You should be very proud of him. To stick with this car for 15 years to see it restored says a lot about him. I hope he and you spent some time together during the restoration.
Tom Selleck once said of James Garner that he was an inspiration because James would always take the time to learn everyone's name that work the set. Pretty cool.
Tom Selleck basically owes his career to James Garner. The role of Lance White got Jim started in Television, and James Garner's mentoring went a long way!
The License Plate on the car "853 OKG" has significant meaning, "August 1953 Garner landed his 1st acting job. Oklahoma Garner's Home State. OKG, The 1st Letter of Garner's Last Name."
My wife was a tremendous fan of the show and was IN LOVE with Jim Garner. When she was graduating from college, her parents were going to buy her a car, and she had to have a Firebird. She got a 1975 Esprit ; we went on our honeymoon in it, and as I write, it is sitting here still in the garage. After kids happened, we sold it, but were able to buy it back from the friend we sold it to. At that point, it was pretty sad; ran poorly and needed a lot of help. I couldn't see rebuilding the 350 in it, so I found a 455 and went through that and added a little cam, intake manifold, and true duals. It does a fine job of roasting the tires any old time. A lot of memories in that car, and a real time machine for me. And, yes, the 70's were a terrible time for American cars. I remember on our honeymoon, this thing rained screws from under the dash, nothing fit - they even left off one of the Esprit badges - real build quality!
There are some mean-spirited people in this world - if they don't have anything nice to say they should just shut up. I enjoyed your story so thanks for sharing. EDIT: I see the bad comment was deleted - good riddance.
Jay, I'm 49, I love The Rockford Files, and I still watch it on MeTV sometimes. You're a little over two years older than my dad and he is who got me into the reruns of the show in the early 1980s when I was 6 or 7 years old so there are people that are around 25 to 30 years younger than you that watch it still today.
I always liked James Garner. Growing up as a teenager in the md/late 70s, i loved the Rockford Files. It was a shame when he discontinued doing the show because of the punishment his knees were taking, doing his own stunts. I recently watched the whole series again. It still holds up. I always loved his girlfriend, Beth (Gretchen Corbett), too.
And after 6+ successful years on the air the studio claimed the series never made a profit when Garner sued them over his share of profits from the syndication rights.( The studio 'cooked the books' to minimize any payout)
Watched and loved the show as kid . Always loved the car and was a huge James Garner fan. I'm glad the car went to a fan of the show who appreciated it.
Used to be a fan of The Rockford Files as a kid. When I found out James Garner was a serious driver and car enthusiast, it just made his legend go that much higher.
With all this James Garner talk, if you havent read his autobiography, you will have a new appreciation of the man behind the image. He was like, if one of us "normal" folks saw such insane success, he was just like we hope we would be.
Hemmings Classic Car magazine did a story last year or so, in the Colombo Peugeot, and the current owner who lives in the Midwest (I forget which state).
I wish I could give this video a million likes! "The Rockford Files" is my FAVORITE television show. It was a big part of my childhood and I own _every_ season on DVD!!
genie My cousin was a firefighter in the '70's and he said that Garner stopped by the firehouse (near the studio) frequently, sat down and told stories and had some laughs with the firefighters.
Thumbs up as soon as he said he has been at this car, in his garage, for 15 years!! This guy is a trooper! The work and love that went into this car is most likely beyond most peoples imagination.
I didn't know that, thanks! Sounds like he was a great guy. My Mom had a huge crush on him. There's a free Christmas movie starring Julie Andrews and JG here on You Tube. I highly recommend it.
Always loved the opening segment of the show with the answering machine! My favorite was a message from the electric company telling Rockford that he was behind on his bill and they were cutting off his power in afe minutes...
Great episode...always enjoyed the Rockford Firebirds and seeing this high quality restoration. I recall reading James Garner didn't much care for the 1979 restyle of the front end and that was why they stayed with 1977/78 versions.
"It's a replica?" "No it's THE car." I like the way Pat is calm and assured, just like Jim Rockford. Thanks for saving a piece of 70's TV history, and thanks to Jay for putting him in front of a camera. And that color, one of a kind.
