Car on Leave it to Beaver

[Joe Cocuzza]

I was watching an episode of Leave it to Beaver (the one where the Cleavers go on a picnic with the Rutherfords in Fred Rutherfords car)- a 1960 Plymouth Fury Convertible - see picture

I know there were many other cars on the show but this one was cool.

 

Go here to see some of the others

https://www.imcdb.org/m50032.html

Edited January 30 by Joe Cocuzza
added content (see edit history)

[leomara]

With a period Chrysler behind it, maybe Chrysler was the sponsor for automobiles used in the show. 

[Pfeil]

33 minutes ago, leomara said:

With a period Chrysler behind it, maybe Chrysler was the sponsor for automobiles used in the show. 

When the series started in 1957, all you would see was 57-58 Fords, Then Ward bought a Plymouth for 59. 

[TAKerry]

Most times in the old shows you will see a blip in the credits 'Automobiles supplied by --------'. Not sure if I have seen that on Beaver, but I think Ward always drove a Chrysler product. There are a few decent car episodes with that series.

 

Along those same lines, I saw on Dennis the Menace awhile ago Mr Wilson was preparing for an antique automobile race. I forget what he called his car but it was a big brass touring model. The neighborhood kids talked him into giving them a ride in his funny looking car!

[jdome]

Brass cars were THE antique cars in the 50s. 30s, 40s, cars were used cars.

[Joe Cocuzza]

"Not sure if I have seen that on Beaver, but I think Ward always drove a Chrysler product."

 

Ward did own a 57 Ford - I think in the very early shows. Then he switched to Chrysler products.

[8E45E]

1 hour ago, TAKerry said:

Most times in the old shows you will see a blip in the credits 'Automobiles supplied by --------'. Not sure if I have seen that on Beaver, but I think Ward always drove a Chrysler product. There are a few decent car episodes with that series.

The 'FBI' with Efram Zimbilist Jr., always drove Ford products, and mentioned 'vehicles supplied by Ford Motor Company' in the credits at the end.

 

Craig

[rocketraider]

Somehow I never thought of Fred Rutherford being a convertible kinda guy. But thinking back on how Richard Deacon played that character, maybe he was.🤔

 

Carmakers learned early on about product placement and how TV and movie viewers would reason that if their favorite characters drove X brand of automobile, it was a good choice of car.

[TerryB]

Recently I saw a an old B&W episode of Perry Mason where an elderly well to do woman drove a Detroit Electric car.  In the storyline, her late husband was the founder of the company.  They mentioned the Detroit Electric by name and showed the woman driving it.

[Buick35]

I think in the Beverly Hillbillies Mr.Drysdale drove a Chrysler convertible if I remember right.

Edited January 30 by Buick35
Spelling (see edit history)

[John348]

27 minutes ago, TerryB said:

Recently I saw a an old B&W episode of Perry Mason where an elderly well to do woman drove a Detroit Electric car.  In the storyline, her late husband was the founder of the company.  They mentioned the Detroit Electric by name and showed the woman driving it.

I saw that episode as well, ironically the family's name in the story was Baker, who was another early electric car manufacturer.  

[jdome]

26 minutes ago, TerryB said:

Recently I saw a an old B&W episode of Perry Mason where an elderly well to do woman drove a Detroit Electric car.  In the storyline, her late husband was the founder of the company.  They mentioned the Detroit Electric by name and showed the woman driving it.

Perry Mason often had high end Deluxe model cars he or his girl Friday or clients drove. The chief of detectives he was always sparing with drove a 58 Buick 2-dr hardtop with a continental kit.

[John348]

2 minutes ago, jdome said:

Perry Mason often had high end Deluxe model cars he or his girl Friday or clients drove. The chief of detectives he was always sparing with drove a 58 Buick 2-dr hardtop with a continental kit.

Never saw Tragg driving one of those but did have a 60 Buick four door hard top in season 3 and 4. In seasons 1 and 2 it was a 57 Chevy police car, then a 58 Chevy then came the 60 Buick. The only 58 Buick with a continental kit I remember was a convertible in an episode with Claude Aikens in season 1.  If you look close Perry at the Fords Perry drives in Season one and the beginning of Season 2 they are retractables

[TerryB]

The private investigator Paul Drake on Perry Mason has driven Thunderbirds, Corvettes and other convertibles.  Perry will be driving Fords in some early episodes and then Buicks and Lincolns with most being convertibles.  In some episodes both Buicks and Fords are driven.

[B Jake Moran]

1 hour ago, rocketraider said:

Somehow I never thought of Fred Rutherford being a convertible kinda guy. But thinking back on how Richard Deacon played that character, maybe he was.🤔

 

Carmakers learned early on about product placement and how TV and movie viewers would reason that if their favorite characters drove X brand of automobile, it was a good choice of car.

