1974 Firebird Esprit from Episode #1
In my original posting on The Rockford Files I mentioned that in later episodes, the editors would craftily sneak in shots of Rockford’s ’74 Firebird even while he drove a ’76-’78 in other scenes.
I am no particular fan of Firebirds and have no trouble differentiating between’74-‘75s and ’76-‘78s–or so I thought.
1971 Firebird TransAm
But Billy Rockfish pointed out a detail that I had completely missed: The 1970-74 Firebird’s rear window (backlite, in carspeak) ends at the C-pillar, as illustrated by the two photos above.
1975 Firebird, also from Episode #1
The 1975 backlite wraps around, however, turning the C-pillar into a basket handle. I had completely missed that, so I went back to Episode #1 to see if I could pinpoint the transition from ‘74s to ‘75s. Instead, I found there was none–they used both ‘74s and ‘75s in the same episode! In fact, the two shots of Rockford’s Firebird above were from successive scenes. And this wasn’t the only occurrence; it happened throughout Episode #1, and possibly others.
1975 Firebird
I have just finished reading “The Garner Files-A Memoir”, by James Garner and Jon Winokur, and in it Garner states that his production company, Cherokee Productions (Garner is one-quarter Cherokee), bought three new Firebirds a year until 1979 (after which they kept using ‘78s)–all of them Sierra Gold with a Camel Tan interior and equipped with the 400 cu in engine. The only change made from stock was to “stouten up the suspension” to handle stunt routines.
Good catch. Those crafty TV-show producers think nobody will notice, but clearly they didn’t count on the Curbside Classic readership!
Saw the same thing on a Perry Mason rerun the other day. In the 66 season Perry drives a Lincoln 4dr convertible, but in a well used scene, he is shown getting out of a Ford Sunliner convertible, maybe a 61.
The ’74 Firebird was the best looking of all the ’70-’81 F-bodies, by far, in my book. The ’75+ wraparound rear glass ruined the lines of the car; Look at how the top of the door glass and the edge of original backlight form a single flowing line that’s broken up by the redesign.
Still, these ’74-’78 “Rockford” Firebirds are the best of the breed, along with maybe the pre-shovel nose Camaros. The Endura bumpers created a remarkably clean look in an era when most cars – including the contemporary Camaro – were saddled with glorified I-beams. Porsche’s the only other car that got it right. I can do without all tacked-on crap and “Smokey and the Bandit” stigma of the Trans Am.
Now I’m gonna be the curmudgeon someone accused me of earlier.
Those shows weren’t meant to be taken seriously. They were throwaways; aside from the Catskills-standup one-liners, they were without redeeming social value. A cut-and-dry case of good-guy/bad-guy; a car chase; a beautiful female or two; and everything’s wrapped up in time for commercial messages for Close-Up toothpaste and Blatz beer.
There were doubtless lots of errors of fact and continuity. I doubt the LAPD or the California Highway Patrol worked as portrayed there; and I remember one reference on a show to the “Ohio State Police.” Which are nonexistent.
Rockford wasn’t the worst…over at Starsky & Hutch (Barfsky & Crutch, to us young cynics of the time) Hutch’s “old Ford” battered and beaten…somehow under all the dings and dents, was the LATEST MODEL 1975 Ford Custom 500. And…the horn going off when the door was opened? Any twelve-year-old kid could figure that out…they just spliced the horn relay to the ignition-key buzzer circuit!
It was a dumb show…but to insult the intelligence of twelve-year-old boys, you’ve got to set new lows on the dumb scale.
Nope…throwaways, to be inserted between commercial breaks.
And, alas, both shows were wildly popular. Says a lot about the world, really.
When I was 14 I loved the Rockford Files. I thought Jim Garner was about the coolest guy I could think of. Now when I see a re-run, I think of how hokey it really is.
Hokey, but endearing. Rockford, Starsky & Hutch, and Magnum pi. Can’t get enough of them.
