Starsky & Hutch – One Man And His Mustang

I finally have gotten round to writing up the car show I attended a couple of weeks ago. This is perhaps my most local of show venues but does host a variety of shows, not just car shows. The weather promised to be overcast but no rain. The car needed fuel so I would stop of at my local Shell petrol station for a fill up of V-Power. It’s an expensive premium mix compared to the other options, but my car likes it, any other fuel my car runs erratically and just doesn’t run well. I may do a post on different types of fuel mixtures if there is interest for a post, let me know if you think it would be worthwhile post. As I was filling up I had a guy comer up to me wanting to know about the car and I showed him around it. A nice chat and we were lucky as there wasn’t anybody else wanting to get a fill up.

About a mile outside the event I hit the traffic jam, it took me a total of thirty five minutes to get to the gate. The problem is that the there is a car boot sale every Sunday at the venue. The entrance directs the public who are only interested in the car boot sale and parking for that side of the field. The classic cars also have to use the same entrance, in reality for such duel events they should open another entrance to avoid the queues. Let’s face it, most of these old cars don’t like sitting in heavy traffic, mine included. Once I got into the event I was directed to the Bury Retro Car Club allocated spaces which was right in the corner of the field, the furthest point from anywhere.

Front view of a blue classic Ford Mustang parked among other vintage cars at a car show.

The club stand.

WE parked up and had a chat then decided that I should take a walk round the field in a clockwise direction which was becoming a very busy field that was pretty much near to capacity.

This car caught my eye and almost got ‘Mart’s Car of the show’, 1930 Nash Ambassador 8.

There was a trio singing various classic songs to a backing track which was quite nice.

There was some auto jumble for sale but nothing especially brilliant.

The group of other Mustangs at the show:

Mart’s Car Of The Show.

The classic 1974/76 Ford Torino, I was besotted with Starsky & Hutch as a kid and loved the car.

A vintage red and white car with a roof light parked on grass, surrounded by classic cars at a car show.

I found online from a few places a little history of the legendary car.

Starsky and Hutch, the fictional undercover cops portrayed in the 1970s TV series of the same name, catapulted the lead actors Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul into the limelight. But it was their on screen ride a bright red Ford Gran Torino with a distinctive white stripe that stole the show, the high-speed, tire-screeching car chases that punctuated every storyline made the car as famous as the show and the actors themselves. This eye-catching two-door hardtop, with its five-slot mags and pumped-up rear suspension, quickly became a pop culture icon, with vehicles from the show highly sought after today.

The success of the show, which ran for 93 episodes from 1975 to 1979, inspired a string of similarly themed buddy-cop TV shows. “ChiPs” motorcycle officers Baker and Ponch, and “Miami Vice” detectives Crockett and Tubbs, quickly followed in its tire tracks along. Perhaps the other car with such notoriety was with the those Duke boys Bo and Luke jumping, cop evading “The Dukes of Hazzard” in their iconic 1969 Dodge Challenger, the “General Lee”.

When the first series of “Starsky and Hutch” hit the airwaves on America’s ABC, the phone lines of Beverly Hills producers Spelling-Goldberg ran hot, with viewers eager to know where they could purchase such a car. Sensing an opportunity to make money, the clever marketing gurus at Ford rushed to release a limited edition run of just over 1300 lookalikes for the 1976 model year. The existence of these factory replicas along with a fleet of home-built tribute cars that makes it difficult to authenticate any Gran Torino purportedly used in the series.

A red ‘Starsky and Hutch’ style Ford Torino on display at a show.

Ford supplied half a dozen or so 1974-76 Torinos for the TV series, but only three are known to have survived. Stunt cars got V8s of either 400 or 460 ci, and for better acceleration in the signature chase scenes, a few of these were modified with lower ratio gears which had a “Do Not Exceed 50 mph” label on the dash to prevent extreme redline and damaging the engines..

During documentary in 2003 called: “Starsky and Hutch: Making Of Behind The Badge,” the TV series creator William Blinn revealed he originally envisioned the duo driving a green Chevy Camaro convertible, but the producers already had a deal with Ford to supply cars. “My heart broke,” Blinn recalls, “until the guy showed up in the red and white Torino.” The transportation crew had dressed it up like the hottest thing on wheels, he says, when it could hardly get up a steep hill. “Why that car became such a trademark for the show, I truly don’t know,” Blinn muses.

Paul Michael Glaser, who plays the brooding detective Starsky in the series, disliked the car on sight, disparagingly dubbing it “the Striped Tomato.” “I vowed to destroy that car,” Glaser said in the documentary. “Whenever there was an opportunity to hit something, I’d try to hit it.” Despite his heroic efforts to wreck the car, Glaser never managed to do so with the string of replacements ready. Paul continued his disdain for the ‘Striped Tomato’ which failed to diminish its enduring desirability, with one of the show’s on set Torinos fetching a respectable $40,000 at auction in 2014.

Known on the set as Torino #1 and Torino #2, the “Starsky and Hutch” daily drivers had 351 Windsor blocks and auto transmissions. Sadly the gorgeous sounds of the sporty engine and manual gear shifts were added into the show post production. The two cars are distinguishable by their front seats, with car #2 receiving the upgrade from bench to buckets. These “hero cars” were given a hard time during the extensive filming schedules by being jumped on, raced, driven hard, burning through endless amounts of tyres and Paul Glaser driving into trash cans and anything else he could find at the time of shooting. After filming had finished the show’s Torinos were auctioned off by Ford.

