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Clampett Family Truck - The 1921
flatbed Oldsmobile four-cylinder truck with roped-down hood and
glass-less headlights seen at the beginning of each episode of the
situation comedy THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES/CBS/1962-71.
When poor mountaineer, Jed Clampett, (Buddy Ebsen) discovered oil
on his Ozark property "he loaded up his truck and he moved to
Beverly. Hills, that is, swimming' pools, movie stars."
As to the ownership of the truck, according to Jed "Strictly
speaking, it belongs to my cousin Pearl. But I can keep it as long
as I keep cousin Jethro."
On episode No. 210 "The Hot Rod Truck" cousin Jethro (Max Baer)
traded the old family jalopy for a new and more powerful hot rod
truck (constructed from a 1925 roadster found in Arizona) equipped
with a 1969 Olds 442 muscle car engine and painted candy apple red
with yellow racing stripes.
TRIVIA NOTE: When the series ended, the truck used to transport Jed, Granny
(Irene Ryan), Jethro and Elly May (Donna Douglas) to Beverly Hills
was donated by "Hillbillies" producer Paul Henning and placed on
permanent display at the Ralph Foster Museum on the campus of the
College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout near Branson, Missouri. There
is also a replica of the truck and all of the Clampett family on
display at the Movieland Wax Museum exhibit in Buena Park,
California.
The original truck (a touring car whose body had been hacked off
from behind the front seat) sported a platform with a bench where
Granny and Elly May rode. The back of the truck stored the family
rocking chair, washtub, shotgun and other personal items. The car's
rusted exterior finish also sported a faded advertisement sign for
the Fontana Feed Store.
In the 1990s, a replica of the original 1921 truck was recreated for
the Twentieth Century Fox movie remake The Beverly Hillbillies
(1993). Like the original, the new replica was built by custom car
designer George Barris, the creator of the Batmobile and the
Munstermobile (who found the original Clampett truck in the back of
an old feed store in Fontana, California).
A second Monster Truck version of the Clampett Truck (made from a
truck formerly called "Lethal Weapon") appeared in the movie when
its huge wheels crushed the cars in a country club parking lot. This
huge 25- foot, 15,000 pound replica was powered by a 528ci V-8
engine.
Ideal Toys and Model Products Company (MPC) produced models of both
BEVERLY HILLBILLIES trucks that included plastic characters figures.
The Ideal Toy truck had a front crank that wound up and moved the
vehicle. Another model could convert into Jethro's hot rod. Still
another Beverly Hills television truck (designed by George Barris)
was produced by Crafts Masters.
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