The 70s was the best era for TV . What a beautiful restoration, always loved that colour and the Rockford Files. I can hear the theme in my head as I write this. 😂
Have any of you *watched* Rockford files recently? It’s painful for a car guy. They flip a 60s E-type, crash a Mercedes SL… it’s like the Dukes of Hazzard set in a car museum.
When they film these car crash/destruction scenes they aren’t using nice collector worthy specimens of these cars but old junkers fixed up to look nice enough on camera for use in a crash/destruction scene. In fact, the car you see be driven and the one seen crashing/being destroyed won’t be the same car. The crash car will be a same model car repainted to look like one being driven but which can be a old non-running rust bucket underneath that was slated to be crushed at a junk yard. Even if one of these crash cars was good enough to be restored (before being crashed), they aren’t crashing any rare models anyways, and with many of them were slated to be crushed at the junk yard your not likely to see a car crashed in these shows that would have gone to a collector/restoring otherwise.
Heh. Right about now, someone 20 or 30 years younger than me is watching "Pulp Fiction" and getting pissed off at how Bruce Willis wrecked that cute little Honda. In 1994, literally no one cared.
I'm a Pontiac guy, and owned a 1979 Firebird Formula coupe with T-Tops, second owner from 1990 to 2005. I really enjoyed driving it. It had the 403 Olds V8 with the Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. It had a lot of options like the Trans Am so it was special. I have a 2002 Firebird now as my daily driver since 2010. 22 years and counting, with over 200,000 miles on it, but I keep it well maintained. It's a base model with the Buick 3800 Series II V6 with fuel injection and five-speed stick shift.
@@hendo337 That's been a popular thing to do to these cars for years. But at this point in time I think it'd be best to keep these things all Pontiac (a traditional, metallic light-blue colored 350 or 400, 455)
Watching Smokey & the Bandit getting filmed the summer of '76 when I lived 2 miles from Snowmans house in Jonesboro Georgia & seeing the Trans Am come out the back of the trailer is what made me a huge fan! I had a black '76 with the Hurst Ttops in 1983, a new '85 Bandit II Edition & a new black Ttop '98 Ram Air LS1 6sp...wish I still had them all
🎵"More harmonica !!" 🎵 My favorite TV show of all time, I fell in love with L.A. watching this show and moved here in 1981. Rockford & Angel, great chemistry and humor. Love that car, thanks.
When I was growing up, me and my car buddies thought that James Garner and Steve McQueen were maximum cool. Rockford is my favorite tv series of the 70's, and the more I watch it, the more I realize that Garner stamped his personality on it. It was also ahead of its time in some of the subjects it brought up, such as the dangers of computerized surveillance and how the legal system can be manipulated to persecute people who challenge the establishment.
Stunning car, and one of my personal favorite TV vehicles. I also read a while back that the engine was from a trans am… but clearly not. This owner knows his stuff
I heard the same. Or I had also heard that the car was shown as an Espirit on the show but was really a formula. Something like that. It's been years since I've watched the show.
@@sstills951I came to say Rockford never drove a firebird formula, with the formula option there were twin hood scoops, where the trans am option had the shaker hood. He drove a firebird esprit, I would assume it was built to the specs of a trans am or formula for performance & television stunt driving, but the cars badging/emblems on the television series showed it was a firebird esprit. I do remember an episode where the fender badging on this particular Rockford car showed it was equipped with the 400 engine.
I absolutely loved the Rockford Files ! I watched it from when it premiered, till its finally. I was 13 years old when it first aired. James Garner was the best actor. Played the "reluctant hero" roll to perfection. Thanks Jay for doing this episode.
After all these years, it's hard to believe nobody's seen "ROCKFORD FILES". It's still on tv everyday. Loved James Garner. Great piece of history! Great actor. His work will be there forever!😊
The license plate was symbolic as well... "853OKG"... the "853"stands for August 1953 when James Garner got his first acting job and the "OKG" stands for Oklahoma Garner where he came from... I still watch Rockford files nearly every night on tv here in NJ... god bless ...
Had to laugh when Jay sat in the car (24:38) and asked “it’s always the square key right”, and then said “this stupid interlocking deal here”. It made me laugh because it sounded like my cranky old self.
Will Jay attempt to do the "Rockford J-turn?" Anyone remember the con artist character Angel Martin? My favorite on Rockford Files. $200 Per Day Plus Expenses.
