EDIT: VIDEO ADDED AT BOTTOM!
Hello Atticites! (I just made that word up). This week we are visiting the coolest spooky custom car ever; The Munster Koach!
Wikipedia says:
The Munster Koach is the family car that was used in the television series, The Munsters. The show's producers contracted George Barris to provide the Koach. Barris paid show car designer Tom Daniel $200 to design the car, and had it built at Barris Kustoms, first by Tex Smith, but finished by Dick Dean, his shop foreman at the time. The Munster Koach appeared in over twenty episodes throughout the series' two-year run, and was also seen in Munster, Go Home!, using different wheels. Tom Daniel's original drawing of the Munster Koach had it supercharged with a hood scoop and thin, round disc lights. Barris chose the ten-carburetor setup with the ten air horns and lantern lights.
Only one Koach was made for the television series and feature film. It was made from three Ford Model T bodies and is 18 feet long. The 133-inch frame was made by hand, as were the brass radiator and fenders. It has a blood red interior and black pearl paint. It took 500 hours to hand-form the ornate rolled steel scrollwork. The front end had a dropped axle, split radius rods and T springs. Its design featured a custom hearse body.
Wow! I'm worn out from all that research!
Anyway, I have two versions at 1313 Stu Lane (not my real address). First, several years ago I built the AMT plastic model version. Here it is!
This was a fun car to build, with a lot of parts and cool details! My build is far from a pro job, but it was fun, so that's all that matters! Here is the bottom...
Notice the blue engine block. That's a Ford thing.
Next we have the Johnny Lightning version. Here they are together...
...and it by itself!
It has one really cool detail that the larger model doesn't; namely the gold pinstripes. They look so cool! But had I tried them on my model, they would have looked so terrible! My hand just isn't that steady. Oh well...
The Munsters Koach is a cool car, but completely impractical. Cruising down a crowded street or, worse yet, trying to park an 18 foot long monster would be no fun at all. Still, it looks cool
What happened to the original? Well according to my exclusive sources ( Wiki):
Barris auctioned the original Munster Koach in 1983 with oversized gas lights and different tires and wheels. In 1984, Barris wanted a Munster Koach for the Hollywood Christmas Parade. He had Dick Dean build a second authorized Munster Koach. Dick Dean's son, Keith Dean, helped build it. This Koach was restored in the summer of 2011 with new black pearl paint, pie crust cheater slicks, new brass lantern lights, torque thrust mag wheels, smaller skull radiator cap, and had the dummy crank lever removed and sealed. They did not have Bobby Barr Headers, and there is a wide opening where those headers were located on the original.
There were five walnut blocks between the spokes of the mag wheels in rear. The rear slicks were Firestone eleven-inch pie crust slicks. The Astro mag wheels were painted blood red just on the outside of the five spokes. There was no skull radiator cap on the original Munster Koach in the 1960s. Only later did the Munster Koach get a skull cap. Both reproduction cars have been restored, but the original has not.
Series star Fred Gwynne never sat in the seat to drive the Munster Koach. Instead, he sat on the floor on the ermine-fur rugs.
So there you have it! More than you ever wanted to know about the Munster Koach!
Added value! Check out this video!
Kool koach! (Haha, I'm so funny.) I wonder if the original car's convertible top, in the back seat, was actually functional? I have to confess that I don't know what most of those car terms used here, mean. But I can get the gist of it.
ReplyDeleteThe interior looks more magenta than "blood red". Or maybe the camera just makes it look that way? I agree, the pinstripes give the Koach an extra helping of coolness.
Thanks, Stu.
I think I've seen a picture with the top up, but I could well be imagining it.
DeleteI don't know what some of those terms mean either, which is one reason why I cut and pasted the Wiki article! The other reason is that I'm lazy. But, like you, I can kind of figure them out.
Yeah, it's a purply blood. A blue-blood? Anyway, not exactly blood red.
Everything's better with pin stripes (if done well)!
ReplyDeleteI saw the Munster Koach at Volo [Auto] Museum in Volo, Illinois, recently. Not sure if it was the original, though?? I'll have to do some internet research.
Fun post. I loved the Munsters! Thank, Stu.
Hmmm...I'll have to see if I can find out! There is also a "tribute" version of the Drag-u-la out there that I think is more accurate to the screen version than the original lol!
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