Zebra Three is a radio call sign, given by the fictional "Bay City, California" police department of the
iconic 1970s television series ''
Starsky & Hutch
''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...
'' to Robbery-Homicide Division
detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
s David Starsky and Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson; the BCPD was loosely based upon the
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
(LAPD) . The "Zebra" part of their call sign refers to them being a geographic patrol unit assigned to a special detail; however, the LAPD normally does this with uniformed officers. Several Los Angeles locations were used for "Bay City", and uniformed police officers were seen wearing "BCPD" shoulder patches. Fans of the show applied the code name as a
nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
for the
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
Gran Torino
''Gran Torino'' is a 2008 American drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, and Ahney Her. This was Eastwood's first starring role since 2004's ''Million D ...
that Starsky owned; the general public picked up on it, and the car has been known since (incorrectly) as "Zebra Three", or more correctly the "Striped Tomato".
Original 'Perfect Car'
Originally, the show's creator,
William Blinn
William Frederick Blinn (July 21, 1937 – October 22, 2020) was an American screenwriter and television producer.
Life and career
Blinn was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of Clare Allen and Pearl Ariel (Schaeffer) Blinn. Blinn began his career i ...
, was to have Starsky drive a green and white high performance
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...
because he remembered one that he had previously owned.
When the production was being planned, the studio was unable to locate another green and white Chevrolet Camaro or order a 1975 Camaro from
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
, because of their lease contract with the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
.
'Perfect Car'
When production started on the pilot, Ford Motor Company's studio-TV car loan program was the lease supplier for
Spelling-Goldberg Productions
Spelling-Goldberg Productions was an American television production company established on May 1, 1972 by Aaron Spelling and Screen Gems' top TV executive Leonard Goldberg. They produced series during the 1970s like ''Family'', '' Starsky & Hutc ...
that year. Producers looked at lease stock and chose two (one main, one backup)
351 Windsor V8-powered "Bright Red" (code 2B) 2-door
Gran Torino
''Gran Torino'' is a 2008 American drama film directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, and Ahney Her. This was Eastwood's first starring role since 2004's ''Million D ...
s to portray Starsky's automobile.
The cars were equipped with chrome exterior rearview mirrors and protective black vinyl bodyside moldings, and the interiors were black with vinyl bench seats. On top of the factory paint the distinctive white "vector" stripe with bordering black pinstripe was applied. The Torinos had their rear ends lifted by air shocks and were equipped with "U.S." brand 5-slot aluminum wheels with larger rear tires plus a chrome tip on the exhaust pipe.
They also replaced the original 2.75 to 1 rear axle gearing (standard, along with automatic transmission, on 1975 and newer Torinos) with numerically higher gears for better acceleration during stunt driving scenes; this was done during all four seasons to the S-G Torinos. Engine sounds were dubbed into the show
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
since the Torinos were mechanically stock; emissions laws forbade modifying the engines or emissions systems of new cars.
When the pilot was successful, Spelling-Goldberg ordered two new 1975 Torinos for the first season. These cars were powered by
400 Modified V8s because extra power was going to be needed for additional stunt driving scenes; from the second to fourth seasons, three 1976 Torinos powered by
460 Lima V8s were used. Due to the success of the series, Ford produced 1,000 "limited edition" replicas of the ''Starsky and Hutch'' Torino from March to May 1976 at the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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assembly plant. Spelling-Goldberg leased one for a backup vehicle; it was known as "Unit 129". During the series' run, several 1974 to 1976 Gran Torinos were used as stunt cars to minimize damage, wear and tear on the main vehicles.
While Spelling-Goldberg was happy with the Torinos, the stars (specifically
Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser (born Paul Manfred Glaser March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, ''Starsky & Hutch''. In between his work writing and directing, Gla ...
, who played Dave Starsky) were not so pleased. In fact, when Aaron Spelling showed Glaser his character's car, which Spelling had dubbed as the "surprise" that he had outside, Glaser's reaction was more of disgust rather than pleasure. His initial reply was "it's red."
When interviewed about the Torino, which became the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' "third star", Glaser had no qualms about saying he did not like the car at all. He was quoted as saying "it was huge, it had no pickup, it couldn't handle," and in all of the scenes where he would lock the brakes to stop at a crime scene and bump the car off the curb, Glaser was purposely trying to break the Torino.
Lea Dilallo, a main character in the TV series ''
The Good Doctor'', owns a pristine example which has featured prominently in several episodes.
External links
Starsky Torino
{{Starsky and Hutch
Fictional cars
Ford vehicles
Starsky & Hutch
f