Corvettes in TV and Movies

Corvettes have been in Hollywood for years but not nearly as much as you'd think, given its status as a sports car. However, it was found more often than most think, since most believe there was Route 66 and nothing else.

Movies

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World - 1963

-- When the treasure hunters get back into town, you can look closely to see a gold '55 ? cruising up and down the street several times.

Elvis Movies

Elvis seemed to have Corvettes in several. One movie you get to see a bunch of old Vettes racing in Nevada. The 1959 Stingray even was in one, with him trading it for a motorcycle. Check out that next Elvis movie some late night to see what you spot.

Hotrods To Hell - 1967

-- One of those "scare us straight" movies from the late fifties, where the bad guys harass and torment an innocent family on a cross country trip. There is a customized '58 Vette in it used by the bad guys. Keep watching and you'll see a red '63 hardtop and numerous '60s Mustangs and other sports cars. Check http://aol.imdb.com/Title?0061784 for more details. Tremendously bad acting and hokey script. Only a few slick hot rods save this movie.

Billy Jack - 1969

-- A gold '68 Corvette 427 convertible goes into the lake. Billy Jack scares the bad guy into driving it into the lake. Oh well, it was nearly new then. I've heard a rumor that the film crew thought they could simply dunk it with the engine off and not really hurt anything, but were rudely surprised.

American Graffiti - 1972

-- There were a few tucked around for effects, more than anything. After all, it was a hot rodder's/high schooler's movie and Vettes were too expensive for that back then.

Two Lane Blacktop - 1972

-- While Beach Boy Dennis Wilson and James Taylor tinkered with their '55 at the drags, you can see a few Corvettes around in the back. It is also an early observation of stealth technology.  We think they were just typical hot rodders of the time, only getting the black primer on.  But if you notice, it lets them disappear into the black night when running from the police.

Death Race 2000 - 1975

-- This film does NOT have Corvettes in it. I only included it here since most see the kit car things they drove and assume the green one driven by David Carradine is a Corvette. It is just a kit car that looks sort of like a Corvette. It is more related to a dune buggy than a Corvette.

The Gumball Rally - 1976

-- You don't see much, as like many movies with Vettes, they wreck it early. But a white Corvette flies through the streets of New York and splits behind the seats into two sections.

Dead Man's Curve - 1977

-- Jan and Dean did more things to more Corvettes in this movie than probably all put together. But you do get to see several, from a '58 up through a '67. Unfortunately, the film editor didn't know one dashboard from another.

Stingray - 1977

-- Chris Mitchum jumped into this home movie quality film about a '64 Corvette, some hidden drug money, really dumb drug dealers, and two kids who bought the Vette. The only redeeming value is it was filmed around my hometown so it is like home movies for me. Oh yeah, there was the Playmate of the Year in the movie, hitch hiking down a road I've been a thousand times easily and never seen anyone like her on it.

Corvette Summer - 1978

-- Mark Hamil stepped back from being Luke Skywalker long enough to pretend he was a custom car builder, building a right hand drive '73 as an outrageous custom, just as the restoration era began. No doubt seeing this car helped move the restoration craze on its way.

Animal House - 1978

-- I was amazed with the carnage around Animal House that the '59 or '60 red Corvette could remain undamaged. Just to show it was Hollywood, I guess.

King of the Mountain - 1978?

-- Filmed on Mulholland Highway with Harry Hamlin driving a nice old Porsche Spyder. And Dennis Hopper drives a 1967 Coupe with flares, no headlight buckets, and no rear window, which he finally drives off the side of the Mountain.

Fire Birds - 1990

-- Nicolas Cage is a pilot in a story about government drug enforcement. Corvettes scattered.

Poison Ivy - 199x

-- Drew Barrymore and the brunette daughter from Rosanne crash a red 66 big block convertible into a tree. Lots of pretend sex with Tom Skerritt may turn off many.

Apollo 13 - 1996

-- The astronauts often had Corvettes, often given to some crews by Chevrolet. They show up in several places here. However, if you watch carefully, you will find a few errors as some were too new to have been around at the time.

Con Air - 1997

-- Nicolas Cage is the hero in a story about convicts that skyhook Corvettes to fly them behind the airplane, or so it seems from the movie trailers. A couple of Corvettes in this one, and the '67 convertible gets terribly smashed. (For your relief, it isn't real. Special effects, you know.)

Television

Television shows were often sponsored by companies, so that the majority of the ads shown were the sponsor's. Also, the sponsor's products tended to be featured in the show, like cars. As such, the cars often had more time on the screen than was justified at times but it was for advertising purposes. Still, these old shows provide us a look at cars of the past.

