If you were a car-crazy kid like me growing up in the 1960’s, several TV shows featured wild-looking West Coast custom cars that were as much stars to the show as, say, Adam West or Davy Jones. And, I knew what night and on what channel these shows would be on. Each week, America was treated to such cool creations as The Munster Koach (and Grandpa Munster’s coffin-based DRAG-U-LA), The Green Hornet’s Black Beauty (a customized ’66 Chrysler Imperial), and the most famous, the Caped Crusaders’ Batmobile, which originated from the ’55 Lincoln Futura concept car. George Barris and Dean Jeffries were two of Hollywood’s most famous “Custom Car Kings, and in 1966, Jeffries designed and fabricated one of the wildest: the still outrageous-looking Monkeemobile for the new TV sitcom, The Monkees, which followed the antics of a fictional rock n’ roll band.
Two base 1966 GTO’s with automatic transmissions were supplied by the Pontiac Motor Division to be converted into Monkeemobiles. In the span of only four weeks, Dean Jeffries and his team created two bright red Monkeemobiles, one for the TV Show and one for touring car shows across the US. The car’s front and rear were both stretched by over a foot, the trunk area was converted to a curved bench seat, a huge canvas top kept the band from getting sunburned, and a GMC 6-71 supercharger atop the GTO’s original 389 four-barrel V8 stuck out of hood. (There was even a rear-mounted parachute.)
There have been a few tribute cars built over the years and the sellers says this one “was built by a longtime associate of Dean Jeffries and contains many parts removed from the #2 original Monkeemobile” (which was used for the touring circuit). It was purchased at auction 10 years ago and treated to a complete restoration over the last year. The seller lists a number of upgrades, modifications, and fabrications that were made while trying to maintain most of the original look and function of the car.
It’s a long, detailed list that includes a new 500-horsepower LS3 small-block V8, a four-speed 4L80E automatic transmission, 4 wheel disc brakes, a power brake booster and new brake lines, digital gauges, cracked fiberglass body repairs, a new interior with repairs made to the dash, and even a new blue tooth stereo system with kick panel speakers and hidden sub woofers.
Recreating tributes of iconic custom cars isn’t a cheap endeavor. This Monkeemobile tribute car comes with a hefty price tag of $250,000, is located in Pleasanton, California, and is for sale here on Facebook Marketplace. Thanks to MisterLou for letting us know about this famous car. If you’re a Daydream Believer and have the extra cash and space to house this wild-looking, legendary Hollywood set of wheels, you’ll gain plenty of attention (okay, you’ll probably get mobbed like Davy Jones in 1966) at every car show you bring it to.
Am I the only here one who believes (Yes, I’m a believer!) that this sitcom killed the potential success of this band? My older sister was in love with Davey Jones…until she discovered he was about 5′ 2″ and at 17 she was already 5′ 10″. This one to me comes in 2nd to Grandpa’s Drag-ula from the TV customs of the 60’s.
What a great time to grow up and be a believer. RIP Davey, Peter and Mike. Mickey is the only one left and seems to be doing pretty good these days. He sang I’m A Believer, written by Neil Diamond and was #1 on The Billboard Top 100 for 4 weeks at the end of 66 and into 67. Daydream Believer hit number 1 for another 4 weeks later that year, but I’m A Believer remains their most iconic. Now I want to go outside and jump on the orange Schwinn Stingray 5 speed and ride a wheelie down the street!
The sitcom didn’t kill the band Cooter. The Monkees like the Partridge Family were created for television. The albums were released due to the show’s popularity.
True Pat, but I believe (here I go again) they would’ve been more successful if they went studio only and released the tunes that way. There was also a tune “Last Train to Clarksville” which did pretty well also. Man, that doesn’t seem that long ago!
Check out the theme song from their (later) movie “Head” called the Porpoise Song. They became legit in spite of it all. Frank Zappa even had a cameo in the movie.
Was indeed a great time to grow up Cooter. Also Grandpa’s Drag-ula was the number one TV custom of the 60’s and still the coolest car name.
I still have my 2 speed kick back ! It’s in pretty ruff shape bring left out in many winters with no room to store inside. But the Monkees were famous in my neighborhood
At 68, I have the three mentioned song on my boat playlist. Some of their music was good. Go back a listen to it. The Monkeymobile is a true custom classic. The show was goofy…perfect for us kids.
We scoffed at the Monkees, but at least they started writing and performing their own songs (to a certain extent) toward the end. Michael Nesmith was probably the most talented, he went on to a successful solo career.
Mike Nesmiths’ first three records with his First National Band are stunning. I’m so sorry that I didn’t know about them years ago…
Probably the strangest appearance of the Monkeemobile was in the 1985 music video for “Black Planet” by, of all things, the gothic-rock band Sisters of Mercy.
Here Robert Webb, whom Barris asked to deliver and supervise the car for the shoot, tells the tale:
http://robertwebb.com/som.htm
I think some peoples’ comments are getting hung up in some kind of spam filter. Your comment wasn’t visible when I posted mine about the same topic nearly an hour later. (I specifically looked to see if you had posted about this already.) And I just got half a dozen emails for comments on this listing, including yours. Very weird.
Almost every time a link is included in a post, it is delayed. It probably goes into a moderation queue, waiting for an admin to approve it.
I used to post a lot of links, but have backed off because of this delay.
Anybody else remember the video for “Black Planet” by Sisters of Mercy, with lead singer Andrew Eldritch “driving” the Monkeemobile around various locations in the L.A. area? (He didn’t know how to drive at the time, so all the shots of him “driving” from the front were done with the car being pulled on a trailer.)
