Monkeemobile number two, sold by Barrett-Jackson in 2008. Photo courtesy Barrett-Jackson.
As rock and roll began continued to explode in popularity in the mid-1960s, Hollywood decided it wanted in on the action. Launched in 1966, the television series The Monkees followed the adventures of an at-first-fictional rock band struggling for stardom. Central to the show (and as recognizable as the actors themselves) was the band’s vehicle, a customized 1966 Pontiac GTO built by the legendary Dean Jeffries. Next June, one of two cars originally constructed for the series will make an appearance at the GM Nationals in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Linking the Pontiac GTO to a television series about struggling rock stars was the brainchild of Pontiac’s promotion guru, Jim Wangers. Wangers convinced Pontiac that exposure on the show would lead to increased sales among the all-important youth market, and Wangers assured Pontiac executives that modifications to the cars would be tasteful. Pontiac’s management agreed to the idea, and a pair of 1966 Pontiac Tempest GTO convertibles (each fitted with the Super Hydra-Matic automatic transmission) were delivered to customizer Dean Jeffries.
As Tom Cotter relates in his book, Dean Jeffries: 50 Fabulous Years in Hot Rods, Racing and Film, Jeffries was given a near-impossible deadline to produce the cars. Working with two assistants, Jeffries stretched the front end of the car by 21 inches, restyling the nose but retaining the critical GTO grille and logo. The rear was extended by 18 inches, and reconfigured with custom taillamps and a parachute; inside, Jeffries and crew cut out the trunk to build a wraparound bench seat, then covered the interior with a non-functional, Model T-style tan canvas top. Though the wheelbase looks longer than a stock 1966 GTO, it’s not; this is an optical illusion caused by the car’s extended front and rear.
Next came the engine work, and the two cars were originally fitted with GMC 6-71 superchargers and custom fender-exit exhausts to produce more thrust. The bolt-ons worked a bit too well, as the car designated for the television series proved all but undriveable; in compromise, Jeffries left the blower on car number two, which would be used for promotional appearances (along with the occasional exhibition wheelie or burnout). Car number one would retain the blower shell, hollowed out to cover up the four-barrel carburetor feeding the 389-cu.in. V-8 below. In just 10 days, Jeffries and his crew completed car number one; four days later, car number two was done as well.
Pontiac management, specifically GM John DeLorean, was not pleased with Jeffries’s creations, which had (in Pontiac’s eyes, anyway) pushed the envelope just a little too far. As there was no time remaining before filming of the television series began, the division approved the use of the Monkeemobile and awaited the wrath of GM management. Had the show bombed, or Pontiac GTO sales declined, it’s likely that heads would have rolled; what happened, however, was just the opposite. Though the Monkeemobile was customized, it still was recognizable as a GTO, and Wangers’s efforts to cross-promote the car (with breakfast cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s) exposed a whole new generation of car-enthusiasts-to-be to the Pontiac brand.
For two seasons and 58 episodes, the car starred alongside actor/musicians Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones. By the time the show ended production, the Monkees’ musical career had actually taken off, and for a brief period in 1967 the band outsold both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Monkeemobile was still a focal point of the band’s image, so when Dean Jeffries refused an offer to repurchase the cars for $1,000 each, one car accompanied the band on its tours. In 1968, on the band’s Pacific Rim tour, this car (number one, the car used in the filming of the television series) was left behind in Australia.
Decades later, the car, now reportedly painted pink, resurfaced in Puerto Rico, where it was used as a shuttle vehicle for a hotel. In 1992, following the hotel’s failure, the car was seized and auctioned by the Puerto Rican government, selling for a price of just $5,000. Now in the collection of a private owner in the suburbs of New York City, the car has been mechanically and cosmetically restored, and has even appeared in an ABC television movie about the band. Considered to be the most historically accurate of the Monkeemobiles, this is the car that will be appearing in Carlisle next June.
As for Monkeemobile number two, it wound up in the collection of George Barris, who had the car “restored and updated” prior to selling it at a 2008 Barrett-Jackson auction, where it realized a selling price of $396,000 (including buyer’s fees). This car has been “amended” with the addition of modern headlamps, a high-end audio system (complete with a modern head unit, amps, subwoofers and LCD screens for rear-seat passengers), a white cloth top (instead of the original’s tan top) and other improvements designed to “improve driveability.” Counter to this claim, the car’s original 19-gallon gas tank was removed (presumably to make room for the audio upgrades) and replaced with a compact eight-gallon tank from Moon.
Carlisle’s GM Nationals are scheduled to take place from June 20-22, 2014. For further details, visit CarlisleEvents.com.
