There have been many memorable cars featured on TV shows over the past several decades. From the original Batmobile in the early ’60s to Walter White’s beige Pontiac Aztec on Breaking Bad, many cars have become part of a popular subculture. Along those lines, millions of viewers will immediately recognize the bright red 1974 Ford Gran Torino from the legendary TV show “Starsky and Hutch.” This even includes car fanatics who weren’t born when this show was first on the air.
Even though the show and its plot are easily forgettable as a template of the “buddy cop” genre, the car isn’t. Overall it’s one of the most recognizable cars ever to be featured on television. Building on that recognition, the story of this famous red Gran Torino is an interesting one for car fans to dive into. We dove into the surprising facts about this legendary TV car you probably don’t know, so check them out right here.
“Striped Tomato”
This nickname for the Gran Torino was used throughout the show but wasn’t part of the script. In fact, when producers saw the car, they weren’t very enthusiastic about the model and its color combo so they called it “Striped Tomato.”
However, writers adopted the phrase and used it in dialogue, so the nickname stuck. After all, a big red Ford Gran Torino coupe couldn’t be called any different (via Star Cars). Now, the nickname will go down in auto history just like the car itself.