George Barris is one of the most known car customizers of the 1950s and 1960s. He’s the man responsible for the first Batmobile, Munster Koach and Rickshaw Taxi, among others, and he also created this Oldsmobile Toronado for the Mannix TV series.
The customizer took a then new 1967 Toronado, cut off its roof, got rid of the back seat and created a custom tonneau cover. He then proceeded with giving the interior a few special touches, including a telephone and a secret gun compartment, and the so-called ‘Mannix Roadster’ was born.
The television show’s producers used it in the first two series. In season one, the lower part of the vehicle was painted black and the headlights had sealed beams in them. And for season no.2, Barris took it back to repaint the bottom in red, change the headlamps and add heated seats.
After 1968, subsequent to its TV star life, the Toronado Roadster was sold to an amusement park developer. He kept it until the late 1980s, when it was purchased at auction by the most recent owner.
Over the years, it was carefully taken care of and mostly displayed among other custom creations, some of them built by George Barris. To this day, it retains the original paint, upholstery and accessories. And it’s also offered for sale, with the eBay ad revealing an asking price of $135,000 and about 10 days left at the time of writing for someone interested to click the ‘Buy it now’ button.