As a kid I thought that $200 per day was a fortune and would surely pay for better living accommodations than that beat-up trailer. It took a while for me to mature (and watch several dozen episodes) before I realized that Rockford's daily fee was purely aspirational and that most of his clients were deadbeats.
Jay really appreciates this man's passion for restoring this iconic car. A True American. Both of them. "Hey Rocky!" Remember what Isaac Hayes called Rockford? Rockfish!
That Firebird is beautiful. I took them for granted when they were all over the street back in the late 70’s. My neighbor had a Yellow ‘78 Formula with black stripes. I think it had a Chevy 305 in it. Sweet Car.
Car looks great, love the mic plugs! Never saw that before installed in a car for film production. Had a 1977 Buick Estate wagon with the Olds 403. Could whip a lot of other smog equipped "muscle cars" of that pitiful performance era (well, not off the line, but shortly after with 320 foot pounds of torque). Love the show Jay, always worth the watch.
Don't forget Gretchen Corbett aka Beth Davenport drove a nice little Porsche 914 on the show. I remember an episode where Garner borrows her car and she yells "Don't redline it!" as he takes off and immediately redlines it 😄
I loved watching THE ROCKFORD FILES in the 1970s. My friend actor Rex Reason was a friend of James Garner. They met at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank in 1960 when they were working as stars of their TV shows MAVERICK and THE ROARING 20's. Rex said he got a call from Jim Garner in 1976 and they got together for lunch on a set of ROCKFORD in San Fernando Valley. Rex was a real estate broker at that time, living in Diamond Bar, Calif. after leaving show biz in 1961.
My first car was a 1976 red Firebird with a 350. Was just a kid and really couldn’t afford to take care of it. My manager at the time had a brand new 1978 Trans Am 6.6 and was gold in colour. Loved that car ! Great post 😀
As a very young kid in the late 70's I hated the Rockford Files. As a young(er) man at the start of the 2000's I watched the re-runs and it quickly became one of my most cherished tv series of all time. Theme tune, cast, California weather and characters (especially Jim and Angel) is the perfect mix. They truly don't make tv like it today.
I was lucky enough to be an eyewitness to James Garner and Stuart Margolin shooting a "Rockford" scene outside a small restaurant on a remote section of Malibu Canyon Road in 1977. My friend and I were both just teens out for a drive when we noticed a film production setup on the side of the road. Out of curiosity, we parked and walked to the location to see what they were shooting. We immediately recognized Rockford's iconic Pontiac (which could have been THIS car), then we spotted Garner and Margolin setting up to shoot a scene. No one asked us to leave, so we stayed for about an hour or so and watched them do about four or five takes of the intense scene (Rockford was angry with Angel, so there was heightened dialog). The scene we witnessed was from "Drought at Indianhead River", which turned out to be a great episode. I agree with Jay's guest -- "The Rockford Files" is the greatest tv show of all time.
I'm a Pontiac guy - grew up in the 70s and endured all of the Mustang guys and Camaro guys bs (late 70s Z28 - oof) I alway liked the Pontiac style and ethos - a little sportier, a little more luxurious, just nicer. I've always thought that this body style, with no spoilers or stripes or body kits, is just beautiful. Very Italian-esque. Now, I like a Trans Am, don't get me wrong but...... Gorgeous car with a fantastic pedigree - and he can always say that Jay "broke it in". Love it!
I liked Rocky, lecturing his son on how impractical it was to make his living as a P.I. "you're always getting shot at, your car's always getting banged up..."
Great! Watched the show with our dad in the 70's in Ireland on a B&W tv. We got it a season late I think. Loved Garner, Rocky and all the regular characters. Always a nice looking woman or two also to add to the interest, plus the car chases.
Great car guy! Thank you! I started watching the show in 1977 when I was 14. The show aired every Thursday on German television ARD and was called "Detektiv Rockford -Anruf genügt". I admired the car. It looked very fast even it wasn't.
Beautiful resto! I used to watch the show with my father. I never missed an episode. Angel always cracked me up. As far as the car, I dreamed of owning one when I got to drive. I ended up with a '71 Pontiac LeMans :)
I loved that show. A lot of scenes involved the car, and it was always a real drive along, with Garner, doing the driving and acting. That separated it from other shows immediately, and the cast and characters, were fabulous.
