not too many years later. Fred, of course, went on to star in movies beginning in the late 30's. That made him about the biggest deal in that neck of the woods back in those days. My mother was flabergasted when 'Steve' in a line in the My Three Sons series mentions his high school as it was in real life, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin and did it repeatedly throughout the run of the series.

The early years of the series is now available on DVD. I get mine from NETFLIX. I have fond memories associated with many of those old episodes and can place myself back in those simpler times when I watch them.

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Guest Skyking

Then there was I Love Lucy, when they were going to California, and Fred bought a 1923 Cadillac touring for the trip, and Ricky had already bought a new Pontiac convertible, 1954, I think.

That Pontiac was a 1955. My brother has the model that was made after the show. It has the 4 characters sitting inside it. Pretty cool!

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Guest Hinckley
Hello,

They had "Mad,mad,mad world" (not sure how many mads) with Buddy Hackett and

Mickey Rooney (and half of Hollywood) on the other night.

Lots of early 60's cars & trucks. Good chase scenes if only the storyline wasn't so corny...

Thanks,

Joe

This is a great movie if you want to look for old cars. Its more than corny but it was meant to be silly.

We watched this again a few nightss ago and it was the cars in the background and on the streets that interested me the most.

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I caught one episode of the TZ marathon with William Shatner and Pat Breslin. They get towed into a small town in a broken 57 Ford Sunliner Conv. There was also on TCM "The Time Machine" where Rod Taylor is almost vaporized in 1966 and there were some customized cars in there, 1 being a 51 Packard.

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Keiser31 is correct about "Highway Patrol".

Broderick Crawford was the headliner, but the Buicks, and later the Mercury models used by CHP were (in my opinion) the stars..............10-4?

Different strokes for different folks. Myself, I was partial to the Oldsmobile police cruisers!

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Good thread, Glenn! I have 6 of the 7 years of "Emergency" on DVD (yeah, yeah, I know) and I find myself running it in slow-motion or backing up to ID cars in the background. Also noticed that there is a "cast" of some background cars that are regularly seen - to wit: blue higher line '69 - '72 Chevy 3/4-ton pickup, a light blue '71 Olds VistaCruiser, light blue '70 - ;72 Camaro with RWL tires, wheel covers, and a black vinyl top, dark blue '69 Chevy full-size wagon with woodgrain and a missing front wheel cover; white '67 Chevy Bel Air or Biscayne wagon with '68 wheel covers, a Triumph TR-something, purple '67 - '72 Ford pickup, and last but not least, Gage's white Land-Rover (in a later episode he drives a Jeep Gladiator pickup). I wonder if some of these belonged to the actors - would guess that at least some of them belonged to the crew...

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I loved Highway Patrol when I was a kid and have watched most of the first season on HULU. The '55 Buicks they used were 3 on the trees and once in awhile you could hear the first gear wind and shift into second. They also had '54 Oldsmobiles in the very first episodes, then went to Mercury. Highway Patrol is a lot of fun to watch, they sure did things differently back then. I also bet that a lot of the "country" settings they used around LA are now all built up and part of the city.

I happened to catch a couple of episodes of Bewitched this afternoon. There was blue Camaro convertible and Malibu Estate Wagon in the driveway. I also loved Hawaii 5-0 and Steve McGarrett's '68 and '73 Park Lanes. I have seasons 1-8 so far; in season 4, they used a '72 LTD that's an exact duplicate of mine.

Edited by John_Maine (see edit history)
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Guest Skyking
I loved Highway Patrol when I was a kid and have watched most of the first season on HULU. The '55 Buicks they used were 3 on the trees and once in awhile you could hear the first gear wind and shift into second.

John, I loved the episode where the undercover cops also drove 55 Buick unmarked cars. There were '55 Buicks all over the place in that one.:)

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And your name, Sky King, he drove a '55 (I think) Chrysler Wagon. "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" is one of my favorites. I watch it every year on my birthday - for some reason. I hate to see all those cars wrecked, but just thinking about Jimmy Durante driving over the cliff in the '57 Ford Fairlane, then kicking the bucket, makes me laugh. I know the movie so well, I find myself laughing in anticipation of something happening.

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Guest Skyking

I have all the episodes of M Squad starring Lee Majors. He always drove a black 57 Ford. I also have some episodes of Peter Gun. He drove a 57 Plymouth convertible.

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I'm amazed there are that many left. Didn't the demolition derby guys love these?

Howard Dennis

Sadly, yes. But al least most of those guys like cars, and had enough sense to stop ruining this type about 20 years ago (for the most part). About 15 years ago I went to a demo derby (my toddler son was a big fan then) and watched some guy destroy a (truly) near mint condition 1966 Olds 98 2 door hardtop. He was out to win a $75 prize. :(

They're not ALL genuises, you know!:rolleyes: I was hardly the only outraged person there.

These movie producers (The Green Hornet) had a budget last year of probably something like $250,000.00 to buy and screw up a bunch of still good 45 year old luxury cars, and did it. They probably spent that much on coffee creamer, too. At least when the producers made Christine and the Dukes of Hazzard TV show the cars they were destroying were only 20-25 years old.:mad:

Edited by Dave@Moon
Added "buy" to sentence in 2nd paragraph (see edit history)
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Good thread, Glenn! I have 6 of the 7 years of "Emergency" on DVD (yeah, yeah, I know) and I find myself running it in slow-motion or backing up to ID cars in the background. Also noticed that there is a "cast" of some background cars that are regularly seen - to wit: blue higher line '69 - '72 Chevy 3/4-ton pickup, a light blue '71 Olds VistaCruiser, light blue '70 - ;72 Camaro with RWL tires, wheel covers, and a black vinyl top, dark blue '69 Chevy full-size wagon with woodgrain and a missing front wheel cover; white '67 Chevy Bel Air or Biscayne wagon with '68 wheel covers, a Triumph TR-something, purple '67 - '72 Ford pickup, and last but not least, Gage's white Land-Rover (in a later episode he drives a Jeep Gladiator pickup). I wonder if some of these belonged to the actors - would guess that at least some of them belonged to the crew...

They're probably part of a leased fleet for the show. The second movie of Hairspray (2007), set in Baltimore in 1962, is one of the worst offenders I've seen in this respect. They rented a fleet of (at most) 15 cars for the whole movie, and virtually every outdoor scene has every one of them in it. The same cars, every scene, no matter the location.

What's worse is the director obvioulsy had his favorites among the cars. For example there's a gorgeous 3-tone 1956 Packard Caribbean (turquoise/copper/cream) that drives by in the near foreground in almost every scene. You almost get tired of looking at it long enough to forget it's in WAY too nice condition to be a 6 year old car in Baltimore in 1962.

Edited by Dave@Moon
typos (see edit history)
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