Banachek Auto

[Friartuck]

Does anyone remember what the vehicle was the George Peppard used in the TV series Banachek, circa 1972-1974? We'll get this out of the way before we move on to Columbo's beat up sedan.............

Chris

[mrpushbutton]

Why yes, I do. It's here where I work, and I dust it weekly. Go to

http://www.chryslerheritage.com/pg6023.htm and scroll down to see a picture of it here. It belongs to Mike Geary, of Buffalo, NY.

[R W Burgess]

So, which one is it? The Charger. I loved that show, nev3er paid much attention to the cars.

Wayne

[Guest Randy Berger]

Mr PB, I think you have confused shows. I don't know what mundane piece of Chrysler may have been on that show but THE automobile was a Packard Darrin, and I didn't see it among the various autos shown in the pictures.

[West Peterson]

Chris,

The Banecek car was a 1941 Darrin. Actually, there were two cars used for the filming, one for when they needed to shoot on the east coast, and one for the west coast. One of the cars was actually a 1942 model that had been converted with 1941 type waterfall side grilles. It has since been restored to look like a 1941 model again. As to who owns each car, I don't know anymore. I think Don Sears used to own one of them.

The Columbo car was Peugeot.

[Friartuck]

Thanks for the answer. I thought it was a Packard Darrin, but didn't want to mention it in case I was wrong. It's been awhile since I saw any of the episodes.

Chris

[mrpushbutton]

FriarTuck--OK I was a little confused there. He drove a Packard Darrin (I'm a Packard guy, I should know this, but I didn't watch any television during that decade, ergo the confusion). The car I was leading you to in my post is a 1969 AMX that was customized by George Barris for an episode of "Banacek", it was a "5 million dollar concept car" that was stolen. Barris customized the AMX, and it's here now as part of our "Hot Rods and Cool Mods" exhibit, which runs through Aug. 20th. Do you know how difficult it was to find Chrysler (and related brands) that DON'T have small block Chebby engines!. But we did it!

[Guest AlK]

Vertigo:

Are you 100% sure it was a Darin, I saw the show and I thought it was a 1939 120

convertible with dual side mounts. Although I humbly admit I am not an authority.

[West Peterson]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Are you 100% sure it was a Darin, I saw the show and I thought it was a 1939 120

convertible with dual side mounts. Although I humbly admit I am not an authority. </div></div>

I'm positive.

[Guest stude8]

OK, I think there is a story missing here. How does the AMC merit enough clout to fit in the Chrysler exhibit?

Not that an AMX isn't one of my favorites. I almost cashed in test driving a 70 with the 390 engine that the seller had tampered with the accelorator linkage and it locked at full throttle!! As the tach approached 6000RPM I had the where with to shut the key off (this wasn't planned you understand) and stand on the brakes harder than ever before in my life and it fought me then by firing diesel due to the carb being wide open. One of the great thrills of my auto life. Stude8

[West Peterson]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">OK, I think there is a story missing here. How does the AMC merit enough clout to fit in the Chrysler exhibit? </div></div>

You see AMC products included in most of the Chrysler meets now that DCX owns the rights to all of AMC .

[mrpushbutton]

Vertigo answered it--Chrysler bought AMC in 1987, and we display Nash, Hudson and AMC models as our "heritage makes".