Frivolous & Fun... [PIC]

Like Batman, Green Hornet and the Munsters, in 1966 studio execs decided they needed an outrageous custom car for the soon to be produced "The Monkees". Dean Jeffries modified two cars for them. Car #1 was virtually a drag phaeton with working GM 6-71 blower, solid mounted rear axle and weighted in the rear so it could pop wheelies!  It was so difficult to drive that car#2 had a dummy blower over the 360hp tri-power 389. When the show ended, as per contract, Jeffries was offered the cars a buyback at $2000 each and he declined figuring he could build another cheaper. The TV car (#1) went with the Monkees on tour and was left in Australia. It somehow wound up in Puerto Rico as a hotel courtesy car. When the hotel went bankrupt, it was sold at government auction for $5000. Ultimately, after a stint at the Petersen Museum , it's now owned by a private NJ collector. Car #2 was surprising bought by George Barris who used it for promotions and then gave it a 100 point restoration in 2006 and sold at Barrett-Jackson in 2008 privately for $360,000. I was just the right age (20) to be just bowled over by these TV show customs and after hemming and hawing for years (ERTL grabbed this for their models starting in 1997) I finally sprung for their 1st season LE that was sans logo.