Posted on 10/22/2025 7:13:59 AM PDT by DFG
[This story originally appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of MotorTrend Classic.]
Before Jim Rockford and Thomas Magnum were even a gleam in the eyes of their TV creators, the most famous television private eye was Joe Mannix. Tall, dark, and two-fisted, Mannix was an old-school negotiator. He’d just as soon throw a bad guy off the roof as wait for the cops to arrive. Factor in numerous car chases and booby-trapped warehouses, and the occasional ride up a rock quarry’s conveyor belt during a prolonged gun fight, and it’s obvious why Mannix became very popular, and why the series was chastised by some critics as being overly violent.
The star of the show for its eight fast-moving seasons (1967-’75) was Mike Connors. With the look and demeanor of a harder-edged Sean Connery, Connors brought a new type of class and deportment to the hard-boiled private investigator genre established by film noir characters such as Bogart’s Sam Spade. But some things carried over: chain smoking, the bachelor life, a bottle of Scotch in the desk drawer—and a leggy secretary in the outer office. In Mannix’s case, it was Peggy Fair, played by Gail Fisher, the first African-American actress to costar in a dramatic TV series. Joe Mannix may have been old school in his interrogation methods, but he was modern in his social ideology.
Loyal Mannix fans will point out that the inaugural season of the show had Joe reluctantly working for Intertect, a high-tech detective agency where computers solved the crimes. But that premise didn’t resonate with viewers. Ratings were mediocre, despite Mannix wheeling around in a wild George Barris “Kustomized” Olds Toronado with the roof cut off and even a hidden console for his gun. When the show was retooled for its second season, Joe was on his own as a P.I., working out of a classy office villa at 17 Paseo Verde, with Peggy behind her desk and a dark green 1968 Dodge Dart GTS convertible in the carport.
From that point on, Mannix was a top-rated show, with all the high-speed action and beautiful women anyone could ask for. Combining quality writing, highly styled directing, and spectacular theme music penned by Lalo Schifrin (who also wrote the Mission: Impossible score), Mannix was a top-level show. And, yes, it was violent. According to the Mannix IMDB page, it is estimated that Joe got shot 17 times and knocked unconscious 55 times over the years. Obviously, Mannix was hard-boiled in more ways than one.
But a swingin’ Southern California private eye like Joe Mannix couldn’t be expected to drive just a regular 1968 Dodge Dart, now could he? “From day one, cars were an integral part of the show,” Connors tells us. “Bruce Geller, our executive producer, loved cars and said we’re going to make race cars Mannix’s hobby. So, before we started shooting, I went out to Bob Bondurant’s racing school and took a lot of race-car-driving lessons, which was a fabulous experience.”
Connors, like his Mannix character, is also a lifelong car enthusiast. “I started collecting cars as soon as I could afford to. I had a 1937 Bentley convertible, a ’67 Maserati Mexico, and an old Jaguar coupe. I just love old cars.”
In the 1960s, auto companies typically didn’t give a TV series multiple “star cars” to use, so Mannix (and Barris) had to make do with a single 1968 Dart GTS. “Originally it was a red car, and Geller said that’s too bright, let’s make it a racing-car green. I think this car, underneath, still has some red paint on it,” Connors remembers. (And, yes, the floor pan retains its original red.)
Although Barris was given a relatively free hand in creating the Dart’s special features, he knew it was not to be a gimmick-laden machine like the James Bond Aston Martin. After all, Joe Mannix was a regular guy working for 100 bucks a day, not a British secret agent. “They left it up to me as to what would be a trendsetter to follow the concept of the show,” George Barris told us. “The Toronado was a one-of-a-kind expensive-looking vehicle, like slipping a private eye into a Rolls-Royce. We wanted the Dart to have a performance look, but we played it down to make Mannix’s visibility as a private eye not so luxurious.”
Barris also removed all the car’s name badges. “If we left the emblems on, the product placement would be too obvious,” he explains.
In addition to being a certified Barris Kustoms creation, this Dart is rare in its own right, being one of 271 ’68 GTS convertibles built with a 340 V-8 and TorqueFlite automatic. The 340 sported 10.5:1 compression and churned out 275 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 340 pound-feet of twist at 3200 rpm. With a curb weight of 3350 pounds and a 3.23:1 ring-and-pinion, the GTS ragtop was a strong runner, turning 0-60-mph times in the low sixes and quarter-mile runs in 14.7 seconds at over 95 mph.
The Dart appeared on screen as Mannix’s sporty convertible in 1968 and 1969 episodes. In mid-season ’69, George Barris was asked to create a duplicate of the ’68 car with a 1969 Dart. However, for reasons unknown today, the ’68 car continued to be featured in the show even after the ’69 Dart was introduced. That’s where the mystery begins.
After the producers of Mannix were finished with the ’68 Dart, it was reportedly sold to a secretary at Paramount Studios. Then it was lost for decades and assumed destroyed. Not even hard-core Mannix fans could find a clue as to where the iconic convertible was.
Then a hiker came across what first appeared to be just an abandoned old Dodge in a remote part of the Southern California mountains. Although partially buried under years of fallen foliage, the Dart was identifiable as something special by its unique Barris-created hood scoops. The hiker, a Mannix fan, knew he had stumbled upon the find of a lifetime. He located the owner, bought the car, and began the restoration.
The Dart’s condition was rough, but amazingly straight and rust-free. Even more good news arrived when one of Barris’ painters from back in the era was rediscovered. With his expert application of a new metallic dark-green finish, the Mannix Dart convertible began coming back to life.