I grew up loving Firebirds and Camaros. My Dad had a 68 Bird and my favorite old shows had Firebirds. Rockford, Night Rider, Smokey ETC. I've had a few F-Bodies over the years and still have a 2000 Firehawk today. Such cool old cars.
Garner was a Merchant Marine WW2 veteran and an Army Infantry Korean War veteran. Wounded twice, once by the bad guys and once by friendly fire. I liked the Rockford episodes that featured Rita Moreno. Garner & she played off well against each other.
My Dad and I never missed an episode of Rockford files. Unfortunately, he passed away in July of 1975. Oddly enough, I liked Rocky’s (Jim Rockford’s father) four-wheel-drive GMC pick up.
I still love James Garner to this day. My uncle did a Rockford episode in the late 70s my mother and my sister got to see the filming and got to meet James Garner and Purnell Roberts. The shooting was at 5 AM so they didn’t wanna wake me up I’m still not over missing it. I was only about 12 at the time but I would’ve loved to have met James Garner. They said he was absolutely wonderful. Kudos to this man who restored such a wonderful car well done Jay.
Back in the day, my buddy had a 76 Bandit Special with a 455 and Hurst 4 speed. It was a rattle trap so he made us drive with the windows down in the winter. He let me drive it in the rain and I couldn't keep it on the road cause it was a positrack and the clutch was pretty heavy for my 145 lb teenage body. He blew the engine once when we were on a double date. Those were the good ole days. 😁
This is my granddad I’m so happy to see this I love him and that car
You should be very proud of him. To stick with this car for 15 years to see it restored says a lot about him. I hope he and you spent some time together during the restoration.
I thought it was Sunny Curtis for a second.
Your Grandpa is an incredible human being. I’m proud to call him my friend.
Wow so cool. Tell him this was my favorite JLG episode of the year. Such a likable guy your Granddad
This is one of them. Have no idea how many total are left. Most were damaged/scrapped.
Tom Selleck once said of James Garner that he was an inspiration because James would always take the time to learn everyone's name that work the set. Pretty cool.
The Rockford Files basically birthed Magnum P.I
@@sstills951 Lance White =) My two favourite shows of all time. So entertaining!
200 years ago actors were one step up from criminals and prostitutes. Humble is good.
...that worked on the set?
Tom Selleck basically owes his career to James Garner.
The role of Lance White got Jim started in Television, and James Garner's mentoring went a long way!
Rockford files had one of the great theme songs of all time.
Mike Post wrote it, who also wrote other themes like A team, law and order, magnum P.I. and others.
I believe he also produced a Van Halen album?
I'm suprised they didn't play that in the intro
Along with the phone answering machine messages played on the intro.
This is why I watch Jay Leno's Garage. Great episode guys.
He’s a very nice man
I love episodes like this! Forget hyper or super cars! This stuff is gold!
Literally !
Like the color, don’t miss the screaming chicken or the scoops and air dams.
@@danielfarmer1334 You beat me to it.
Mannix ‘Cuda next?
I truly admire this man for sticking with it for 15 years and doing the work in his garage. A real car guy, now he needs to drive it and enjoy it.
I couldn't agree more.
No reason not to, it's got tons of miles already! 🤘
The License Plate on the car "853 OKG" has significant meaning, "August 1953 Garner landed his 1st acting job. Oklahoma Garner's Home State. OKG, The 1st Letter of Garner's Last Name."
You beat me to posting the same comment, can’t believe they didn’t mention that. And they didn’t do a Rockford turn !
@@philh3178I posted then saw this... pretty cool...
That is what i like about jay: he has no pretensions, is genuinely happy driving and chatting and makes you feel at ease as a guest. Great guy.
Pat spent many years restoring this beauty. Thank you my friend.
Did a fantastic job - looks brand new!
Looking Great ! So happy to hear his wife also enjoys the show too..lol.....NO !
@ LOL
The show holds up, even today. Great writing plus great acting.
Agree. I love it.
Today's writers are lazy and have no creativity or originality and rely on the recycle bin
YES!!!!!
I bought all five seasons in a DVD box set. Excellent entertainment.
Some of it is cheesy but considering the time period I think it holds up. I recently watched the 5.5 seasons and had a great time.
