Starsky and Hutch Ford Gran Torino

The latest in a series on famous cars

From April 1975 through May 1979, detectives David Starsky and Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson kept the fictional streets of Bay City, California, safe on the weekly ABC-TV crime drama Starsky & Hutch. Though the show's stars, Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) and David Soul (Hutch), gained considerable fame from the series, it was Starsky's red Ford Gran Torino with its distinctive white stripe that became, arguably, the show's biggest star. During the program's run, it became one of the most recognizable cars in America.

Starsky and Hutch were originally supposed to drive a high-performance green-and-white Chevrolet Camaro. However, when production began on the pilot, Ford Motor Company's Studio-TV Car Loan Program was the vehicle supplier for the show's production company. Since Chevrolet was part of General Motors, the Camaro was out and the Gran Torino was in.

It is not entirely clear how many Gran Torinos were used during filming or what eventually happened to all of them. Adding to the confusion, Ford sought to capitalize on the show's popularity by producing approximately 1,000 to 1,300 Starsky & Hutch special-edition Gran Torinos for sale through participating dealerships. Our subject car is allegedly one of those factory-produced specials, which is likely true given that it wears stock Ford wheels rather than the five-slot mag wheels fitted to the television cars. "Zebra Three," as fans may recall, was the radio call sign used by Starsky and Hutch. As a result, these cars have sometimes been referred to, somewhat incorrectly, as "Zebra Threes."

While genuine television-used cars with documented histories do exist, the large number of replicas makes identifying an authentic example challenging. Even verifying a Ford factory special edition requires careful research. For serious collectors, provenance is everything. A well-documented Torino reportedly used in the series sold at auction for around $40,000, demonstrating the enduring appeal of the famous red-and-white cruiser.

While the show's producers were pleased with the Torinos, one of its stars, Paul Michael Glaser, was not. According to several accounts, when Glaser was first introduced to the car, his less-than-enthusiastic response was simply, "It's red." Despite the Torino becoming the de facto "third star" of the show, Glaser never developed much affection for it. He later remarked that "it was huge, it had no pickup, and it couldn't handle."

To make matters worse, whenever he filmed scenes that involved sliding to a stop at a crime scene, Glaser reportedly made every effort to bump the car against a curb. Whether done out of frustration or amusement, he seemed determined to shorten the Torino's lifespan whenever the opportunity presented itself.