There was a time when car manufacturers did some serious product placement in classic TV shows.
They used the “supplied by” clause to plunk actors in cars they built to sell their cars to the average TV viewer.
It was a great way to identify their brand with famous TV actors—here are a few examples from the 60s and 70s.
Jerry Sutherland
CBS debuted the ‘Andy Griffith Show’ debuted on October 3, 1960, and ran until April 1, 1968, with Andy playing the Sheriff in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina.
This was small town life at its TV best because Andy had a very light crime load in Mayberry, and he always drove a Ford police car.
You could identify the season simply by noting what year Ford was in the episode because Mayberry swapped police cars every year. This was TV fiction at its finest because small towns never bought new police cars every year—but Ford did.
‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ lived with one car supplier through its whole run on CBS from September 26, 1962, to March 23, 1971.
The Clampett’s truck was a constant throughout the show but almost every car that showed up in front of their mansion was a Chrysler product.
Miss Jane drove a series of red Dodge convertibles throughout the series—Jane’s ’65 Coronet was her signature car.
Her last car was a Challenger convertible—that tells you how long the show ran.
‘Bewitched’ ran on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972, and every car they featured was a GM product—primarily Chevys.
Darren Stephens liked convertibles and he drove Impalas, Malibus, or Camaros through the whole run.
Samantha could have whipped up any car he wanted, but “Durwood”, (thanks to GM sponsorship) was a hardcore Chevy guy.
‘The FBI’ ran on ABC from September 9, 1965, to April 28, 1975, and it starred no-nonsense Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Inspector Lewis Erskine.
Ford supplied the cars for this series, so when Inspector Erskine stepped into a Mustang at the end of the show, it was because Ford was pushing its brand. This was a classic example of product placement.
‘Adam-12’ was a very popular police drama on NBC that ran from September 21, 1968, to May 20, 1975.
The show started with Chrysler supplying the cars, so officers Malloy and Reed rolled out in a 1968 Plymouth Belvedere outfitted in LAPD black and white.
They drove the B-body Plymouths until 1971, then switched to AMC Matadors in 1972 and ran with them until the series ended. AMC was pushing their police car packages at the time, so this made perfect sense.
‘The Brady Bunch’ ran from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974.
This show was unusual because for most of the series, the cars were supplied by Chrysler. The Bradys rode in a Plymouth wagon for most of the run—although Mike Brady drove a Barracuda convertible as a second car.
GM jumped into the game late in the series, so Mike traded in his ‘cuda convertible for a giant Chevy convertible. This was rare because most “cars supplied by” contracts were exclusive deals.
These “cars supplied by” deals must have worked because (as you can see) they were a big part of classic TV for years.
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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