Whoa there. Hutch drove a ’74 Galaxie. I never noticed a ’75-up. I recall a show where it’s destroyed, and Starsky replaces it, as a gift, with a nearly identical ’74 beater. Hutch’s car was never featured very much, but I liked it better. Even as a child, I noticed Rockford’s car would change from scene to scene; but I noticed that in lots of shows and movies. Especially when a lost hubcap would reappear. How many hubcaps did the Charger lose in ‘Bullitt’? Always considered it sloppy film-making. Also, as a kid, I was perplexed as to why Rockford had a new car every year, but lived in a dump and always was short of money. I personally like the wrap-around rear glass of ’75-’81 Firebird/Camaro’s better. Another cool TV car? Baretta’s ’66 Impala!
…was it a ’74? Shows how long it was since I’ve seen it.
Seems it went further than sloppy prop-management, though. It was as if they simply DID NOT CARE.
Actually it was a ’73.
It may have been. Only difference between ’73 and ’74 is the number of ‘ribs’ in the grille and front parking lights.
It was a ’74. They had their own paint for continuity purposes, and when they went to the 78, they used Formulas dressed down as Esprits, for the 400 and the suspension. When the 79 came out, Garner wouldn’t use it, and stayed with 78’s.
If were going to start nitpicking, we might as well cover Hawaii Five-O which was one of my favorite shows of all time, and on for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980. But as far as continuity, wow, there are scenes where McGarrett leaves the Ioliani Palace jumps into his 68 Park Lane and shows up at the crime scene in his 74 Marquis, and this happens several times. Hawaii Five-O took some of greatest liberties with stock footage, bonus if you catch a stock footage shot using McGarrett’s seldom sene 1967 Mercury Marquis hardtop coupe.
Carmine – you did hit the nail on the head. The ’67 Pilot episode (with Leslie Nielsen as the FBI agent driving a ’67 Chevelle Mailbu four door hardtop) had McGarrett driving the ’67 Marquis coupe. With his own cordoned off parking space at Iolani Palace. Subsequently, when the series became a series, they had the ’68 Park Lane four door hardtop, but periodically through 1969, they’d show McGarrett peeling out of Iolani Palace in the ’67 coupe hauling ass down King or Punchbowl Streets.
And Kevin, hate to rain on your parade, but you have “1975 Firebird” listed under a picture of a ’76 Esprit. Also, for the ’77 and ’78 Firebirds, if Cherokee Productions did buy those new in California, the Pontiac 400 would NOT have been available; it would’ve been the Olds 403. Pontiac V-8’s were gone in California after MY 1976.
Now when you get to 5-0, you are talking a hodge podge of film inserts used all the way into the 70-71 season of the 67 merc 2 door too riding on ALA moana Drive……………as for the RF inserts it’s a economy thing…..count how many times a silver 72 Vega hatch is shown in the series!!!! And don’t get me started on I Dream of JEANIE when Major Nelson keeps pulling up to NASA in 1968 in his 1966 GTO!!!!!
It’s not intellectually stimulating but it sure beats this garbage “Reality TV” that’s ruined television. The internet is my TV.
Yes! Don’t even get me started on schlock like American Idol. Blecch!
I lusted after a Firebird as a kid but not one in dadmobile colours like the gold one.Never got one though
Apparently you’re still having trouble – the red illustration labelled as “1975 Firebird” is a ’76. The ’74, ’75 and ’76 are each unique. The ’74 and ’75 are differentiated by the rear window, and the ’76 by the revised smooth bumper covers.
The ’74, ’75, and ’76 all have different front ends, as well.
Whatever the year, the Firebird in your first photo looks remarkably Toronadoesque from that perspective.
They couldn’t have used both ’74s and ’75s in the first episode (‘The Kirkoff Case’), as it would have been filmed in the summer of ’74 — months before the ’75s hit dealerships — for airing in mid-Sept. ’74. In fact, he spends half that episode driving a rental car, not the Firebird. If you are talking about the 90-min pilot (‘Backlash of the Hunter’) it was filmed even earlier and first aired in March of ’74, so no ’75s used in filming. However, a ’75 (or is it a ’76?) can be glimpsed in the syndicated prints of that pilot episode, which you may be calling “Episode One,” even though it isn’t. That’s because when the show was syndicated years after its debut, the 90 min pilot was turned into a two-part episode so it could be included in the syndication package. But since half of a 90 min show is a little short for a 60 min timeslot, they added some generic Firebird footage from a later episode that used a later car to pad it out. If you watch the 90 min pilot in its original network version, there are no ’75s. You are correct in that the ’74 does turn up at times where it shouldn’t, usually in chase scenes even though he’s driving a newer ‘Bird in the rest of the episode. Simply a production shortcut done in editing.