I love the humility of this guy. I can see his affinity for Garner very easily
My wife was a tremendous fan of the show and was IN LOVE with Jim Garner. When she was graduating from college, her parents were going to buy her a car, and she had to have a Firebird. She got a 1975 Esprit ; we went on our honeymoon in it, and as I write, it is sitting here still in the garage. After kids happened, we sold it, but were able to buy it back from the friend we sold it to. At that point, it was pretty sad; ran poorly and needed a lot of help. I couldn't see rebuilding the 350 in it, so I found a 455 and went through that and added a little cam, intake manifold, and true duals. It does a fine job of roasting the tires any old time. A lot of memories in that car, and a real time machine for me. And, yes, the 70's were a terrible time for American cars. I remember on our honeymoon, this thing rained screws from under the dash, nothing fit - they even left off one of the Esprit badges - real build quality!
Thanks for the nice story -don’t listen to that troll.
I enjoyed the story as well.
Awesome love the story !
There are some mean-spirited people in this world - if they don't have anything nice to say they should just shut up. I enjoyed your story so thanks for sharing. EDIT: I see the bad comment was deleted - good riddance.
Come on Jay! I'm 52 I remember the Rockford files like it was yesterday used to watch it as a little kid. Great TV show!
Ditto !
Yeah I used to watch it with my dad too ❤
Jay, I'm 49, I love The Rockford Files, and I still watch it on MeTV sometimes. You're a little over two years older than my dad and he is who got me into the reruns of the show in the early 1980s when I was 6 or 7 years old so there are people that are around 25 to 30 years younger than you that watch it still today.
I always liked James Garner. Growing up as a teenager in the md/late 70s, i loved the Rockford Files. It was a shame when he discontinued doing the show because of the punishment his knees were taking, doing his own stunts. I recently watched the whole series again. It still holds up. I always loved his girlfriend, Beth (Gretchen Corbett), too.
Don't forget Noah Beery Jr. as his father.
Gretchen was a cutie.
And after 6+ successful years on the air the studio claimed the series never made a profit when Garner sued them over his share of profits from the syndication rights.( The studio 'cooked the books' to minimize any payout)
@@rocketscientist007 he was great.
I can still close my eyes and picture him doing those J turns...
Watched and loved the show as kid . Always loved the car and was a huge James Garner fan. I'm glad the car went to a fan of the show who appreciated it.
Garner in "Support your Local Sheriff" was an all-time classic and funny as hell!!
Free to watch on TH-cam!
They only kill their masters is the one
Mc Cloud, Rockford files & Columbo, love those old 70's crime shows.
Used to be a fan of The Rockford Files as a kid. When I found out James Garner was a serious driver and car enthusiast, it just made his legend go that much higher.
With all this James Garner talk, if you havent read his autobiography, you will have a new appreciation of the man behind the image. He was like, if one of us "normal" folks saw such insane success, he was just like we hope we would be.
I am about 1/4 of the way through it now.
Jay looks happy and healthy in this episode!! He was looking tired in past episodes and I was worried, he looks great here!! Love you Jay!!
I agree, i was so worried about him! This was a great and fun video 😊
cool cars are good for the soul ❤
I havent seen him for awhile , i thought that he dosnt look well , hes dropped a lot of weight .He looks old .
He IS old!
Can't be breaking his Mom's windshield, biting into them Doritos anymore.
He must have recovered from falling down the hill in Greensburg, PA.
I’m 23 and Rockford was one of my favorite shows ! Columbo is my favorite of all time. I hope Jay can find his Peugeot Cabriolet !
You have great taste my young friend!
Universal studios I think owns a few of the 203 Peugoets.
Also good taste I'm 40 and enjoy both shows 👍 greetings from Scotland.
Columbo - "Just one more thing" !
Hemmings Classic Car magazine did a story last year or so, in the Colombo Peugeot, and the current owner who lives in the Midwest (I forget which state).
@@gnatsum-uy4fo That is cool
I wish I could give this video a million likes!
"The Rockford Files" is my FAVORITE television show.
It was a big part of my childhood and I own _every_ season on DVD!!
genie
My cousin was a firefighter in the '70's and he said that Garner stopped by the firehouse (near the studio) frequently, sat down and told stories and had some laughs with the firefighters.
