The famous Mannix car was not a fictional “Mannix edition” and it was not built from scratch by George Barris. It began as a production 1968 Dodge Dart GTS convertible with a 340-cubic-inch V8 and TorqueFlite automatic, then received a restrained Barris custom treatment, a television-friendly green finish, and years of hard practical-stunt use.
That combination made it more than a period muscle car. The surviving primary car is a rare factory-specification Dart GTS, a documented George Barris custom, and one of the most recognizable American television cars of the late 1960s.
What was the Mannix car?
The principal Mannix car was a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 340 convertible. It used the Dart GTS’s standard high-performance 340 four-barrel V8, a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission, and rear-wheel drive. It was originally red before George Barris’s shop modified and repainted it for the CBS series.
It is therefore most accurate to call it the George Barris-customized 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 340 convertible used by Joe Mannix. Calling it simply a “1968 Dart” loses the importance of the GTS package, while calling it a factory-built Barris car incorrectly suggests that Dodge produced it that way.
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The television car also should not be confused with the 383-powered GTS. The surviving 1968 Mannix Dart is consistently identified as a 340/TorqueFlite car, not a 383 car.
Factory specifications
For 1968, Dodge offered the Dart GTS as either a two-door hardtop or a convertible. Its standard engine was the 340-cubic-inch, four-barrel V8, rated at 275 horsepower and 340 lb-ft of torque under the period SAE gross rating system. Buyers could order a 383-cubic-inch V8, but that was not the engine in the surviving Mannix car.
| Specification | 1968 Mannix Dart |
|---|---|
| Body style | Dart GTS convertible |
| Engine | 340-cubic-inch four-barrel V8 |
| Rated output | 275 hp, 340 lb-ft, period SAE gross ratings |
| Transmission | Three-speed TorqueFlite automatic |
| Driven wheels | Rear-wheel drive |
| Final-drive ratio | 3.23:1 |
| Approximate curb weight | 3,350 pounds |
Period performance gives a useful sense of why the car worked so well on the show. A Car Life test cited by MotorTrend recorded 0–60 mph in 6.3 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 14.7 seconds at 96.2 mph for the 340 GTS configuration. Those are period test figures, not modern tests of the restored television car.
How rare was the 1968 Dart GTS convertible?
Production figures need a qualification. Hemmings material cites 271 convertibles equipped with the 340 and TorqueFlite, the configuration associated with the surviving Mannix Dart. Published totals for all 1968 GTS cars differ: one Hemmings account gives 8,295 hardtops and convertibles, while another gives 8,745 total GTS cars and separately discusses 383-powered production.
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The discrepancy appears to reflect differences in published counting methods or source treatment. The safest conclusion is that the 340/TorqueFlite convertible figure of 271 is the useful configuration-specific number, while the broader GTS total should not be presented as settled without defining exactly what is being counted.
What did George Barris change?
Barris’s treatment was notable partly because it was not overloaded with spy-movie gadgets. The goal was to make Joe Mannix’s car look faster and more individual without turning it into an implausible secret-agent vehicle.
Exterior changes
- Hood bulges or scoops: The modified hood gave the convertible a more aggressive performance appearance.
- Trunk-lid lip spoiler: The spoiler helped establish the car’s custom identity without radically altering its shape.
- Lucas Flamethrower-style driving lamps: The prominent auxiliary lamps became one of the car’s most recognizable details.
- Racing-style fuel cap: This added a competition-inspired touch to the otherwise street-based Dart.
- Blacked-out grille and taillight-panel treatment: These changes visually separated the television car from an ordinary Dart.
- Custom or covered taillamps: The rear treatment varied in connection with filming and restoration.
- “Barris Kustoms” fender badges: The badges documented the shop responsible for the conversion.
- Custom wheels: The car was associated first with Rader wheels and later with Cragar S/S wheels.
