Who remembers the 1960’s cop TV show, Adam-12? It was a fictional account of two beat officers in Los Angeles, California. Over the course of the series, they drove several Chrysler and AMC products. But in the pilot episode, it was a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere, and the seller’s car is a detailed replica of that machine. Located in Arthur, Illinois, this rotisserie-restored Mopar is available here on eBay, where the opening bid of $10,000 has yet to be cast, plus there’s a reserve on top of that. A thumbs up to “Curvette” for the tip!
Adam-12 was on NBC from 1968 to 1975. It followed the daily exploits of officers Pete Malloy (senior officer) and Jim Reed (rookie). 1-Adam-12 was the call sign you heard over the radio delivered by a real-life LAPD dispatcher, though Adam-12 was fictitious. In the pilot episode, they drove a ’67 Belvedere, but after that, the first season car was a ’68 Belvedere. When the seller was just fifteen, he bought this car from its second owner in 2000 in its 33-year-old condition with 42,000 miles.
A complete restoration was begun in 2001 to create the police car replica you see here. The original color was light blue, and the Plymouth is still powered by its factory 318 cubic inch V8 with a Torqueflite automatic transmission. Both have been rebuilt, and it’s likely the Malloy/Reed car had something more powerful under the hood. The interior is perhaps a bit nicer than what the Adam-12 guys had because it’s the upgraded Belvedere II.
No expense may have been spared, especially when it came to the bits and pieces that would have paralleled the real thing back in the day. That includes the lights on top and the radio inside. When not in shows (the car has only been driven an additional 4,000 miles), we’re told it lives in a climate-controlled garage. The Plymouth has factory air conditioning, a luxury that Pete and Jim may not have had. This car is up for sale as the seller has amassed too many toys as he’s gotten older and no longer has space for all of them. Though not decaled as such, Adam-12 here will have to find a new beat.
I still watch and record that show every night it’s on FETV. Along with Emergency. I love the 68 Belvederes on the later episodes. The seats were just bench seats and I’ve been trying to tell what’s going on in the backseat but cameras never show it. It looks like the backseat was a plastic thing you could hose off, think bad guys on dope having accidents on the way to jail. This is an incredible restoration and I’d love to cruise around in that car!
Yeah, I enjoyed watching both of those shows on FETV until Spectrum dropped that channel on my package.
KMA3671
I think the plastic seats were a later invention. Back in the day we threatened prisoners that appeared to be sick. That normally decided that issue.
For what it’s worth – the interior/seats look like the Silver Special of that year – one of the years promotional cars – it would be silver outside with that trim inside and with those – middle of the seat – medalions….
Just like the plexiglass divider came later. Helped to stop them from spitting at us. If they did prior to the plexiglass, we had the cage. So we would threaten them one more time spitting, you’re going to get the waffle treatment. Many found out the hard way that the waffle treatment is taking the car up to 60 and locking the brakes. They’d arrive at booking looking like the Hollywood Squares.
I’ve seen this car for sale before. It’s too bad they ruined a nice Belvedere by turning it into a fake movie prop. I’d love to find a clean Belvedere II sedan of this vintage. It’s what I grew up with, had my first date in, etc.
My grandparent’s first car was a 67 Belvedere, brand new, with a 318 automatic, factory air, probably power steering and maybe power brakes, no other options. It was an off-white color with a black interior. It was stolen a couple of times and recovered, then never seen again, around 1980 or 81. They had the oil changed every 1500 miles, so that 318 must’ve been spotless inside, even with a 100k miles by then.
My family’s 67 Belvedere II (also a 318) made it into the 80s. My brother took it off to college and that kind of finished it off. Even before that though, I remember helping my dad repair the rust in the rear fenders using chicken wire and bondo. It was a good car, but the body wasn’t made for Ohio winters. I have never seen a sedan since ours went to the great junkyard in the sky. All that ever seems to get preserved are the 2 doors, and mostly the GTX models.
They come up from time to time – Tejas Classics here in Texas had one but I think it was sold already…..
Great job Curvette and Russ! I still watch this show when I can, of course on FETV. Is it missing the A 12 painted on the roof? Or was that on later shows…or just on the Matadors?
I believe the A12 was painted on the roof of all the cars in the show. The A12 on the roof was there so the police helicopters knew what officers were on seen. I must have seen every episode a dozen times know i have to watch again to make sure it is on every car.
It’s actually the shop number of the car. The last 3 numbers under ‘police’ on the door emblem. The Belvederes didn’t have them on the roof. I think the 4th season may have had them and they matched the shop number with 012 so it would show on the roof.
The 68 Belvedere had a 383. The 71 AMC Matador a 401. The “can lights” Ive seen on ebay go for $1000 a light. A credible effort.
Like the Back to the Future DeLorean’s. You have to be a dyed in the wool superfan, or an ex-LEO. To spend the cash on converting one of these.
If you like this, here’s a annual meet when you’re out west-
https://www.riponmenloparkpolicecarshow.com/
And not just LEO stuff.
I loved that TV show. Such good decent men. The cars were great to until they went AMC, what happenned to Chrysler? Did they cheap out?