Those Torinos have passed through the hands of fans and collectors alike, with each eventually being lovingly restored to its prime-time condition. Some twenty-five years later, the continued success of the 70’s TV series inspired a big screen remake, with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the lead roles Starsky and Hutch. At the British premiere, Torino #2 rolled out on the red carpet alongside original actors Paul Michael Glaser, David Soul, and Antonio Fargas — who played their streetwise confidante, Huggy Bear.

Actors David Soul (Hutch), Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky), and Antonio Fargas (Huggy Bear) from the TV series ‘Starsky & Hutch’ pose on the bonnet of a Ford Torino at the premiere of the 2004 movie remake.

Torino #1 was displayed at The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles as recently as 2023, with parts of the car autographed by stars and crew from the series. Another car from the 1970s TV series can be seen at The Auto Collections in Las Vegas. Not many cars have made me ‘star struck’, but this car did from the age of nine when I was allowed top stay up and watch the program it if I was good, which always worked. Even today this car still has a menacing road presence and still looks amazing.

The entrance to the show ground was now to be come the exit, with a single lane dirt track out. The car boot show had all but wrapped up so there wouldn’t be the delays getting out. With that all taken into consideration I still left an hour early to make sure I missed any leaving antics. The trip home was relaxed, but the clouds were starting to look very dark and grey, I needn’t have worried as it didn’t come to anything.

A good selection of cars again, but they really do need to sort out the entrance to these events.

Share my Content

The car shows have started and it was great to get out and about. I was excited all week and just hoped that the weather was going to hold out for us. I had a decision to attend a choice of two shows; Stonham Barns which I attend a number of times or a new new venue, Kersey Mill. I get a little hacked of with the old mates scenario of the Stonham barns which are same cars winning in the show and shine all the time. Kersey is smaller show, not by a lot it has to be said. After a mental busy day at work I was hoping for a good night sleep before Sunday morning. The dogs, made sure of that by playing musical beds, wanting to go out for a howl at the moon and just try everything in their books to cause havoc, I didn’t get much sleep. Sunday morning arrived the weather was dry and bright if not a bit chilly. The weather forecast was for a dry day for the first car show of the year – 25^th April 2021.

The car pulled out the garage and I loaded up with provisions for the day, drinks, food and sun cream! Optimism I guess.

The drive to Kersey was amazing, the roads were fine and I was on some minor roads for part of the journey so I could just plod along at my own pace and enjoy the drive. I arrived to a single entrance that I would have driven straight past if the marshal hadn’t of directed me to the opening. The car show itself was separated in seven different zones, and a number of car clubs were grouped together and the whole thing looked to be well thought out. The constant influx of cars was always moving and I have to admit it, well organised.

A little bit about the location; Kersey Mill is located just north of the Suffolk & Essex county border. Around 1860 Kersey Mill was a water and engine driven Stone Mill. The three pairs of engine driven stones must have been amongst the last and most sophisticated stone milling machinery produced by Whitmore & Binyon, Millwrights of Wickham Market. Pic on the left below is borrowed from their website.

The Mill had the lead from the roof stolen which caused significant water ingress damage. The four storey Mill has since been undergoing restoration to rectify the damage. The completed result is a beautiful venue for weddings, photography, fitness, Arts & Crafts, boutiques, coffee shop, design, flower shop, or just a nice day out or go for a walk.

I parked up within in the Bury Retro Car Club stand in area seven, which was in basically in the back garden of some properties within the beautiful beautiful grounds.

By mid morning the club allocation was full. I managed to park next a friend of mine who purchased his 1965 Coupe in the middle of our lockdown last year. Parking space was as as you wanted and was nice change to being shoved in as close as possible.

The Bury Retro Car Club stand;

A group of us stood around and chatted, the first words out of everybody’s mouth was, ‘it was great to be out and about again’.

Chairs were placed at the back of the cars and quick wipe over of the car to get rid of the road dust and we were set for the rest of the day. Everybody was respectful and kept their distance. Those in the club and also the visitors to the stand.

I decided to go for a walk to take some pictures of the scenery and the cars. There was a massive selection of cars and not just classic cars. I decided to add a little section on the next post for ‘Part 2’ for “Dogs of the day”, that I spotted. The wife asked me to send her some pictures while I was there and walking around as she had never been their herself.

There was some run of the mill cars (pun intended – sorry), to celebrity cars. These cars were at the main part of the complex. The bottom pic was the BBQ which done the most wonderful smelling bacon rolls!

Just outside the main mill house itself was some real golden oldies, classics and a fire engine.

These cars in the group below top picture were Vauxhall Cavaliers, these cars were considered just use and dispose as mainly sales rep cars, now they are on classic car stands!

This pic did tickle me as a one of the worlds worst cars, this Lada was next to one of the worlds prestige marques Aston Martin GT.

Old 1973 Mk 1 escort next to one of the worlds sporting icons, Ferrari.

A beautiful steam engine just quietly chugging away with rhythmic precision and the unbeatable smell of steam. I believe this engine was over one hundred years old!

There was a section for TV star cars. All of which need no introduction. The A-Team van had been signed by all the cast and the sandwich boards had pictures of them signing it.