 'Skid' McCormick's Coyote -
Custom red Manta sports car seen on the
detective adventure series HARDCASTLE &
McCORMICK/ABC/1983-86. The Coyote was driven by
Mark "Skid" McCormick (Daniel Hugh-Kelly), a
former professional race driver who was
recruited by Milton G. Hardcastle (Brian Keith),
a retired judge with a vigilante complex, to
track down persons that had beaten the rap in
his courtroom over the last 30 years (because of
smart lawyers or legal loopholes).
The Coyote
car was powered with a small block Chevrolet V-8
engine mounted on a custom, heavy-duty chassis
that could burn rubber at 180 mph in a straight
line. The word COYOTE (and DE JUDGE) appeared on
its license plate and the word "Coyote" and a
coyote image were silhouetted in a band of white
paint on the bottom of each door.
Mark entered
the car by sliding through the driver's side
window.
The Coyote was introduced in episode
"Rolling Thunder" wherein Flip Johnson, a car
designer, whose 30% ownership in the Coyote
project was nullified when his partner,
industrialist Martin Cody arranged a car
accident which killed both Flip, his lawyer and
all contractual evidence of the deal. This gave
Martin Cody 100% ownership in the Coyote, a car
touted to become "bigger than the Corvette and
the Mustang."
To avenge Johnson's death, Judge Hardcastle enlisted the aid of parolee "Skid"
McCormick and the Coyote to bring Martin Cody to justice. The
Coyote was then used for the remainder of the
series to chase after the bad guys. AMT and Ertl,
the toy manufacturer produced kits and metal
toys of the show's Manta car.
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