TV Show Cars - Do You Remember the Star's Cars?

Remember These?

If TV shows are going to be interesting, they need an interesting vehicle. The cars below, (plus a truck and a bike) are pretty well known.

See if you can name the TV show and the character name of the actor who drove it. And...if you're so inclined, try to name the year and make also. The answers are below -- thanks for checking this out.

1. This is Magnum's (Tom Selleck) Ferrari 306 GTS from the "Magnum P.I." show. Actually, three Ferraris were used -- a 1979, a 1981 and a 1984. The seats were modified so the tall Tom could fit into the cars. Selleck told David Letterman that after the show ended the cars were all sold at auction for "outrageous" amounts.
   
2. The MunsterKoach was the daily driver for Herman Munster (Fred Gwynn) on "The Munsters" TV show. It was the work of George Barris who used three model Ts and $20,000 to build it. The network gave Barris 3 weeks to do the job. The dragster sported a 425 Cobra engine, a 4-speed manual tranny and a hand made frame ... plus a lot more than can be listed here. This dragster still exists and is on display. Also, another dragster was later built for "Grandpa" --  this one used a real coffin for the car body.
3. GMC's VanDura van was the choice for "The A Team," a collection of fugitives which included B.A Barracus (Mr.T), who usually drove. Several different vans were used and this gave the director fits -- because they were not matched. For different scenes they might use vans with and without sunroofs. Some had "GMC" blacked out, some didn't -- one stunt vehicle was actually a Ford. Anyhow, there is an original van left and it's on display in the UK.
   
4. This is Boss Hogg's ride ... a1970 Cadillac DeVille convertible. In early episodes, a chauffeur named Alex drove but later Boss took over and drove himself. Sorrell Brooke played Boss Hogg. The fate of Boss's TV Caddy is unknown. The Cadillac from the movie version of "The Dukes of Hazzard" was put up for sale on E-bay.
5. The TV show "Miami Vice," included this white Ferrari Testarosa -- the only genuine Ferrari used on the show. The first black "Ferrari" was actually a kit car (on a Corvette chassis). Enzo Ferrari sued over the kit car so it was blown to bits in a scene during the third season. It's replacement was the real white Ferrari shown and later the show added a reinforced 1972 De Tomaso Pantera custom (Ferrari look-alike) as a stunt car. Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) was the usual driver.
6. Probably the saddest scene on "Six Feet Under" was when this beautiful lime green 1972 Cadillac hearse is wrecked by Clarie Fisher (Lauren Ambrose). The hearse was then junked -- proving that there definitely is too much violence on TV.
   
7. The Fonz (Henry Winkler) could be seen on "Happy Days" with this c1951 Triumph TR5 motorcycle. Winkler couldn't actually ride at all. After starting the series on a big Harley, the producer switched to a more user friendly Triumph (for his and the cast's safety). There is a short clip showing him actually driving the TR5, but it is cut just before Winkler crashed into the set and nearly ran his director over. The TR5 showed up in Nov 21, 2005 at a Detroit auto show.
8. The 70's show called "Movin' On" featured a big rig 1973 Kenworth W925 VIT driven by Sonny Pruitt (Claude Akins). Sonny and Will had adventures hauling whatever needed hauling and the big Cummins-powered Kenworth was always part of the plot. Now, three decades later, trucker CB'ers use the expression "do it like Pruitt..." probably without knowing where it came from. Both Akins and Frank Converse (Will) were commercially licensed to drive the Kenworth.
9. Starsky & Hutch was a TV cop opera starring David Michael Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson (David Soul). Their car, the "Striped Tomato" as Hutch called it, was actually two 1974 Ford Gran Torinos. For extras, they had mag wheels, oversized tires, air shocks, High ratio rear ends (for more showy acceleration) and a variety of different engines were used. The cars' weekly body repairs can be easily seen in the later episodes. When the show ended, the two cars were sold to collectors and both still exist in private hands.
10. Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) drove several vehicles in "The Sopranos" TV show. The one that's probably most remembered is his Black Cadillac Escalade ESV, which sadly, sleeps with the fishes. During the shooting of a driving scene, Gandolfini wrecked the Escalade while avoiding a raccoon in the road. That SUV was replaced with the white one shown, in season #5. This white 2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV was sold at auction in West Palm Beach on 2008, along with some other vehicles that were used on the show.
11. "KITT" was a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am driven by Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff). The car appeared on the "Knight Rider" series and fought crime with it's artificial intelligence, indestructible body and it's ability to speak. It was turbine powered with afterburners (that's what they said) and it could go a gazillion miles per hour. The car was a hit with the TV audience as was the show. Of the 23 cars used in the show, only five are known to remain and they are on display in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.
12. About ten Ford Galaxy Police Cruisers were used during the run of The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD. A studio deal with Ford allowed them free use of new Fords for a year, after which time they were traded in for more free ones. The used Fords were stripped, repainted and then sold as used cars.The car shown is a 1963 Ford Galaxy squad car with equipment that is true to the period. In 2007 an auction at Fredricksburg Texas listed for sale a 1963 Galaxy stating that it was "original and actually used on the show." Both Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and Deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts) drove the Fords.