The Motorola telephone
A Motorola telephone was mounted beneath the dashboard on the passenger side. It was a practical-looking character detail rather than a fantastical communications system, and it reinforced the image of Mannix as a working private investigator who spent much of his time on the road.
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Why was it green?
The car began life in red, but the production car was repainted green for the show. The initial green finish was reportedly relatively flat to reduce reflections from studio lighting and camera work. Later changes resulted in a shinier green appearance.
Descriptions of the color vary across accounts, including flat green, racing green, British Racing Green, and metallic dark green. Those descriptions should not be treated as proof of one exact factory paint code. The defensible explanation is that the car passed through more than one green finish during its television and restoration history. Evidence of the original red remained in the engine bay.
Why did Mannix use a Dart?
The Dart arrived after the show’s format changed. During the first season, Joe Mannix was associated with the customized Oldsmobile Toronado. When the character left the Intertect agency and became an independent investigator, the Dart became his primary vehicle.
The 1968 Dart was prominent during the second season and continued into the third-season production period, corresponding broadly to the 1968–1969 television production years. Its compact dimensions, rear-wheel-drive layout, V8 power, and convertible body made it a useful action car: visually distinctive, quick enough for chase work, and practical for filming with cameras and stunt crews.
The car was used for real stunt work
The Dart was not merely a static character prop. Mannix used it in practical chases, collisions, jumps, and other demanding sequences during an era before digital compositing could create most of the action afterward.
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The 1969 duplicate was a different car
A second car was built for the 1969 season from a 1969 Dodge Dart GTS convertible. It was modified to resemble the 1968 car and used less often, while the original 1968 Dart remained the principal on-screen vehicle in multiple accounts.
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The distinction matters when identifying photographs, clips, or surviving parts. The 1969 car was not a complete replacement that erased the 1968 car from the series. One account reports that both the 1968 and 1969 cars appeared in the same scene.
The later history of the 1969 duplicate is less firmly documented. It was reportedly sold after production and later destroyed in a transport accident. That should remain qualified as a report based partly on recollections and later owner research, rather than being stated as an independently verified factory record.
Disappearance and rediscovery
After the production cars were retired, the principal 1968 Dart reportedly passed to a Paramount employee or secretary and then disappeared from public view for decades. Ownership descriptions vary in later recollections, which is another reason to keep the 1968 primary car separate from the 1969 duplicate.
In 1981, a Mopar enthusiast hiking near a California ranger lookout recognized a weathered, non-running Dart by its distinctive Barris hood scoops. The car was acquired in a trade involving a Dodge Colt.
Although rough, the Dart was reportedly largely rust-free. Later owners repaired and restored parts of it, including returning the stock 340 to running condition. The braking system was also modified with front disc brakes.
C. Van Tune eventually acquired the car, commissioned additional work, and helped bring it together with Mike Connors, George Barris, and Dick Ziker in 2010. That reunion connected the surviving vehicle with the actor, the customizer, and the stuntman who were central to its screen history.
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Is it the only surviving Mannix Dart?
It is commonly described as the “one and only surviving Mannix Dart,” but that phrase is stronger than the surviving documentation can fully prove. The most precise wording is the surviving primary 1968 Mannix Dart or the widely recognized surviving 1968 Mannix Dart.
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The car is strongly supported in enthusiast and automotive-feature coverage as the surviving primary vehicle. However, there is no factory-style registry that conclusively accounts for every production, stunt, or duplicate car built for the series. The 1969 duplicate’s reported destruction also relies partly on later recollections.
Why collectors care
A standard 1968 Dart GTS convertible is already a scarce and desirable muscle car. The Mannix example adds three forms of provenance:
- Factory significance: It is a genuine 340-powered GTS convertible rather than a base Dart dressed up afterward.
- Custom-car significance: George Barris’s shop altered the car with recognizable period styling and television-specific equipment.
- Screen history: It was a working vehicle used prominently by a major network series and subjected to practical stunt use.