Route 66 - 1960-1964

-- Of course this has to be listed. The first was a blue '59, claimed red but was blue so the black and white filming worked. Later they had a '63 and then a '64. Numerous Chevy and Corvette show cars made guest appearances for those with sharp eyes. The '59 Stingray and '61 Mako Shark I both appear. Magically, they got a new one each year. The first switch was explained by a wreck and the responsible party bought them a new Corvette. But after that, there were never any explanations as to how these two guys bumming around the country could afford a new Corvette each year. Sponsored by Chevy. This used to be on Nick At Night, but today seems to be shown nowhere. Write your cable company to get it back on.

Perry Mason

- The DA Paul Drake had a '65 convertible. If you watch the episodes, you find one pop up occasionally. Once Perry was out with Paul and it seemed like there was a'57 Corvette behind them, possibly one that they had come in.  Another time I saw a '58 that a client had.

Bewitched - 1967-1972

-- Larry Tate had a '67 Corvette and later a '68. Occasionally you saw a new Vette rolling in the background streets. Sponsored by Chevy. This is on TV Land on Nick.

The Second Hundred Years - 1968

-- Also sponsored by Chevy, Corvettes were background material occasionally.

The Magician - 1973-1974

- Bill Bixby starred in this with first a '73 and then a '74, both white coupes. Sponsored by Chevy.

Rich Man, Poor Man - 1975

- In this first mini series, Bill Bixby got a '58 through blackmail and then died in the crash. A short shot of it is all you get.

Hardcastle & McCormick - 1983 to 1986

-- The poor Daytona Blue '64 convertible was rebuilt so many times, they had to quit smashing it. At least once I saw it do a Dukes of Hazzard jump and fiberglass break off the fenders (to be perfect in the next scene of course). Finally, they put the Judge and McCormick in a Chevy pickup, ala "The Fall Guy". The Coyote is nice to watch, too, even though this is the V6 version.

The A Team - 1983 to 1987

-- However could we forget the Face Man's white '84 Corvette with the red stripes? Did you ever wonder how guys hiding out in the underground could continuously drive such flashy vehicles and not get caught? For that matter, how could they fire off about a thousand rounds of ammo each week and no one ever get hurt? And this teaches kids "gun safety", that you can shoot everything in sight and no one ever dies?

Miami Vice - 1984 - 1989

-- While it looked like a Ferrari Spyder, it was really a Corvette with the body conversion kit. Does that count? This is on FX on cable today, if you want to check it out. The Testarossa was real, though, in later years. An interesting article on those is here:
http://www.ferrariclub.com/faq/miamivice.html

Stingray - 1985 - 1986

-- A man with no name other than "Ray" drives a black '65 coupe that is impervious to machine gun fire and originally registered to the Presidential west coast motorcade. With this, he runs around doing impossible missions as favors, without any payment but the promise that you would return the favor. This makes it to late night TV on some independent channels around the country.

Beverly Hills 90210

-- How could I forget this one? Steve constantly has a Corvette to run around in. It must be rough being a poor student living on your own, having to share housing to get by, but yet have a new Corvette all the time. There has been a black one, a silver convertible, and maybe another one. Originally, I think there was a '69 convertible that was in the opening scenes but I may have the shows mixed up.

Route 66 - 1993

-- No this isn't a goof. Route 66 came out as a series of four pilot shows in '93 with the son coming home because of his father's death. He discovers the red '61 Corvette in the garage and heads out on the open road to discover himself before heading to college? Sound familiar? Same story, just 32 years later. Unfortunately, 32 years later, bumming around the country isn't in vogue, odd jobs, getting into other people's lives, and such have all become parts of ancient history and no one can relate enough to keep the series on the air. Good article on this Corvette (really a '62 mocked up to look like a '61) in NCRS Corvette Restorer in May 1997. Of course, when Route 66 ended in '64, they had a '64 Sting Ray convertible, not the '61 in this garage. And the Corvette in the original series was never red.

Jag - 1996 to present

-- The main character Judge Advocate General attorney Commander Harm Rabb drives a red '69 Corvette small block convertible. You only get to see it occasionally, and usually not too much detail so as to know more about it. However, the Corvette connection is there and occasionally another character for that week's show will show up in a Corvette, usually a newer one. On an episode about a WWII Navajo communications operator whose remains were just recently found, the lawyer for the Navajo Nation drove a silver '98 convertible.

The '69 is back. Harm restores it from pieces recovered in a car theft ring and puts it back in about 3 weeks (wish he could do mine). Continues to beat it up (wrecked in an episode) and be ignored. Mac gets her own new C5 Corvette.

Once You Meet a Stranger  - 1996

-- This is a made-for-television remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" (1951) but what matters is that as Jacqueline Bisset walks into the music store, you see a Nassau Blue '65 Corvette convertible with a white top parked at the curb. It is hard to tell, but it almost looks like it has the Fuel Injection emblems on the side.

From Earth to the Moon - 1998

-- The HBO mini series put together by Tom Hanks, after being so taken by space in the movie "Apollo 13". Several Corvettes show up here.

Last Updated 4/20/2004

Most references are reasonably accurate, but mainly due to memory, which can be off. If you notice something wrong, or you have more to add, with the information. Thanks.


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