Thumbs up as soon as he said he has been at this car, in his garage, for 15 years!! This guy is a trooper! The work and love that went into this car is most likely beyond most peoples imagination.
This raises the question, where's Rocky's GMC 4X4?
Where it is I don't know, but that was actually James Garner's personal truck.
I remember that truck. ❤
@@gaden002 Wow. Didn't know that.
@@althunder4269 Check out the episode of Leno's Garage with Garner's Oldsmobile 442.
The last I saw it was under private ownership somewhere in Florida
Also he was a war hero / purple heart recirpant.
I didn't know that, thanks! Sounds like he was a great guy. My Mom had a huge crush on him. There's a free Christmas movie starring Julie Andrews and JG here on You Tube. I highly recommend it.
Wow! Watched the Rockford Files every Friday night with my Dad growing up. It was his favorite show!!
Always loved the opening segment of the show with the answering machine! My favorite was a message from the electric company telling Rockford that he was behind on his bill and they were cutting off his power in afe minutes...
Great episode...always enjoyed the Rockford Firebirds and seeing this high quality restoration. I recall reading James Garner didn't much care for the 1979 restyle of the front end and that was why they stayed with 1977/78 versions.
Yeah, he told Pontiac the 79 was ugly, plus he tried to make Formulas look like Esprits.
"It's a replica?" "No it's THE car." I like the way Pat is calm and assured, just like Jim Rockford. Thanks for saving a piece of 70's TV history, and thanks to Jay for putting him in front of a camera. And that color, one of a kind.
Good ‘ol Rockfish…what a man. We miss him.
Yep! Thank you, Isaac Hayes!
Gandy please don't call me that.
rockFORD!!!
The 70s was the best era for TV . What a beautiful restoration, always loved that colour and the Rockford Files. I can hear the theme in my head as I write this. 😂
Love the 77 Firebird, love the Rockford Files. Mike Post's theme song goes hard. I'm 36, so yes, some people younger than you appreciate the show!
Have any of you *watched* Rockford files recently? It’s painful for a car guy. They flip a 60s E-type, crash a Mercedes SL… it’s like the Dukes of Hazzard set in a car museum.
Not for you to worry… Those were all Hollywood cars. Not the real thing!
I'm still mad at CHiPs for pushing that beautiful '67-'68 manual transmission Cougar off of that cliff!!! CHiPs was probably the worst offender.
When they film these car crash/destruction scenes they aren’t using nice collector worthy specimens of these cars but old junkers fixed up to look nice enough on camera for use in a crash/destruction scene. In fact, the car you see be driven and the one seen crashing/being destroyed won’t be the same car. The crash car will be a same model car repainted to look like one being driven but which can be a old non-running rust bucket underneath that was slated to be crushed at a junk yard. Even if one of these crash cars was good enough to be restored (before being crashed), they aren’t crashing any rare models anyways, and with many of them were slated to be crushed at the junk yard your not likely to see a car crashed in these shows that would have gone to a collector/restoring otherwise.
You will need to avoid the Taylor Swift video for “blank space,” there’s a Shelby Cobra in it.
Heh. Right about now, someone 20 or 30 years younger than me is watching "Pulp Fiction" and getting pissed off at how Bruce Willis wrecked that cute little Honda. In 1994, literally no one cared.
I'm a Pontiac guy, and owned a 1979 Firebird Formula coupe with T-Tops, second owner from 1990 to 2005. I really enjoyed driving it. It had the 403 Olds V8 with the Turbo-Hydramatic transmission. It had a lot of options like the Trans Am so it was special. I have a 2002 Firebird now as my daily driver since 2010. 22 years and counting, with over 200,000 miles on it, but I keep it well maintained. It's a base model with the Buick 3800 Series II V6 with fuel injection and five-speed stick shift.
You should swap an LS4 into it, same bolt pattern as the V6. Wouldnget the same fuel economy and have 100-200 more hp.
I have a '99 Camaro with the 3800/5-speed. Nice to drive, but needs more power.