Check out the first episode on Netflix. This is my reference. I am no expert on the Rockford Files, just a fan.
They would usually use an even older one for destruction scenes. In one episode they blow up what is clearly a 1970-72 model (narrow tailights).
To this day, I can spot the sacrificial sheetmetal when it shows up in a TV show. Current model? It’ll live on. 10 year-old luxury car? Doomed.
Kinda like the red-shirted guys in Star Trek.
Mid-1970s 4 door Dodge Coronets or Plymouth Satellites never had a chance especially when used as cop cars or the get away car of the “bad guys” of an episode…
Add to that if its a “non-sponsor” ride, like on CSI, where GMC Denali’s were the CSI’s rides(yeah right?) but the bad guys or the wrecked cars always seemed to be non-GM for the most part, same on the new Hawaii Five-O.
This is sure to be one of those things that people are just in two camps about, but put me down as a fan of the 1975-81 wraparound rear window. To me it makes the car look lower, lighter and sleeker. It also provides a visual “explanation” for why there are no rear side windows — whereas the earlier design sort of looks like someone forgot to cut the rear quarter window openings out.
The 70-74 non-wraparound window looks more muscular. I always saw that as a swoopier adaptation of the 66-68 Mustang fastback styling. The 75+wraparound never looked right to me unless there were T-tops, in which it somewhat evoked the 911 Targa look.
Plus the wraparound window ended up being vastly overused on every sporty GM car from then on, even more so than their ubiquitous formal roof of the 80s. Third and forth gen F bodies, the 77 Caprice, the 78+ C3, C4, C5 and C6 Vette, and the Monte Carlo Aerocoupe/GP 2+2 all had a variation of it. Granted I’m basing this on hindsight but it’s hard for me to get past.
1971-72 Riv BOATTAIL, nuff said, uber SEXY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m with you here.
I guess my feelings are obvious…Love it.
The only thing I diagree with is the colors, the 74’s from the first episodes were Denver Gold…after that they were Sierra Gold.
I remember reading that they started using Firebird Formulas around 76 or so for the added bennefit of suspension and engine upgrades not available in the base and Esprit Firebirds. In 74 and 74 you could option the Esprit and Base Bird with the “Formula” suspension…so no need to cheat…not sure about after that without my books..
“Rockford Files” was way better then standard cop shows of the day!
Anyway, CA DMV plates stay with with car for life, right? So, the Rockford plate was the same every season. That means he supposedly never got a new car!
In the TV Pilot, the ’74 was blown up, while he and Lindsay Wagner made a run for it. But, it was magically rebuilt with same licence plate in the first season! To average viewers, it literally was the same car for 6 seasons. So, the 75-78’s were ‘actor cars’ pretending to be 74’s
I know I posted this before about RF car supposedly the same due to Lic plate.
I can see ‘Jim Rockford’ sticking with a ’74 car, since that was last year for regular leaded gas. Many old car fans disliked unleaded gas and cat converters, even though they cleaned air.
“Anyway, CA DMV plates stay with with car for life, right? So, the Rockford plate was the same every season. ”
Holy cow, they even managed to screw that up. I couldn’t remember the plate, so I went looking online for pics. (Remember the days when any fact you wanted WASN’T instantly available at the other end of a WiFi signal?)
In the first one I found showing the front plate, it’s “853 OKG”
http://imcdb.org/i003345.jpg
The next one shows it as “835 OKG”
http://jimsuva.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f3b4d1c3970b016305b3f5f1970d-pi
In his book, “The Garner Files, a Memoir”, Garner states that he wasn’t sure how the license plate came about, only that it was a production prop. That is, it was a fake.
But folks, let’s remember, this is a TV program, not a documentary. If Rockford had suffered as many concussions as he did (about one an episode) by getting cold-cocked by the bad guys, his brain would have turned to jelly by the fourth episode. And those punches to the bad guys’ faces? His hands would have been in perpetual casts. Do you know what can happen to your hands if you do this even once? I boxed in high school, and even with 16-ounce gloves, a solid hit to your opponent’s face could leave your hand hurting big time for awhile. But guys and gals, this is fantasy and partly why it’s enjoyable.