Jack Webb wanted the show to be realistic to actual LAPD equipment, uniforms, etc. So when LAPD purchased AMC Matadors, the show followed suit. Matadors were very popular with police departments nationwide at the time; they had a good police package and were reliable in service. My department in NY had them as well.
Malloy,,,”This black and white patrol car has an OHV engine. It develops 325 HP at 4800 rpms. It accelerates from 0-60 in 7 seconds and goes 120 mph. It’s equipped with a multi channel DFE radio, with electronic siren capable of wail, yelp, and alert”…Reed, “Do you want me to drive”? I thought Malloy would plotz.
It was really a groundbreaking show, and they actually rode around with L.A.cops for like several months. For filming, the cars had the windshields removed, and early shows, I read the lady “dispatcher” was in the back seat out of view. I always wanted a ring tone of the original intro theme. It was one of the 3 of the “Jack Webb” series, Dragnet and Emergency, but never actually appeared on Adam-12 or Emergency. He smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day, and was never seen without one. He died at 62.
It should be noted, L.A. police officers did not have A/C until the AMC Matadors. While Martin Milner did a couple shows after Adam-12, him and Kent McCord never did much else. Milner died in 2015, but McCord is still around and still enjoys talking about the show.
Lovely looking car. I’ve always loved Mopar police cars.
God Bless Jack Webb !
I’m one of those “dyed in the wool” fans and a retired LEO. The show still has a significant following, with events held in LA from time to time. Replicas like this are quite popular, and several have been done… to varying stages of authenticity.
For what it’s worth, this car is pretty faithfully done. Except for being a Belvedere II with it’s upgraded equipment, factory radio and A/C options, I can’t find much wrong other than the 318 and a few minor details.
I believe that the stories were from actual police events re-enacted.
The names were changed to protect the innocent,,,
this has been 3 times. i think high bid was around 18k. should have taken it. this not even a real deal cop car just a tribute. the seller dumped too much money to do this and think they are trying to get it out of it.
Well, if I got this, you know what my license plate would be…
”CTHEMAN”?
I like the TV show reruns as much as the rest of us. There is a Facebook fan page about Adam 12. It put law enforcement officers in a favorable light at a time of protests and challenging all governmental policies and actions. But to take a 1967 Plymouth and redo it to turn it into a replica may not be a wise investment. Bids are scarce and might not meet the reserve. Nobody but a baby boomer would have nostalgia for the show and rerun viewers dont care or are too young to know what kind of black and white sedan they used. More old timers remember the AMC and other Mopar products that were featured o the actual TV series.
It’s fun to watch the re-runs just for the background vehicles. I’d pass on this but if someone made an AMC wagon replica that the Sergeant drove I’m all in! Driving shots of Reed and Malloy were done by towing their car with no windshield to prevent reflections of the cameras and the tow vehicle.
I also watch it now for all the background vehicles. There is an episode where girls asking guys for rides and having them stop at a store and have the guy run in for them and they steal the car. They then take them to a body shop where the owner pays the girls like $50 for each car some really nice cars like Shelby mustangs, corvettes and a challenger. Also in the early episodes the Sergeant has a nice two door Pontiac police wagon.
Adam-12 was my first thought upon seeing this, too. I realize you could specify any motor for municipal work but if I’m going to cosplay leo then there should be more steam under the hood. Otherwise you just messed up a perfectly good Belvedere.
Seller has had several go arounds already trying to sell this with it never reaching the reserve. Personally was never a fan of tribute or clone cars. If it had been an actual squad car that he had restored I think it would be a lot more meaningful.
Yeah. The market for something like this just based off the nostalgia of a TV show from over 50 years ago is slim. If it were the real car, sure. But not as a cloned street car. The 18k on BAT was pretty good.
If only today’s police cars were as nice looking as those sold back in the 50s up to the 70s. They were durable enough to withstand high speed chases, while still being attractive to look at. I like that.
To each their own. What a waste in my opinion. A lot of effort and money went into building a garage queen that’s basically unusable except as a conversation piece. I liked that show enough as anyone but this doesn’t make sense to me.
Good luck to the owner getting perceived value out of it.
Serious question here – I wonder if the local PD would give you a hard time if you were driving this thing around town?
Yes, there can be legal complications, and some states require removal of all equipment, or words “Out of Service”, or “Decommissioned”, and can lead to impersonating an officer. LEOs have such a difficult job, not sure why anyone would want to “impersonate ” one.
I’d remove what can be seen, such as the the lights on the roof, etc. But I’d keep other things.
I like police cars in general. They’re beefed up a tad to withstand the stress of chases and hard driving. But my favourites have always been Mopar police cars.
I hope whoever buys this car enjoys it. I’ve always loved Mopar police cars. They’re durable enough to withstand chases and hard driving, but they’re also comfortable for everyday driving.
Ended at $10.2K.
Reserve Not Met.
3 bids.
Relisted and made it to $16.1K, Reserve Not Met, 22 bids.
Relisted and:
” This listing was ended by the seller on Wed, May 6 at 4:34 AM because the item is no longer available.”