@@hendo337 That's been a popular thing to do to these cars for years. But at this point in time I think it'd be best to keep these things all Pontiac (a traditional, metallic light-blue colored 350 or 400, 455)
Watching Smokey & the Bandit getting filmed the summer of '76 when I lived 2 miles from Snowmans house in Jonesboro Georgia & seeing the Trans Am come out the back of the trailer is what made me a huge fan! I had a black '76 with the Hurst Ttops in 1983, a new '85 Bandit II Edition & a new black Ttop '98 Ram Air LS1 6sp...wish I still had them all
@@andyharman3022 put a supercharger or turbo on it & I think you can up the tune on the ECM to get more power
🎵"More harmonica !!" 🎵 My favorite TV show of all time, I fell in love with L.A. watching this show and moved here in 1981. Rockford & Angel, great chemistry and humor. Love that car, thanks.
James Garner has always been one of my favourites. I’m glad to hear he was really a nice guy.😊
When I was growing up, me and my car buddies thought that James Garner and Steve McQueen were maximum cool.
Rockford is my favorite tv series of the 70's, and the more I watch it, the more I realize that Garner stamped his personality on it. It was also ahead of its time in some of the subjects it brought up, such as the dangers of computerized surveillance and how the legal system can be manipulated to persecute people who challenge the establishment.
Stunning car, and one of my personal favorite TV vehicles. I also read a while back that the engine was from a trans am… but clearly not. This owner knows his stuff
I heard the same. Or I had also heard that the car was shown as an Espirit on the show but was really a formula. Something like that. It's been years since I've watched the show.
@@sstills951I came to say Rockford never drove a firebird formula, with the formula option there were twin hood scoops, where the trans am option had the shaker hood. He drove a firebird esprit, I would assume it was built to the specs of a trans am or formula for performance & television stunt driving, but the cars badging/emblems on the television series showed it was a firebird esprit. I do remember an episode where the fender badging on this particular Rockford car showed it was equipped with the 400 engine.
The old 403 was the trans Am base engine.
I absolutely loved the Rockford Files ! I watched it from when it premiered, till its finally. I was 13 years old when it first aired. James Garner was the best actor. Played the "reluctant hero" roll to perfection. Thanks Jay for doing this episode.
After all these years, it's hard to believe nobody's seen "ROCKFORD FILES". It's still on tv everyday. Loved James Garner. Great piece of history! Great actor. His work will be there forever!😊
The problem is, no one under the age of 40 watches tv anymore
@bradleylovej They're not watching because the networks aren't making quality programing.
The license plate was symbolic as well... "853OKG"... the "853"stands for August 1953 when James Garner got his first acting job and the "OKG" stands for Oklahoma Garner where he came from... I still watch Rockford files nearly every night on tv here in NJ... god bless ...
Two REAL car guys… Outstanding restoration! A real piece of automotive history…😎
James Gardner is still one of my all-time favorite actors. I'd love to have that car!
Garner. No d.
@@voxer99They could be talking about somebody else; you don't know.
Had to laugh when Jay sat in the car (24:38) and asked “it’s always the square key right”, and then said “this stupid interlocking deal here”. It made me laugh because it sounded like my cranky old self.
Jay's looking great. Good to see him recovered from that fall.
And he has his energy back. I was really worried about him!!!!
🙏 R.I.P. James Garner.🎉🎉😢😊😅
Will Jay attempt to do the "Rockford J-turn?" Anyone remember the con artist character Angel Martin? My favorite on Rockford Files. $200 Per Day Plus Expenses.
Stuart Margolin played Angel, always called Rockford Jimmy.
Good show. Angel was a hoot!
@@mechanwhal6590 While I like all of the Rockford Files episodes. The ones with Angel are just a little bit better IMO.
As a kid I thought that $200 per day was a fortune and would surely pay for better living accommodations than that beat-up trailer. It took a while for me to mature (and watch several dozen episodes) before I realized that Rockford's daily fee was purely aspirational and that most of his clients were deadbeats.
@@martinliehs2513 and he wasn't always working on a case either.
Fan of James Garner and The Rockford Files….didn’t have a ‘77 Firebird but had a ‘77 Camaro LT when I was in college. I loved that car.
Dad had a 78 gold edition trans am I had a 75 Rally Sport LT with a 4 speed....fun car ...i still have dreams about that car 😢
I watch Rockford files on GET TV almost every night. Magnum PI comes on after.
No kidding. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
yup, me too
Some of the best times of my life watching "The Rockford Files" with my Dad.
So proud for Mr. McEntee and this iconic piece of rolling history...
