 1928
Porter - Dubbed as one of the worst TV programs
ever, MY MOTHER THE CAR/NBC/1965-66 starred a ghostly 1928 Porter
automobile. The storyline follows lawyer Dave Crabtree (Jerry Van
Dyke) shopping for an inexpensive car at a used-car lot only to
have the car talk to him when he sat down in the black-buttoned
upholstery behind the wheel. The voice (heard over the car's
radio) was his mother's whom had returned from the afterlife in
the form of a vintage touring car. Dave immediately paid $200 and
drove it home. Now, whenever he had a problem, he'd visited the
garage and talked to his mom (voice of Ann Sothern).
. When the car needed servicing Dave took it to Doc Benson's
Auto Clinic. The Porter still had its original brakes
("Stop-on-a-Dime" Brakes) and carburetor that contained sixteen
nuts, fourteen screws and three bolt. The car's license plate
read: PZR-317
The main conflict in the series was antique car
collector Captain Bernard Mancini (Avery Schreiber) who
desperately wanted to add Dave's car to his collection of antique
automobiles.
The TV car was
designed by Barris Kustom Industries and powered by a 283ci
Chevrolet V-8 and a Powerglide automatic transmission. The car's
body (finished in Metalflake carnation red with a white top) was
made up from various vehicles including a Model T Ford, a Maxwell,
a Hudson and pieces of a Chevrolet.
To make it appear that the car was driverless (when the ghost
in the machine drove it) the rear floorboard was removed so that a
second driver could be placed out of sight of the viewing
audience. He drove the car using mirrors.
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