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The
Roadster and the Clock
Written
January 1, 2023
In
the early Seventies, when I was a young man still living at home, my
parents and I often watched TV shows dramatizing the capturing of crooks.
Some were police procedurals like Dragnet or Adam-12.
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Many,
however, featured heroic private investigators operating on
their own, like Jim Rockford or Frank Cannon or Joe Mannix.
Invariably,
about 20 minutes in, the private eye would be shot or beaten up by
the bad guys. But he'd get bandaged, continue his pursuit, and
prevail in the end. |
Recently
on the MeTV network I ran across an old Mannix episode.
Shot on film, it was now in high definition, which of course looked
even better than I recalled it.
However,
I didn't actually remember this particular episode. It turned
out to be from the first of the eight seasons. That was a year
before Gail Fisher joined the cast in the office role of Peggy, and
in those days I was still in college.
And
in the role of Joe Mannix, Mike Connors was driving a
fantastic-looking machine I'd never seen before.
A
large muscular vehicle, it had no roof. Its rear seat was
covered by a tonneau, making it a two-seater roadster. And look
at those futuristic headlights with their wide aspect ratio! |
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The
car somewhat reminded me of a 1967 Olds Toronado. My father, a
dealer of Chevrolets and Oldsmobiles, had one of those parked next to
our house.
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I
actually got to drive it once, carefully obeying the speed limit.
It was a rather intimidating 4500-pound personal luxury car
with a 425-cubic-inch engine and front-wheel drive. |
After
viewing the episode, I did an Internet search and discovered that
the Mannixmobile, customized by Batmobile creator George Barris, was
indeed based on a '67 Toronado!
Modifications
included James Bond-inspired accessories like a hidden gun
compartment, a short-wave radio, a tape recorder, and of course a
handy telephone for summoning the real police. |
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In
that Season One episode, I also observed that one villain had an
illuminated digital clock on his desk that was just like the clock my
grandmother had atop her television set in the Sixties.
It
was a TELE-VISION
model color television, no less, with numerals of red
and blue and green. |
They
were flipped by a constantly-rotating seconds wheel driven by a
little electric motor. To set the time, as I recall, one would
reach around to the open back and turn the drums manually.
Further
research reveals that these novel gadgets were introduced in 1938 by
the Pennwood Numechron Company, originally marketed as a
Tymeter for ham radio operators. The styling of
later models capitalized on the latest fad of television. |
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Pennwood
Numechron was located at 7249 Frankstown Avenue on the east side of
Pittsburgh, shown here. |
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Yes,
the Internet has all the answers!
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