Between 1975-79, Starsky & Hutch was a popular cop show that featured an over-the-top Ford Gran Torino driven by LA-based detective Mike Starsky, played by Paul Glaser. His cohort, Ken Hutchinson (played by David Soul), usually rode shotgun when the guys were off tracking down the bad guys. The car’s wild appearance has led to a lot of clones and tributes, even 1,300 copies built by Ford in 1976. This replica was created from a one-owner 1974 Gran Torino, and it looks as though no effort was spared to make it look like the real deal. This is another great tip from our pal, Pat L. Located in Hobart, Illinois, this rolling jukebox is available here on craigslist for $34,900 OBO.
During the production of the TV show, four Gran Torino’s were used as primary cars, two from 1975 and two more from 1976. As Ford changed the appearance of the cars negligibly between 1974-76, it didn’t matter the model year. The older ones used 400 cubic-inch V8s while the newer ones had 460 V8s. So, they should have been powerful enough for any workout that Starsky may have given then. BTW, actor Paul Glaser has gone on record saying he never liked the car, thinking it looked ridiculous, and tried whenever he could to beat the cars up.
Barbara Y. was a huge fan of the television series and loved the car but was too young to drive at the time it was first on the air. After the tribute movie in 2004, she and an auto appraiser went on a three-year search for the right car to perform a Starsky & Hutch transformation on. They found the perfect candidate in Mid-Ohio in 2007, a one-owner ’74 Gran Torino that was in great condition, but it was wearing a UPS-brown paint job and a matching vinyl top. The transformation of the car to Dave Starsky’s ride is documented on a specific website.
The car presented here has just 75,000 miles, but we don’t know how many of those were added after its tribute morph. In the process, steps were taken to retain original parts that were removed, like the chrome trim and original wheels and covers. The red paint looks flawless, and the S&H stripes are painted, not stickers or decals and the seller has the stencils that we used to make this all happen to a car that Glaser nicknamed “The Striped Tomato.”
We’re told everything works properly, including the 351/2-barrel V8 under the hood (not like what was in the show cars). If you look at the dashboard, you’ll see a magnetic rotating red police light as police officers used. The buyer will receive the Ford’s original build sheet and some other paperwork that accumulated while Barbara was building her dream machine. Who wants to pick up Huggy Bear and go chase some bad guys?
Hutch:
[after seeing the Grand Torino] Whoa! Your stock just went up in my book, my friend. Pop the hood, let me see what you got under –
Starsky:
Hey! Hotshot! What do you think you’re doing? This is a Ford Grand Torino. It’s not some crappy camper slash apartment. There are rules.
Hutch:
Okay, okay.
Starsky:
You do not bang on the hood. You never under any circumstances drive. And you will certainly not put your coffee mug on the roof of the car. In fact, no coffee in the car whatsoever. Coffee goes on the ground, you get in the car, we go.
David not Mike.
Double wax the hood so you can butt-slide all the way across.
The seller wants all the money for this not at all unique Gran Torino. I don’t know how much of a market there is for a TV show look-a-like car from over forty years ago. There can’t be many prospective buyers under fifty. The age of prospective buyers won’t kill the market but that brown interior sure will.
For that money, I would want it to have the correct black interior. otherwise, it’s just a repainted Torino with aftermarket wheels
Fantastic hillarious movie. So many good scenes 😄 if you haven’t seen it… highly recommend 👌
Do it. Just do it.
a 72 Torino is the only one I would ever own. Best Front end.
I remember back in the day seeing a blue ’72 with the same big white S&H stripes on it.
Exceptionally rare ’72 ram air option – scroll down in …
https://cincinnati-oh.americanlisted.com/cars/1972-torino-gts-351-cj-original-ram-air-unit-mint-condition_27944473.html
A car with such a setup …
http://davidsclassiccars.com/images/full/1972-ford-gran-torino-sport-351-cj-4v-034q034-code-factory-black-ram-air-no-reserve-7.jpg
&
http://davidsclassiccars.com/ford/263105-1972-ford-gran-torino-sport-351-cj-4v-034q034-code-factory-black-ram-air-no-reserve.html
Does it sound like a 4-speed shifting when you put it in drive and stomp it? The one on TV sure did.
Never cared for the stripe on that one, always looked out of place to me.
My 2 cents
Does your 86 vette have the doug nash 4+3 ? Trans im looking at older vettes and wonder how they liked them
That’s what was in the car when made but it was changed out for a Tremec 5 speed prior to my purchasing the car. From the people I know, the 4+3 is a good tranny “IF” driven properly. Abuse it and the owner will pay the price. Big thing I’ve read relates to engaging the clutch when switching in and out of overdrive, or screw it up.
