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Restored to her original beauty
Built from a stock 1966 Imperial Crown, Karl Kirchner’s Black Beauty #2 is one of two vehicles used to film the 1966–67 television program Green Hornet.
Courtesy of Karl Kirchner
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All the bells and whistles
Customizer Dean Jeffries turned the vehicle into a crime-fighting street rod with a prop machine gun, missile bays and—of course—green headlights.
Courtesy of Karl Kirchner
While reading my March 2018 issue of South Carolina Living, I was delighted to see Barrie Clark’s letter about his Ecto-1 Ghostbusters replica (a response to the January 2018 profile of Dr. Phillip Latham and his replica Batmobiles). I, too, have a TV car, except mine is an original vehicle used to film the 1966–67 Green Hornet show. It’s called the Black Beauty and is one of two cars made for the production.
Back in the early 1990s, the other Black Beauty was restored and put on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. I remembered hearing about a second car, which I tracked down and found in Sturgis, Michigan. It was owned by Ms. Opal Wall, a true car lady. She had purchased the car 10 years prior to my call and, for the most part, kept it in storage. I purchased the car from her in June 2001 and began an 8-year restoration process to bring it back to its original TV appearance. The car now resides in the Upstate of South Carolina, and while displaying it at car shows, I became good friends with Hollywood customizer Dean Jeffries and the original Green Hornet himself, actor Van Williams. Sadly, both men are now deceased.
Your readers can find the full history of the car at theblackbeauty.com.
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Related stories
Who you gonna call?—York Electric Cooperative member Barrie J. Clark, that’s who, if you need a replica of Ecto 1 and other props from the 1984 movie Ghostbusters.
Holy replicas, Batman!—Learn how Sumter dermatologist Dr. Phillip Latham came into possession of two functional Batmobiles.