I watched an old ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ rerun and it struck me how 1960s TV produced some of the coolest custom cars ever seen in front of a camera.
The list reflects an era when TV gave us simple entertainment—not endless lectures about how to live or think.
The 60s TV custom car stars were characters on their own, so I wanted to find out where these classics ended up after stardom.
Jerry Sutherland
The ‘Hillbillies’ episode was the one where Jethro was embarrassed to drive the old family truck, so he had it customized to upgrade his chances with Hollywood women.
The truck itself was built by George Barris, and it had a 1969 Olds 442 powertrain. Barris sold it to a collector in 2018 and that guy sold it at the Barrett-Jackson 2025 Scottsdale auction for $150,000. Jethro had the right idea at the wrong time from a fiscal point of view.
The Monkeemobile is another legendary 60s TV star car. Dean Jeffries was the mastermind behind this classic custom. He built two and used the ’66 GTO convertibles with supercharged 389 V-8s as platforms.
The number one car ended up in Puerto Rico as a hotel limo and eventually was seized for taxes. It was sold for 5K in ‘92, restored and it still makes the occasional public appearance in the States. George Barris bought the #2 car and sold it for 360,000 in 2008.
Dean Jeffries also built the Black Beauty for the Green Hornet TV series.
He used a 1966 Imperial Crown and spent an amazing 50K in 1966 USD for a custom paint job and custom mods on the big, bad Black Beauty. This car star was bought in ’92, restored by Dean Jeffries under contract–now it’s in the Petersen Automotive Museum.
The Munster Koach is also a member of the classic 60s TV Car Star club.
George Barris built this bad boy for ‘The Munsters’ in 1965 out of a fiberglass Model T body grafted to a T roadster body and plunked on a stretched 133-inch frame. It was a screamer with a Cobra 289 under the hood, and it retired to the Volo Museum.
The Volo Museum also has the Grandpa Munster Dragula. This coffin on wheels is also powered by a built 289 Ford.
This cousin of the Munster Koach was designed by George Barris and Tom Daniels–but built by Dick Dean. There are many copies of this classic but, one of the original versions is currently residing in the Volo Museum.
The Batmobile is one of the most well-known 60s TV car stars.
This is another Barris creation and its platform is the Futura concept car from the 1950s. George Barris built a legend with this custom and cashed in when he sold an original Batmobile for 4.2 million at a 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction.
The last car is the Reactor Mach II built by the legendary Gene Winfield. This car was featured in a ‘Bewitched’ episode, but it also had roles in ‘Star Trek’, ‘Batman’ ,and ‘Mission Impossible’.
That means it had more guest appearances than Bob Hope in the 1960s. It’s now in the Petersen Museum resting comfortably after a long show biz career.
They were cars, they were stars—and they were a big part of why 60s TV was so cool.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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