In 2008, the Dart was purchased by TV car aficionado Bill Krzastek (a profile of his Volvo P1800 from The Saint was published in the January/February 2006 issue of Motor Trend Classic). Krzastek took the restoration quality up several notches, worked with Barris to reproduce the unique Barris Kustoms fender badges, and even recreated Mannix’s detective identification card and the original “NMO 918” prop license plates. Ol’ Joe would be proud.
Because the ’69 Mannix Dart was destroyed in a wreck while being transported to the wife of a studio executive after its final scene, that makes this ’68 the one and only surviving Mannix Dart.
Fast forward to today: The Dart is now owned by your humble scribe, editor-in-chief of Motor Trend from 1994 to 2001. So, almost as if we have a time machine, we’re reuniting the car with Mike Connors, George Barris, and legendary Mannix stuntman Dick Ziker, none of whom have seen it for 40 years.
Although viewing the car on separate days, they all grin at the famous green Mopar like they’re greeting a long-lost friend. Connors climbs in, starts the engine, and pulls the vintage phone’s handset to his ear. George Barris walks around the car, pointing out all his detail work. Both men, now in their 80s, recall things about the Dart as though it’s 1968 again.
“They were plenty tough on cars in the Mannix series,” Barris remembers. “They didn’t have any animation like we have today, where they put cars in front of a blue screen for all the action.”
“Car chases became an integral part of our show,” Connors tells us. “I loved it. I was able to do a lot of the stunts. But my stunt double, Dick Ziker, had a lot of close calls. We really beat those babies to death.”
Indeed, the Dart still retains some scrapes to its undercarriage from doing all that action. It was a different era. Ziker wasn’t even wearing a fire suit in one stunt in which he accidentally caught on fire. Now 71, he still works regularly. “I’ll do anything,” he says. “I can still hit the ground; I just don’t get up as easily.”
And why does Mike Connors think Mannix is still so popular, 40 years later? “That was a great era in television. I think there was an integrity to the show.
I constantly get people saying that they just don’t do shows like they used to,” he replies.
The tire-screeching action of this 1968 Dodge Dart GTS convertible no doubt added to the show’s popularity and has been etched into the memories of millions of television-watching baby boomers. The comments and thumbs-up the car still receives on each drive confirm that lasting impact like a Joe Mannix right cross to the jaw.
The Barris Kustoms Work Included
Reshaping the hood scoops and making them functional
Adding Lucas Flamethrower driving lights
Replacing the round front turn signals with rectangular units and mounting them behind the grille
Blacking out the grille and tail panel
Creating special taillight lenses to eliminate the backup lights
Molding in a rear lip spoiler
Installing a racing-style gas cap and side mirror
Installing Rader wheels (like the Batmobile used), later changed to Cragar S/S chrome wheels
Installing a Motorola car phone (a very expensive item in 1968)
Adding “Barris Kustoms” emblems to each front fender
Painting the car dark green (first in a dull finish to reduce reflections of lights and cameras, later resprayed glossy)
Ask the Man Who Owns One
Owner: C. Van Tune (Motor Trend editor-in-chief, 1994-2001)
Why I like it: “I’ve always loved the Mannix TV series. To now own the actual car I longed for as a kid is almost beyond belief. The recognition it gets from people of all ages is remarkable.”
Why it’s collectible: “This is a one of one certified Mannix/Barris creation, guaranteed to have chased TV bad guys all over Los Angeles for two seasons. Fortunately the bullet holes weren’t real, but the driving stunts were.”
Restoring/maintaining: “There’s no mystery to restoring a ’68 Dart. Plenty of resto parts are available and seem a bargain compared with restoring a ’57 T-Bird or ’60 Corvette, as I also have done. This car is also shade-tree simple to maintain.”
Beware of: Typical body rust problems that plague most American cars of the era.
Expect to pay (coupe/convertible non-Mannix GTS 340):
Concours ready: $22,275/$30,675
Solid driver: $11,725/$16,150
Tired runner: $6550/$8950
Join the Club: GTS Registry
Our Take
A Dart GTS ragtop is a pretty nice piece to have and drive in any case. Given this example’s history, it goes straight from cool to “highly collectible.”
Specifications
Engine: 339.4-cu-in/5563cc OHV V-8 1x4-bbl Carter AVS 4425-S carburetor
Power and torque (SAE gross): 275 hp @ 5000 rpm, 340 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm
Drivetrain: 3-speed automatic, RWD
Brakes: (front) vented disc; (rear) drum
Suspension: (front) control arms, torsion bars, anti-roll bar; (rear) live axle, leaf springs
Dimensions: (L) 195.4 in, (W) 69.7 in, (H) 53.6 in Weight: 3350 lb
Performance: 0-60 mph: 6.3 sec, quarter mile: 14.7 sec @ 96.2 mph (Car Life, April 1968)
Price when new: $3660
I liked him and it sounds like he was a good guy.
Thanks.
I have the boxed set of DVDs and the soundtrack.
Here is a site with the Mannix transcripts.
https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewforum.php?f=2148
Peggy, Peggy, Peggy.
Not really. Mannix was in Korea. Some if those from time to time.
Beyond the response you got, he did a lot of appearances on variety shows like Carol Burnett.
Conners could do decent comedy.
He was a chain smoker in real life. Eventually got him.
There were a lot of negative portrayals of Vietnam GIs on dramas back them, we know Mannix had Martin Sheen portray a criminal VV with constant flashbacks and mental issues.
It was running in my head the whole time I was reading this.
From a better, vanished time.
I had a 68,bought for $100 in 1985. 13 inch wheels. Did 90mph going to work ....
Reluctantly sent to salvage along with several other vehicles when finances left no choice.(Around 2012)
Love your garage!
Damn showoff.
Lol.
Nice setup and fantastic car!
Wow! Nice car!
Pretty impressive; those were close to bulletproof.
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