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No single surviving car can be called the Starsky & Hutch Torino. The television production used several Torinos for camera, driving, stunt, tow and other work, and Ford also sold a factory red-and-white package to the public in 1976. The most recent public appearance of the screen-used car known as TV Car 1 that the available reporting establishes is the Carlisle Ford Nationals, June 5–7, 2026, where Carlisle Events listed Joe and Roxanne Caldwell as the car’s owners. Its location after that show is not publicly documented as of October 2026.
Which car people usually mean
Most questions about “the original” Torino refer to one of several different vehicles. Before asking where a car is, confirm which one you mean. The table below separates the cars that appear in the sources and states what each source does and does not establish.
| Vehicle | Role | Provenance as stated | Latest public location evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV Car 1 (1976) | Camera car in the television series | Screen-used; Carlisle Events names Joe and Roxanne Caldwell as owners | Carlisle Ford Nationals, June 5–7, 2026; no later dated location found |
| TV Car 2 (1976) | Used for on-screen driving sequences | Described as an original television car in a 2026 event report | Shown in the Carlisle Starsky & Hutch display, June 2026; later location not stated |
| Bucket Seat Car (1976) | Television car, per the Carlisle listing | Role and chain of ownership not stated | Carlisle listing, June 2026; later location not stated |
| Hero 1 (1974) | Movie car, per the Carlisle listing | A dealer’s claim that a 1974 Torino appeared in both the series and the 2004 film is seller-provided and unverified | Carlisle listing, June 2026; later location not stated |
| Petersen “Car #1” | Described as Car #1 in exhibit reporting | Not established as the same vehicle as Carlisle’s TV Car 1 | On display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in February 2023 (per a February 2025 article); the Hollywood Customs exhibit ran through March 1, 2026; later whereabouts not stated |
| Hollywood Cars Museum Gran Torino | Listed as a Starsky and Hutch Gran Torino | Museum page does not give enough provenance to tie it to a numbered television car | Museum collection page; the page itself does not confirm current display status |
| RM Sotheby’s 1976 Gran Torino | Factory package example in the Starsky & Hutch paint treatment | Auction description cites an Elite Marti Report and original build sheet; not stated as screen-used | Sold at RM Sotheby’s in 2022 for $60,500; current location not stated |
Where the best-documented car was last seen
Carlisle Ford Nationals, June 5–7, 2026
Carlisle Events’ listing for the Starsky & Hutch 50th anniversary display names Screen Used TV Car 1 and its owners, Joe and Roxanne Caldwell. A post-event report describes two original television cars in the display: Car 1 was the camera car, and Car 2 was used for on-screen driving sequences. The same listing includes the 1974 movie car Hero 1 and a 1976 television car known as the Bucket Seat Car.
This establishes a public appearance and a recorded ownership attribution in June 2026. It does not establish where the privately owned car is kept, and it is not evidence that the car remained at the fairgrounds afterward. The show is the last dated public sighting found, not a current location.
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Petersen Automotive Museum
A February 2025 article says a car described as “Car #1” was on display at the Petersen in February 2023. The Petersen’s own page for its Hollywood Customs exhibit says the show ran through March 1, 2026. That page does not say where any Starsky & Hutch Torino went after the exhibit closed. Nothing in the available reporting shows that the Petersen car and Carlisle’s TV Car 1 are the same vehicle, so a Petersen visit should not be treated as a sighting of TV Car 1.
Hollywood Cars Museum, Las Vegas
The Las Vegas museum maintains a page for a Starsky and Hutch Gran Torino. The page does not give enough provenance to identify the car with a particular numbered television vehicle, and it does not confirm that the car is on display now. Treat it as a museum collection listing, not as an answer about TV Car 1.
Rank #2
Factory package cars and tributes
Ford’s own announcement is the clearest starting point for the production version of the car. In a Ford Division news release dated February 9, 1976, Ford said a production Starsky/Hutch Gran Torino would be offered through U.S. Ford dealers. The release describes a bright red two-door hardtop with white vector stripes, a standard 351 CID V-8, and production beginning in March 1976. Ford said it would produce about 1,000 cars. That figure was the company’s announced plan, not a confirmed final production total.
Douglas T. McClure, Ford Division merchandising manager, is quoted in the same release: “The Starsky/Hutch vehicle has that performance car look, and it’s exciting a lot of young people.”
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsA different number appears in the RM Sotheby’s listing for its 2022 sale. That lot describes its car as one of 1,305 package-equipped examples. This is a count stated in an auction description of the factory package, not a count of screen-used cars, and it should not be read as a correction to Ford’s 1976 plan.
A factory package car, or a later tribute built to look like one, can closely resemble a television car without having been used in filming. Appearance, paint and stripes are not proof of screen use.
Rank #4
How to check a claimed screen-used Torino
If you are evaluating a specific car, work through the documents rather than the paint scheme:
- Start with the ownership chain. List each owner with approximate dates and the documents that support each transfer.
- Look for production or studio records that tie the specific chassis to filming. A general claim of television use is not enough.
- Check the vehicle identification and factory records, including the build sheet. Special-order identifiers, such as DSO numbers ending in 0022 noted in enthusiast writing, are one piece of factory-package evidence and do not prove that a car was filmed.
- Compare contemporaneous photographs with the car’s features. Camera, driving and stunt cars were not necessarily identical, so a match to one photo does not confirm a particular role.
- Separate original parts from later repairs or modifications, since restoration can change what remains from filming.
- Treat seller statements and auction headlines as leads to verify, not as settled provenance.
What remains unresolved
As of October 2026, the sources do not provide a dated public record of where TV Car 1 is kept after the Carlisle Ford Nationals. The Petersen exhibit page, the Hollywood Cars Museum collection page and the dealer’s provenance claim do not fill that gap. A dated statement from the owners, or a newly published exhibit listing that names the car, would be the kind of evidence that could settle it.
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