To me, getting details like that wrong says: “It’s just TV. Why bother to be careful, when we can just phone it in?”
I though the 853-OKG had a significance to Garner, 8/53 was his first big break, OK for Oklahoma, he’s from and G for Garner.
I’ve read the same thing about the plate Carmine
The only episode I can remember them showing 835 OKG was one of the Linda Evans episodes called “Claire”
I am on both sides of the fence re the rear window shape. I like the earlier version on the pre-1975 cars but certainly thought the wraparound shape looked best on the red 1980 Formula that I had.
Also keep in mind that stunt shots are expensive. So they definitely are going to avoid destroying any new cars and will be running stock footage to insert later when needed.
For some real fun, check out “Route 66” reruns with the new Corvette every year. Chevrolet was the sponsor for most of its run and wanted the latest model on display, especially when the ’63 came out.
The idea was that GM changed the rear window design due to the blind spots in the earlier ones from the massive B-pillar.
I believe I’ve read that the rear window was supposed to be wrap around from day 1 of the F-bodys but they had problems with the manufacturing of the window itself and also had issues with the curved glass “falling in”, so the stop gap was the smaller 70-74 rear window.
On the other hand, the curved glass may have been planned for 74 and those issues pushed it to 75…
James Garner was definitely the coolest guy on TV for a pre-teen kid, he even did his own stunts. The show was more comedy than “detective” series and the reruns were fun again in college after some habits of youth.
The wrong car in scenes didn’t bother me as much as seeing skid marks already in place from earlier takes.
The 74 rear window gave more of a fastback look. The 75 window looked bubbly and more heavy but not too bad, was worth the tradeoff to get better visibility I think.
That white Trams Am in the top pic is gorgeous!
The late Trans Am tailpipes went great with the 75 rear window, the early T/A tailpipes went great with the 74 window.
The pilot episode of “The Rockford Files” is called “Backlash of the Hunter” a 74-minute entry that generally airs as a two-parter. According to IMDB, The first airing was March 27, 1974. Allowing some time for post-production work, shooting would have had to have concluded well before 1975 Pontiacs entered production.
So, some scenes would have had to have been re-edited to include later footage. I have no idea why.
plus the RF cars had to be purchased a few months prior to the PILOT SHOOT , so I would guess the cars were bought in late 73????
Yes, Jim Rockford was a great character but so were his dad and Angel.
I’m at home sick today today and ended up watching Rockford on Netflix. In one smash-up chase scene, Jim’s ’75 transformed into a ’70-’73, slightly doctored to look newer. There’s a good shot of the rear of the car with the pre-’74 taillights, but the chrome bumper is painted black to resemble the later Endura bumper.
Can’t blame them for trying; The production company probably saved at least a grand or two by wrecking a used car.
Great thread and conversation! I was a car wrangler in LA for a while, often for indie pics, pilots, and infomercials, and am a hero car geek from waaaay back. Here’s my take…
The editing of any Universal series of the 70s was pathetic, and they were none too careful about the specific year of the cars in the clips they used. Nobody cared.
I think the Rockford cars were epic because they fit the character so well. Garner could out-drive anyone on the tube. He also liked the cars enough that when the TVMs were done in ’94, he sent a half-dozen NEW Firebird Formula Convertibles back to Pontiac after he drove a restored ’78. The opening scene of ‘I Still Love LA’ sets the resurrection of the car as a story thread, and it was perfect.
In the total universe of TV hero cars the ‘bird takes a back seat to only ONE car, the Dart GTS used on Mannix in the ’68-’70 seasons. That car, like the Rockford car, fit the character like a glove, and even SOUNDED right. Too bad Joe wasn’t as good a driver as Jim, and trashed every car he ever borrowed.
The Dart is in the hands of my friend C Van Tune, fully restored and just about perfect. Google Mannix Dart DTS for pics…
Season 1 Episode 8
In a chase sequence and most of the episode he is driving a Firebird with rectangular grilles and no grille/ bumper cover but in one short section of the chase he’s driving one with the grilled/bumper cover.