Collector Car/Cars We Remember; Back to the mailbag: Mustang memories, hot ’67 Chevelle, and a note from an ‘old friend’

[By Greg Zyla]

Q: Dear Greg, I always enjoy your columns, and your recent series listing TV programs that featured cars, most notably vintage and special-interest cars, was among my favorites. Your column invited readers to suggest additional TV shows that featured cars – I believe the following three shows qualify for inclusion on the list.

First is Vega$ (the show’s title is stylized with a “$” in place of the “S”), which ran from 1978 to 1981 and starred the late Robert Urich. Urich played detective Dan Tanna, who drove a bright red 1957 Ford Thunderbird in the show. Most episodes featured Detective Tanna in a high-speed chase, pursuing a bad guy in his T-Bird through the streets of Las Vegas. 

I was certain that either Urich or the show’s producer was enamored with the ’57 T-bird since a classic “baby bird” was hardly an obvious choice for those high-speed chase scenes. Although powerful engine options were available, Ford marketed its two-seater Thunderbird as a “personal luxury car,” and it was far more likely to be used for carrying golf clubs to the country club than to chase bad guys.

AMT marketed a model kit for fans of Vega$ to build a 1/25 scale replica of the Vega$ T-bird, and Corgi of Great Britain also sold a model of the car.

Urich once commented, “That car got more fan mail than I did!” That statement alone warrants the show’s inclusion on the list, but add the fact that most episodes showed Dan Tanna driving his T-Bird right into his apartment’s living room, and perhaps Vega$ should be at the top of the list.

– A second show that I feel deserves inclusion is Spencer for Hire, which aired from 1985 to 1988. It also starred Robert Urich as Spencer, a private investigator, and Avery Brooks as his assistant, Hawk. Urich drove a vintage 1966 Mustang fastback in every episode, and the car was a major part of each script. Spencer for Hire strengthened my belief that someone associated with these two Robert Urich series had a passion for vintage cars. Today, a quick Google search reveals that Urich himself was indeed that car enthusiast, and he was particularly fond of Fords.

– Lastly, I believe the Mary Tyler Moore Show, which aired from 1970 to 1977, deserves mention. Including the Mary Tyler Moore Show on the list may seem like a stretch, as cars were not central to most of the scripts. However, the show’s introduction features MTM’s character, Mary Richards, driving to her job as an associate producer of a news program at a fictional Minneapolis television station. I’m certain the vast majority of the show’s viewers recognized that MTM was driving a Ford Mustang in that introduction. Mary, appearing behind the wheel of a Mustang, was no accident; she was a car enthusiast who owned several Mustangs.

Her role portraying a single, independent, career-oriented woman was groundbreaking for television at that time, so it was no surprise to learn that the Mary Tyler Moore Show was responsible for the sale of thousands of Mustangs to young women who wanted to be just like Mary Richards. Perhaps my sister was one of those women, as she chose a 1967 Mustang convertible for her first car. I was thrilled when my sister generously gifted her Mustang to me in 1977. That Mustang has always been my pride and joy, and it has occupied a space in my garage for the past 48 years.

Doug M. – Lancaster, Pa.  

A: Thank you very much, Doug, for a most interesting and professionally written response to my TV Star Cars columns. Whenever I write about this subject, I receive a good amount of letters from my readers. As for your Mustang, it’s a real beauty, and continued good luck with the car.

Hot 1967 Chevelle: original owner, rare 4-speed

Q: I read your recent column about the 1970 Chevelle and your 1968 Camaro in the Wayne County Times. They are all very enjoyable columns, and I look forward to getting the newspaper every week. I will be 82 years old next month, and my interest in high performance cars came at an early age.

The reason I am writing to you is that I own a 1967 Chevelle SS 396/350 horse version. I ordered my Chevelle from Hoselton Chevrolet in Rochester, N.Y., on June 21, 1967. (Author note: Hoselton Chevy is still in business and doing well.)

Here are some items of interest: deep blue in color, black interior, tinted glass, M22 Muncie “rock crusher” four-speed, rear defroster, rear speaker, bucket seats with console, factory tach, and clock.

Along the way, I added a Holley 800 double pumper, an Offy aluminum intake, an electronic ignition, and a set of Headman headers. It only has 35,000 actual miles. I have the original window sticker and bill of sale.

Maybe you would like to put it in The Wayne County Times newspaper. Or you could see it in person if you contact me.

Thank you very much, Greg, and keep up the good work. Yours truly, Dale K., Palmyra, N.Y.   

A: Dale, that M22 makes your Chevelle a rare car. Usually, the M22 rock crusher 4-speed was ordered with the L78 396/375 horse engine, but for some reason, the 375 horse engine was eliminated as an option. If you tried to order a 375 horse 396, it wasn’t available. Rumors had Chevy receiving pressure from insurance companies and even parents that the engine was too powerful.

I remember a friend of mine went to the Chevy dealer in Vineland, N.J., and he tried to order a ’67 SS396/375 and he was told it wasn’t available. Only the 325 (L35) and 350 horse (L34) engines were available. Further, the L34 was rated at 360 horses in 1966.   

Thankfully, Chevy brought back the L78 later in the year, and since that time, it has been Chevy’s most popular high-performance engine and available through 1970. Notable in 1970 all three 396 engines of “L” variants became 402 inches. However, Chevy kept selling them as 396 engines thanks to the excellent branding through the years.

In summary, there are very few 1967 350 horse 396s out there with an M22 Muncie 4-speed. Your order had to be specially okayed by the dealer to include that M22. The other Muncie 4-speeds available were the wide-ratio M20, the close-ratio M-21 and your close-ratio, hardened gears M-22 that had a specific whine to it.

By the time the 1967 year was finished, only 612 Chevelle L78s were ever built. However, the L78 got the GM blessing for ’67 Camaro first, with 1,138 L78 Camaros built in ’67.

I would think the insurance companies went crazy seeing an L78/M22 combo in a Camaro.

Thanks for your letter, Dale, and I’d love to see your beauty in person.

NASCAR reply

Q: Hi, Greg, it’s your old friend from Rhode Island again. Boy, you hit the nail on the head in your recent NASCAR column. What a mess it was. You have to wonder what Big Bill France would have thought. It seems money, or lack thereof, to the teams has ruined this sport, too.

At least the litigation is over, and the teams are now better off. Keep up the good work. Sincerely, Mike Wood, Charlestown, R.I.  

A: Thanks, Mike. Instead of a long reply, I agree Big Bill would be upset, even though during his time of leadership, he was dead set against any type of union interference or driver lobby groups.

(Greg Zyla is a syndicated auto columnist who welcomes reader interaction on collector cars, auto nostalgia, or motorsports at extramile_2000@yahoo.com or at Greg Zyla, Roosevelt Street, Sayre, Pa. 18840.)