Fred was a status seeker. Ward was the humble conservative type. Fred was always kind of putting Ward and the Cleavers down, subtly. 

[dship]

I remember on "M" Squad Lee Marvin drove a shoe-box Ford.

[John348]

5 hours ago, Joe Cocuzza said:

I was watching an episode of Leave it to Beaver (the one where the Cleavers go on a picnic with the Rutherfords in Fred Rutherfords car)- a 1960 Plymouth Fury Convertible - see picture

I know there were many other cars on the show but this one was cool.

 

Go here to see some of the others

https://www.imcdb.org/m50032.html

What is with the outboard head lights on Freds Chrysler? they appear to be a different tint?

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, Buick35 said:

I think in the Beverly Hillbillies Mr.Drysdale drove a Chrysler convertible if I remember right.

In one episode, he drove a 1962 Imperial 4 door hardtop.

 

Craig

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, rocketraider said:

Somehow I never thought of Fred Rutherford being a convertible kinda guy. But thinking back on how Richard Deacon played that character, maybe he was.🤔

 

Carmakers learned early on about product placement and how TV and movie viewers would reason that if their favorite characters drove X brand of automobile, it was a good choice of car.

I wonder if Peugeot North America sponsored Columbo's 1959 403 convertible.

 

Craig

[58L-Y8]

I wonder if Ford executives thought having Lincoln Continental convertibles juxtaposed with the Douglass' Green Acres rundown farmhouse was good product placement.

[John348]

What about the Dart GTS Convertible Mike Mannix Drove?

[JamesR]

I remember the Mopars on Leave it to Beaver as a kid, but I do recall all the Fords on reruns. Bewitched had Chevys, and Samantha had a great little Camaro convertible. They were new when the show was on the air, so it was a notable car for many viewers. I was just going to mention Steve Mannix and his Dart convertible when John replied. 😄Convertibles were common on TV shows because they made it easier to film actors in auto scenes.

[Pfeil]

8 hours ago, TAKerry said:

Most times in the old shows you will see a blip in the credits 'Automobiles supplied by --------'. Not sure if I have seen that on Beaver, but I think Ward always drove a Chrysler product. There are a few decent car episodes with that series.

 

Along those same lines, I saw on Dennis the Menace awhile ago Mr Wilson was preparing for an antique automobile race. I forget what he called his car but it was a big brass touring model. The neighborhood kids talked him into giving them a ride in his funny looking car!

In the beginning 1957, Ward Cleaver owned a 57 Ford Custom 300, that was the one Wally broke the side window on. Sometimes you would see Ward driving a 57 Ford Fairlane 500, but all the scenes at home were with the Custom 300. When Ward and June Bought a new house in 1959, that's when Ward started driving a 59 Plymouth, and from then on always a Plymouth. 

Edited January 31 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[hook]

11 hours ago, 58L-Y8 said:

I wonder if Ford executives thought having Lincoln Continental convertibles juxtaposed with the Douglass' Green Acres rundown farmhouse was good product placement.

I don't think it would hurt the sixties Lincoln Continentals, whether sitting next to a mansion or an outhouse. They exuded class.

[hook]

16 hours ago, 8E45E said:

The 'FBI' with Efram Zimbilist Jr., always drove Ford products, and mentioned 'vehicles supplied by Ford Motor Company' in the credits at the end.

 

Craig

As did Father knows best.

[Jim Skelly]

17 hours ago, Joe Cocuzza said:

This could go on and on.......

 

Wallys friend Clarence "Lumpy" Rutherford drove a (I think) 1940? Ford Convertible.

I think he also had an early 40's Ford sedan at one time.

And he always had problems with them.

I saw the one episode where he somehow got Wally and wiseguy Eddie Haskell to replace the rear end in his car while he sat there and drank lemonade or soda and they did all the work - that is until his dad, Fred, came out and leaned into him to fix the pile of junk ASAP.

 

 

 

 

 

That was the episode where Lumpy put smoke bombs in the other guys' cars - or something like that.  Then Wally and Eddie took Ward's tow chain, wrapped it around Lumpy's rear axle and a tree, and the axle "came off" when he attempted to leave the driveway.  The chain hook had 'W. Cleaver' painted on it, so they got busted.  Then Wally and Eddie told Fred that they didn't want Lumpy's help after Fred heard the entire story.  One of the classic episodes from that show, and my Dad's favorite. 

[TAKerry]

I liked the episode when Wally bought a car. It was a fixer upper. Ward had a fit that it needed so much work. I think he paid $10 or something for it. Ward ended making a deal to have the scrap guy pick it up and it only cost $15 for the service. In the meantime I think Wally parted it out for something like $20.