Very cool, but is it 1/4 million dollars cool?
I always liked the Monkees, still have their old records, and even bought the “Mike and Mickey Show” live double-LP album in 2020. Unfortunately Mickey is the only one left now, R.I.P. Davey, Peter, and Mike.
Hopefully some Monkees fan out there is sufficiently well heeled to give this thing a good home!
Yes Krazy Kool. But that is a lot of $$$. I will guess the blower is just for looks.
Barn Finds is like an auto repair bill, you never know what you are going to get. Trying to find an age cutoff here, what, let’s see, 58(?) years ago, and you had to be at least 10, so anyone 60 and up, just got a smile, younger folks just might not understand. “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees, people say we monkey around, but we’re too busy singing, to put anybody down”,,,did you know, the Monkees didn’t write their own songs until later with a lot less zing, or play their own instruments? Yep, that’s right, but the Monkees weren’t about music, they were about rebellion, and social upheaval,,by 1968, people moved on to drugs and music influenced by such. Don’t get me wrong, the Monkees were all about fun times, regardless of its acceptance and we had kooky looking cars to prove it. What a time, and you younguns can eat your hearts out with your AI jazz and phoney whatnot. We had REAL fun, and the Monkees were part of it. I still enjoy their music today.
The car? The irony here is, the Monkees didn’t cater to the people that are going to buy this, clearly part of “the establishment” we revolted against. Ban the bomb, and so on,,,
The show did very little for me. I really enjoyed their music. The Car is legendary to me. The Pontiac Oakland Club recently has devoted quite a bit of print to the Monkeemobile in the last 6 months or so with pages full of info related to it and Dean Jeffries in POCI’s magazine, “Smoke Signals”. In fact, the new issue has 8 more pages related to it with pictures of the tow behind Monkeemobile trailer (where did this go). Also, pics of the Monkee Boat. I did not dig too deep into this particular offering but the price does not floor me. We had a replica up here in Minnesota for a time. I lost track of it.
I always liked “Pleasant Valley Sunday” co-written by Carole King. The closest thing to a protest song The Monkees ever sang.
last train to clarksville is a protest song
As is Zor and Zam.
One of my favorites and one that is often overlooked is “The Door Into Summer”.
The song was inspired by the story of science fiction author Robert Heinlein’s cat going from door to door one winter, apparently looking for warmer weather. This caused his wife Ginny to exclaim “He’s looking for a door into summer.” That inspired the Heinlein novel of the same title. (This was confirmed by Mike Nesmith before his passing, though the song has nothing to do with the novel.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Door_into_Summer#In_popular_culture
https://youtu.be/I1iqrWnSsp0
Zor and Zam was an actual protest song.
How about a Partridge Family Tribute Bus? Now that would be really cool. Shirley Jones actually drove the bus on the show. There was a guy in the Poconos that had a Partridge Family bus. He left it outside where people passing by could see it. The Partridge Family had a few hit records. Love the Monkeemobile.
I remember the show as a younger person and I loved the car I have difficulty believing this tribute car is worth the ask because it never appeared in the show, I believe the original is on display in California next to the original Batmobile and the car from the Monsters among some other cars he designed
Its The Munsters.
neat but not worth a 1/4 mil to me. good luck
Yikes! $250 large? I have a friend that actually owns #1. If this tribute can fetch anything near that number, I can only imagine what the real one (or 2), would fetch.
The history of #1 is that sometime after the show it found its way to Puerto Rico, was painted pink and was used as some type of tour shuttle. It then was purchased by a guy in Australia, restored to original show design and color, etc. My friend purchased from him. It still has the 389 with a non-functioning GMC 6-71 and fake mechanical fuel injection (a carb sits under the fake setup).
Mickey is actually going to be doing a show not far from my home soon, so I guess he’s still staying active.
Believe it or not, the first solo performance Jimi Hendrix played was as a warm-up for the headlining Monkees! Quite a double-bill!
Never watched the show or was a big Monkees fan, though they did have a few tunes I really liked. Sad only Mickey’s left now.
$250 grand is a good chunk of change, but I guess if you really want to be a daydreaming believer maybe you can swing it.
Sir McCartney, I knew it was you!
You won’t believe it but we actually share the same bday, minus the year lol.
Beatles over the Monkees any day.
I read an article about the Monkees being over in Europe and meeting the Beatles – Mickey and Paul became good friends where Mike and John hit it off.
The Beatles held a big party in London for the Monkees and there was mutual respect – the Beatles appreciated them for their music and talent.
A lot of people write the band off as a no-talent made-for-TV group,as has been done many times in the past. But the Monkees were a commercial success musically and put out a lot of original music after the series was cancelled.
I love classic movie and TV cars, for me the Monkeemobile is a few steps down from the Batmobile and the two Munster cars, but that’s personal taste, of course.
This car, is a mystery to me. Not original, (just some unnamed parts), not the only one out there, too lazy to put a Pontiac engine in, and expensive to build. Why? And $250k? Not worth even half that to me, but maybe to someone else. Merry Christmas!
So the seller is asking $250,000.00 for a 1965 Chevrolet classic. When anyone is asking for $250k Large, I would think he/she would at least know what they are selling. Seriously, I know I would be second guessing anything coming out of their mouth. Maybe I could work in a trade and finally get out from under the money pit of my Ford Tempest.
In the last week I’ve seen a mach 5 tribute, a batmobile tribute and now this. If the world was a just place I would have won powerball and own them all.
Before the Monkees Mick was an actor in a tv show called Circus Boy. He played the lead.