When an auto enthusiast decides to transform a car into a tribute to one featured on TV or in the movies, it’s the little details that sometimes separate an average effort from a truly remarkable outcome, and this Adam-12 police cruiser would undoubtedly fall into the latter category. Although the car used in the television series quickly changed to a 1968 Plymouth Belvedere, the pilot episode features a 1967 model, such as this one for sale here on eBay. This cool Mopar sedan is located in Arthur, Illinois, with a current and only bid of $10,000, which is understandably short of the reserve. Curvette, thanks for your great tip here!
This one’s also got a fun back story, as the seller reports he was only 15 when he bought the Belvedere from the original owner’s son in 2000. The following year, the car was taken to a body shop, where it was disassembled and rotisserie-restored. According to the seller, not one bolt was left untouched, and not one corner was cut, with the results seeming to live up to the owner’s claim that the car is in absolutely immaculate condition. Initially, the body is stated to have been Light Blue Poly, but the paint has been changed to reflect the colors on the Belvedere driven by Martin Milner in the Adam-12 series.
For the pilot episode, an actual police cruiser owned by the LAPD was loaned to the crew for filming, though later episodes used civilian cars dressed up by the studio to look like police units. While it would be nice to find a big block under the hood, this one’s powered by a 318, which is said to have been completely rebuilt along with the automatic transmission. That’s probably a satisfactory engine here, since this one doesn’t chase down bad guys and is primarily used for show. The mileage listing of just under 46k is reported to be actual.
The interior is in nice shape as well, with all the radio and emergency equipment you’d expect to find in an actual Los Angeles police car from this period. This replica is said to have won numerous awards at auto shows for authenticity and appearance, and it’s easy to believe the seller’s claim that this 1967 Plymouth Belvedere II turns heads everywhere it travels. With the rotisserie restoration and all the work that’s been done, I’m guessing the price will go up considerably before the gavel falls here. Any thoughts to share regarding this build, or memories about any of the other cars used in the Adam-12 TV series?
+1,000,000 for an Adam-12 reference, Mike! I’m up for that show on ME tv every single weekday morning. I’ve been a rabid fan for 50+ years now, that’s crazy. We drove to Minong, Wisconsin in 1972 to meet Marty Milner and Kent McCord and get their autographs. That’s me in the green shirt and my brother in brown, with our mom in the back watching her two little nerds.
Wow!!!! I’m liking BOTH the write up for this tribute ’67 Belvidere, AND that is an awesome memory and photo Scotty. This was very nicely done. I still remember when Adam 12 and EMERGENCY! Would come on the TV at night as a kid watching them. Great stuff here folks!!!
Leave it to our good friend, Barnard Phinds, to kickstart a new day. Wait, that and a little ether, okay then, so much has been written( by me) about Adam-12. It was probably the most realistic of the “Webb” series’. The initial opening theme changed several times, I always wanted a ring tone of the original.
It’s okay, you can let me have it, a kid? 15? Restoring a car? In Illinois? And why this? It’s a complicated hobby.
It should be noted, L.A. used Mercury Montegos, and could be seen in the parking lot of “the station”, the old Rampart station( yep, same as the hospital in Emergency) and only used 1 year, 1970, and the producers kept the Plymouth for the shows. 1 note, L.A. police cars did not have A/C, until 1972, when they switched to AMCs. Fun stuff, I read, Hollywood cast Milner as Karl Robinson, of the short lived series, “Swiss Family Robinson”, and a replacement couldn’t be found, and there never was an 8th season.
The kid did a nice job!
Oh, just one more thing( Columbo), sharp observers will note, many of the cars used in Dragnet, also showed up on Adan-12. Malloy’s gold Mustang, a ’66 Rambler Ambassador, and several others, including the ’55 Chevy from 2 lane Blacktop, and Red Formans Corvette as Reeds car in the last (?) episode. Jack Webb reportedly smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day, and was never seen without a cigarette, even though, rarely shown smoking in the show. He died of a heart attack in 1982 , he was 62.
https://youtu.be/jgYbogp1Ha0?si=ydNimHj9AVwYukvC
One of the very finest shorts from the day..
@Nevadahalfrack, my parents had a “Best of” Johnny Carson record album and that was one of the skits!! Jack Webb never missed a beat with that one!!! Thanks for the memories, haven’t thought about that in decades.
-Dave
That’s a great pic Scotty. I suspect many of us Barn Finders have pleasant memories of the Jack Webb shows.
This is a very cool tribute Plymouth. For me it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t have a 440 and that there probably are other details which aren’t precisely correct. Because overall it is quite well done, and undoubtedly accomplishes what it is intended to do.