That combination makes the car fundamentally different from an ordinary restored Dart. A collector restoring a normal GTS is generally trying to recover factory correctness. Restoring the Mannix car requires deciding which period of its television identity to reproduce: the flatter early green, the later shinier finish, the Rader wheels, the Cragar S/S wheels, and the particular grille, taillight, lamp, badge, and telephone details seen in different appearances.
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Its mechanical layout is comparatively straightforward by modern standards. The harder work is authentication: determining which parts belong to the original 1968 car, which details were added for filming, and which features changed during later restoration.
Restoration references: what they can and cannot tell you
For anyone researching a regular 1968 Dart GTS or documenting the stock components beneath the television modifications, a 1968 Dodge Dart shop manual or factory Mopar parts catalog is the appropriate starting point. These references can help identify original mechanical, body, trim, and electrical components.
They do not, however, document Barris’s custom hood treatment, television taillight work, Lucas-style lamps, Motorola phone installation, or every change made during production. Those details require period photographs, episode comparisons, owner research, and specialist automotive documentation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.See the Dart in its original context
Specifications and restoration photographs explain what the car is, but the original episodes show why it became memorable. Readers who want to see the Dart in its television setting can look for the Mannix: The Complete Series DVD. Availability and seller status can change, and a physical release should not be taken as a claim about current streaming availability.
How the Mannix Dart compares with an ordinary 1968 GTS
| Area | Ordinary 1968 Dart GTS | Surviving primary Mannix Dart |
|---|---|---|
| Base vehicle | Production Dart GTS hardtop or convertible | Production 1968 Dart GTS convertible |
| Engine | 340 standard; 383 optional | 340 V8 |
| Transmission | Various factory configurations | TorqueFlite automatic |
| Paint | Factory Dodge finish | Originally red; repainted green for television |
| Exterior | Factory GTS trim | Barris hood treatment, spoiler, lamps, grille and rear modifications |
| Interior equipment | Factory equipment | Included a passenger-side Motorola telephone mount |
| Provenance | Depends on the individual car | Documented television, Barris, Connors, and stunt-use history |
MotorTrend has published historical guide figures for non-Mannix 340 GTS convertibles of approximately $30,675 for a concours-ready example, $16,150 for a solid driver, and $8,950 for a tired runner. Those figures come from that article’s historical reference context; they are not a current appraisal and do not represent the value of the television car. The screen-used Dart’s value depends on provenance, authenticity, condition, and the market at the time of sale.
The bottom line
The 1968 Dodge Dart GTS from Mannix became famous because several authentic histories overlap in one car. It was a real 340-powered Mopar muscle car, modified by George Barris without losing its basic street-car identity, driven hard for practical television action, and later rescued after decades out of public view.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The key facts are simple but important: it was a 1968 Dart GTS convertible, not a purpose-built fantasy car; it retained the 340 and TorqueFlite, not the optional 383; and the 1968 original remained the primary car even after a 1969 look-alike was prepared. Its rarity as a factory convertible matters, but its Barris provenance and Mannix history are what make this particular Dart exceptional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Mannix car a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS or a 1969 model?
The primary car was a 1968 Dodge Dart GTS 340 convertible. A separate 1969 Dart GTS convertible was built to resemble it and was used less often.
Did the Mannix Dart have a 340 or a 383 engine?
The surviving primary car is identified as a 340-cubic-inch four-barrel V8 car with a TorqueFlite automatic. It was not the optional 383 version.
Did George Barris build the car from scratch?
No. It began as a production Dodge Dart GTS convertible and was later modified by Barris’s shop for the television series.
What color was the original Mannix Dart?
The car was originally red and was repainted green for television. The exact descriptions of its green finishes vary because the car went through more than one green appearance.
Is the surviving Mannix Dart the only one left?
It is widely recognized as the surviving primary 1968 Mannix Dart. “Only surviving” should be qualified because the available documentation does not function as a complete factory registry of every production or stunt vehicle.
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