That’s pretty much all I know on the 4+3.
Thanks for the info 86 👍
Sure there’s an episode where the cars stolen & it’s engine removed & he says it’s supercharged.
Long ago, back when the series ran, a good friend bought one of these, new, even the same red color but minus the stripes.
He did eventually put some slotted rims on it, and we kidded him all the time referring to it as the “Husky and Starch fire engine” until he finally gave up and traded it in for a Pinto.
As a kid who loved that stupid show, S&H were NOT from LA. The show was set in fictional Bay City, CA. That fact and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. :)
I wonder how many hundreds (thousands?) of these ‘tributes’ are out there.
Steve, you got that right.
Too bad the owner didn’t contact Glazer and Soul, and have them sign the dash then the car would be worth $100K. Sad what drives people to take a decent original and turn it into some thing of a Hollywood joke.
I much much prefer the original condition this one was in, even brown. To me this car has been ruined and destroyed. Just my 2 cents
I don’t get why people want their cars signed. Looks terrible in my opinion.
At least have them sign it in a place where it’s not usually seen. Like the inside of the trunk lid and not someplace like the dashboard. Does a signature actually add any value?
Steve, there is a story going around that Leno even said before, if you had a Shelby you could take the glove box door off and mail it to Shelby to get it signed for a fee, well so many people did that, that now the ones not signed are the rare ones.
Back when C Shelby actually signing cars, it was cool….I had him sign right on the stripe on my hood…people were jaw dropping.
Then people would line up to have him sign a glove box door, then they started getting things signed for a donation.
Now it is kind of a turn off.
DOES NOT add value.
I’m with Paul Glaser, I NEVER LIKE EITHER. They were / are ugly, under powered, and never loved, I don’t think the paint job is worth $33,000.00 but I’d give her $1,900.00 for the rest of it. The only thing this car has is the paint job. My guess is they don’t even have the staggered tire sizes. I LOVE FORDS But Everybody Makes Mistakes and These Were Ford’s
Want a REAL Red Torino https://barnfinds.com/1-of-932-1969-ford-torino-cobra/
Hobart is located in Indiana not Illinois.
One too many zeros on the ask…
I know someone who has one of the Ford tribute cars. I have driven it and it is, in a word, awful. Cramped with zero visibity. Those side mirrors? Good luck changing lanes! Power? Both too much and not enough. The car feels heavy but the rear end, under power tends to disagree with the rest of the car on which direction you’re heading. Seems like Ford swept up a pile of parts and riveted all together.
Naa…not interested at any price
Agreed. Shouldn’t have renamed the Fairlane. ~S
It is worth nowhere close to this number…maybe a few grand? Of course, the drivetrain is worthless so, you’d have to spend a lot just to make it safe to merge into highway traffic. It probably puts out about 90 horsepower at the rear wheel…yes, wheel.0-60 in, what, 27 seconds or so?
Aaron Spelling cop dramas almost always stunk out loud… clown cars, hair boy stars, no realism whatsoever. Spare me.
Fake car.
Big money.
Pass-adeena.
Not sure how this is on here, its a fake. I would hope BF would not put a fake 67 Shelby on here!
Although a nice car, its a fake.
Right there with you, Fran. I want to puke every time I see the fake 67 Shelby that they call Eleanor. I hate those things. (I owned a 68 GT500KR and a 69 GT500)
And the 74-76 Torino was a gross car. Sorry. The 72 was nice looking car. These were not. I also recall an article in one of the car magazines when the show was still on the air. They showed a decal on the dash that stated something to the effect that the car wasn’t to be driven over 50mph. Maybe because it couldn’t? The author didn’t have many nice things to say about the car. But then again, all of the mid seventies cars were pretty disgusting. A dark time for sure. Sorry to ramble and rant.
Never like the show or the car. Personally I would have gone with a clone of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino
A tribute like this that had a two year frame off restoration just sold at Barret Jackson (Scottsdale) for $28,000
I would give this attention seen at a car show over the hundreds of mustangs. Even if it’s a tribute!!
I hate the word “tribute “ it sucks! “Clone” sucks also! It is a plain FAKE!
I loved the s&h cars and the Sport is very cool! When I was a kid I tried to get my parents to buy a Torino Sport with a 460 in it, it was a beautiful black with red interior car!
That piece of crap Ford would barely burn 1 tire.
My 1st car. Fire engine red, black inside. Had an aluminum intake and a Holley 4bbl. I still have the back seat. Memories…..
Liked the car better when original, still not terrible done up as the striped tomato, at least in my opinion.