Thanks Mike, good write-up.
https://youtu.be/InLP1ZfW8Gs?si=4onXi0Xj1gSCbzGb
Malloy schools Reed before Reed gets behind the wheel
Another great scene!!!!
Needs the A 12 painted on the roof.
I was all set to post the same thing after not seeing one on the roof. I can not even count how many times i have watched every episode of ADAM 12.
I believe it was “012” on all the cars.
I was curious, and maybe others, what “Adam” meant. Apparently, the “1”, was the Central Division and “Adam” referred to the 2 man patrol unit, 12, the unit number.
12 referred to the number of the “reporting district”.
A bit of historical Trivia :
While serving as a Captain with the Los Angeles School Police, Kent McCord approached Chief Charlie Beck with an idea for morale purposes. He proposed that the Officer Of The Month be granted the privilege of working “1-Adam-12” for their next tour! (1-A-12
was not normally a valid unit designation.)
I too was (and still am) a fan of Adam-12 and the other Webb TV shows, and this is one well-executed tribute car! I totally agree that the price will climb considerably before the auction ends. However it ends,. someone will be getting their hands on a beaut! GLWTA.
Don’t forget the Two lane Blacktop GTO…
If this didn’t have the “tribute” stuff, I’d be all over it. I’d love to find a nice 1967 Belvedere 4 door…. STOCK. I don’t know why people do this kind of thing. It’s going to take some work to get it back to stock.
all California pd cars had white steering wheel due the hot sun out there. very cool replica
My sister bought a surplus CHP ‘64 Dodge 880. No white steering wheel.
Lovely looking car. Although this premiered long before I was born, I’m sure I’ve seen re-runs of Adam-12 the TV series. I’ve always loved police cars. I also like Mopar cars.
Let me be the first to say that I don’t give a rat’s pah-toot about the tire’s date code.
Just sayin’.
To be truly show-accurate the windshield needs to be removed to prevent glare in the interior shots, with jack all(pun intended) done to keep the wipers from parking halfway up the dash.
The owner obviously put a lot of money and effort into this car. Unfortunately, the 318 ruins it for me.
My sister bought a “retired” and refurbished CHP ‘64 Dodge 880 in ‘66. It was equipped with a very lumpy idling 426 wedge. Oh boy, howdy! That thing could haul the mail!
I grew up in the San Fernando valley, and (pre-Adam 12) I remember LAPD constantly parking on our quiet block to catch up on paperwork or just chat with the kids who’d lean on the doors with our heads sticking inside, looking at all the police equipment (which usually meant only a light on a flexible post a radio, and fresh printout of stolen license plates). Even for a BIG city, we knew many of our local cops (and they knew us), and although I don’t remember the stories they used to tell, I fondly remember the summer days with our real life heroes. I’m not a fan of “tribute cars”, and I was cynical of this listing… a feeling that quickly passed when I saw how loyal the restoration was. And I can almost hear Shaaron Claridge (actual LAPD dispatcher from the show), “1 Adam 12, see the man, a 459 suspect, there now”.
If any of you spent a career in law enforcement, you’ve heard too many “End of Watch” announcements broadcast over your radios. In Sept 2015, when Martin Milner died, Shaaron Claridge came out of retirement and broadcast his “End of Watch” transmission over LAPD’s radio. It was also rebroadcasted over Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department radio.
1 Adam 12 1 Adam 12, no wants
warrants Lincoln X-ray Ida 483
1 Adam 12 a 413 fight group with
chains and knives…
I guess my first curious question would be, how does a 15yo kid afford to buy and have a rotisserie restoration done on a car? You don’t even have your license at that point.
It certainly is beautifully done. Though I’m not a big fan of the “tribute car” type of thing. It’s like all the 69′ Dodge Chargers that were made into General Lee’s. Do we really need anymore of those? Now if it had been an original squad car from that era and it was brought back to life, that would be something.
All it needs ia “012” painted on the roof in black letters and a yellow sticker on the radio in black type that reads “KMA367”, the FCC callsign for the radio, LOL! GLWTA!
My father drove a 60 4 door galaxy as his patrol car for the San Bernardino Sheriffs Dept.
The winds got so high in Victorville one day.
His cruiser was mostly sand blasted to bare steel.
Car 54 where are you?
The theme song to the show: “There’s a hold-up in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights / There’s a traffic jam in Harlem that’s backed up to Jackson Heights / There’s a Scout troop short a child, Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild! / Car 54 where are you?”
Baby Boomers know the obscure references to Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev and Idlewild Airport, which was renamed JFK airport after President Kennedy’s murder.