[Harold]

46 minutes ago, TAKerry said:

I liked the episode when Wally bought a car. It was a fixer upper. Ward had a fit that it needed so much work. I think he paid $10 or something for it. Ward ended making a deal to have the scrap guy pick it up and it only cost $15 for the service. In the meantime I think Wally parted it out for something like $20.

That sounds like an episode from 'The Life of Riley'.

[John348]

I made it point this morning to watch the credits on "Leave it Beaver" and no credit is given to any manufacturer, the actors who are not main character actors are given credit, but their role is not shown next to their name. TV production was evolving and producers were still figuring out how to make money from production. I did read at one point that Leave it to Beaver after the second or third year, left networks and a new production company picked it up. 

Wally's first car that was road worthy was a pretty rare one at that, a 1953 Chevrolet 210 Convertible, seldom ever seen. 

 

 

[60FlatTop]

Here is the '57 Plymouth from the Dick Van Dyke Show. I remember him having a 1960 as well. The Beaver car could have come from the same Hollywood car pool.

[John348]

7 minutes ago, 60FlatTop said:

Here is the '57 Plymouth from the Dick Van Dyke Show. I remember him having a 1960 as well. The Beaver car could have come from the same Hollywood car pool.

Beaver was filmed in Revue studios, that looks more like Westchester County NY (where Dick Van Dyke takes place) then Hollywood?

[60FlatTop]

I knew Van Dyke was in New Rochelle and the '57 background looks like Westchester, but the scenes driving the car may have been a long distance away. Those movie people are pretty shifty.

[Pfeil]

2 hours ago, TAKerry said:

I liked the episode when Wally bought a car. It was a fixer upper. Ward had a fit that it needed so much work. I think he paid $10 or something for it. Ward ended making a deal to have the scrap guy pick it up and it only cost $15 for the service. In the meantime I think Wally parted it out for something like $20.

That was a 36 Ford coupe. Ward called it a Jalopy. Furious, Ward arranged with a junk man to take it away and paid the junk man to get rid of it. Problem was Wally had been selling parts off of it and made more money much to Ward and the junk man's surprise.

[John348]

34 minutes ago, Pfeil said:

That was a 36 Ford coupe. Ward called it a Jalopy. Furious, Ward arranged with a junk man to take it away and paid the junk man to get rid of it. Problem was Wally had been selling parts off of it and made more money much to Ward and the junk man's surprise.

I remember that one, but later on in season 5 Wally had the 53 Convertible, I am not able to download the photos.  Search the cars used on leave it beaver you will see photos of it and might spark a memory.

[John348]

I found some that were considered "safe"

 

 

[TAKerry]

The funny thing with Wally having the 53 is that its only a 10 yr old car at the most. Most of my cars are just getting broke in at that age!

 

For the Dick Van Dyke thing, I dont watch that show a lot, never did. But I do not ever remember an outside scene. All I recall were his living room, an occasional shot in the kitchen and his office.

[MikeC5]

And let's not forget Studebaker cars on Mr. Ed...

[58L-Y8]

On an episode of "Father Knows Best" Margaret Amderson gets a phone call informing her that she has won a contest grand prize: "a $6,000 automobile:  Shortly we see her drive home in a light-color 1958 Lincoln Premiere 2-door hardtop to the delight of their children.  Of course, discussions ensue about this extravagant and pretentious automobile contrasted to the Anderson's modest social standing.  Concurrently, we see the local orphanage's only transportation is a dilapidated 1936 Ford station wagon which the maintenance man can no longer repair to run.  In a typical sappy 1950's sitcom solution, Margaret Anderson selflessly trades the Lincoln for two used Chevrolet station wagons for the benefit of the orphanage. 

[John348]

3 hours ago, TAKerry said:

The funny thing with Wally having the 53 is that its only a 10 yr old car at the most. Most of my cars are just getting broke in at that age!

 

For the Dick Van Dyke thing, I dont watch that show a lot, never did. But I do not ever remember an outside scene. All I recall were his living room, an occasional shot in the kitchen and his office.

Back then the average life expectancy in NYC was around 15 years old. In the late 60's my father was buying those 49-54 Chevy's in the Bronx for $15 and driving them till their last breath. They sure were gasping for air when he bought them.  So, Wally's used car was a back of the lot car in 1962, in a 1960 'Red Book" they list Wally's Chevy for retail at $180.

 

  

[vintage1]

Perry Mason also drove a Cadillac convertible in some episodes, I think it was an Eldorado. There was also an electric car on Dennis the Menace. Mr Mitchell buys his wife a new Ford Falcon, and a lady gives Dennis the electric car when she wins a new car in a sweepstakes that Dennis was trying to win his mom a new car. In another episode Mr Wilson buys a new MGA. These old shows are great for car spotting. If you search some of these old shows online you can find color photos of some scenes with cars that the studio took.