Iconic Cars: Starsky & Hutch Gran Torino

 Starsky & Hutch is one of those shows that dates you: those that were there: whose face cracks into a lopsided dreamy smile at the mention of it and those that have absolutely no idea what you’re on about.

 A US cop show running for only four seasons 1975 to 1979, starring David Soul, Paul Michael Glaser and Antonio Fargas as the infamous ‘Huggy Bear’. Apart from standing as quintessential 70’s viewing, it remains most enduringly notable for two things: Starsky’s extraordinary home-knits and his two door Ford, a bright red 1975 Gran Torino, with vectored white stripes down the side.

 It gained its more familiar moniker when Glaser unflatteringly branded it a striped tomato upon first perusal. He was never enamoured of the car, thinking it ridiculous as a choice of Police vehicle, since it drew so much attention to itself, purely by existing.

In the initial ‘pilot’ episode, two 351 Windsor V8 versions were employed, one with all the trimmings and the other with a more standard interior, originally employed as part of the plot, as a case of mistaken identity. However, both were driven by Starsky’s character in the filming of the episode.

The car was also modified by having a customised paint job over the factory red, upgraded air shocks at the back and US brand 5 slot mags added, with obligatory oversized rear tyres. Once the series was given the greenlight, the car was infact replaced by a newer model and mods were made to the appearance as much as the mechanics, to sex it up even further. 

Later episodes required that the car was further adapted, with a better gear ratio box and improved rear end, allowing for greater torque and a more explosive acceleration for the chase sequences. The production also -rather cheekily- dubbed high-performance engine sounds over the driving sequences to make for more exciting audio.

The second season brought in yet another new model, the 1976 Gran Torino, with subtle alterations to the bench seats, chrome mirrors and a different bumper. It was also powered differently, utilising a 460 Lima V8. The producers Spelling-Goldberg bought a couple of them, imaginatively called #1, #2, to allow for unforeseen accidents in stunt sequences and this model was the one that saw out the series through to the end in ’79.

There being a bench seat in the front caused the actors all sorts of issues when Glaser threw the car around corners, as Soul’s character Hutch found himself thrown about, even sliding into Glaser. They requested bucket seats to secure both of them, but it took a whole season before the production acquiesced.

Contrasting to its huge popularity on the show, it’s well-documented that Glaser took an ‘immediate and long-lasting dislike’ to the car. He felt it was ‘big, ugly and childish-looking’, made a poor Police vehicle and had he personally had a dislike of Ford cars in general.

He has in the past been accused of purposely hammering the car during stunts, ramming curbs and the like, but he insisted that he was primarily an actor, not a stunt driver and any accidents were just that. Accidental. In the final series particularly, damage to the car can be spotted though, as the twin cars took a battering and, with tight shooting schedules, repairs were more bodges than finessing. Accordingly, numberplates are often missing and rough repairs to doors and damage to the bumpers are particularly evident.

Due to the success of the series, Ford made a bunch of repro’s in 1976 and the ABC production bought one of these to act as a second back up vehicle.

When the series came to an end, vehicles #1 and #2 were bought by fans at auction. They were in very poor shape and indeed one was sold as scrap. Word is that both of them are undergoing a refurb and the third car, known simply as Unit 129, was bought by a collector in New Hampshire.

As with ‘Back To The Future’ and ‘The Italian Job’, it cannot be underestimated the impact of a hit show on a vehicle’s profile. The Starsky ‘striped tomato’ still has a huge following and quite a few replicas exist here in the UK, even to this day.