Jay really appreciates this man's passion for restoring this iconic car. A True American. Both of them. "Hey Rocky!" Remember what Isaac Hayes called Rockford? Rockfish!
That Firebird is beautiful. I took them for granted when they were all over the street back in the late 70’s. My neighbor had a Yellow ‘78 Formula with black stripes. I think it had a Chevy 305 in it. Sweet Car.
I learned my driving style from the Rockford files.
Handbrake turns, j turns donuts etc
Loved the show and the persona of the man
Car looks great, love the mic plugs! Never saw that before installed in a car for film production. Had a 1977 Buick Estate wagon with the Olds 403. Could whip a lot of other smog equipped "muscle cars" of that pitiful performance era (well, not off the line, but shortly after with 320 foot pounds of torque). Love the show Jay, always worth the watch.
Don't forget Gretchen Corbett aka Beth Davenport drove a nice little Porsche 914 on the show.
I remember an episode where Garner borrows her car and she yells "Don't redline it!" as he takes off and immediately redlines it 😄
Old guys like me with useless knowledge 😂😂
Jay is a national treasure ❤
The Rockford Files was very popular here in Sweden and I used to watch it together with my dad.
Even has the correct license tag "853 OKG". It was said that the "OKG" stood for "Oklahoma Garner", which is where Garner grew up.
853 was his first acting job, August 1953
That paint job is fabulous!
I loved Rockford Files. I say it was one of the best TV series made. James Garner was very cool and a good looking man
I loved watching THE ROCKFORD FILES in the 1970s. My friend actor Rex Reason was a friend of James Garner. They met at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank in 1960 when they were working as stars of their TV shows MAVERICK and THE ROARING 20's. Rex said he got a call from Jim Garner in 1976 and they got together for lunch on a set of ROCKFORD in San Fernando Valley. Rex was a real estate broker at that time, living in Diamond Bar, Calif. after leaving show biz in 1961.
My first car was a 1976 red Firebird with a 350. Was just a kid and really couldn’t afford to take care of it. My manager at the time had a brand new 1978 Trans Am 6.6 and was gold in colour. Loved that car !
Great post 😀
I probably did the driver side window install if made at the Van Nuys Plant. Worked there from 74-79 Fisher body side.
As a very young kid in the late 70's I hated the Rockford Files. As a young(er) man at the start of the 2000's I watched the re-runs and it quickly became one of my most cherished tv series of all time. Theme tune, cast, California weather and characters (especially Jim and Angel) is the perfect mix. They truly don't make tv like it today.
Oh cool. For years I was wondering when Jay was going to have a Rockford Files Pontiac episode. Great Show!
Beautiful restoration of a very beautiful car.
Steve Kinser the GOAT of sprint car racing was a friend of James and watches re runs on cold Bloomington Indiana days. Cool story.
I was lucky enough to be an eyewitness to James Garner and Stuart Margolin shooting a "Rockford" scene outside a small restaurant on a remote section of Malibu Canyon Road in 1977. My friend and I were both just teens out for a drive when we noticed a film production setup on the side of the road. Out of curiosity, we parked and walked to the location to see what they were shooting. We immediately recognized Rockford's iconic Pontiac (which could have been THIS car), then we spotted Garner and Margolin setting up to shoot a scene. No one asked us to leave, so we stayed for about an hour or so and watched them do about four or five takes of the intense scene (Rockford was angry with Angel, so there was heightened dialog). The scene we witnessed was from "Drought at Indianhead River", which turned out to be a great episode. I agree with Jay's guest -- "The Rockford Files" is the greatest tv show of all time.
At the tone leave your name and message, I'll get back to you. Love it!!
"Wait a minute. Is this a machine? I don't talk to machines.." 😄
I'm a Pontiac guy - grew up in the 70s and endured all of the Mustang guys and Camaro guys bs (late 70s Z28 - oof) I alway liked the Pontiac style and ethos - a little sportier, a little more luxurious, just nicer. I've always thought that this body style, with no spoilers or stripes or body kits, is just beautiful. Very Italian-esque. Now, I like a Trans Am, don't get me wrong but...... Gorgeous car with a fantastic pedigree - and he can always say that Jay "broke it in". Love it!
James Garner's family and my great grand parents ran a grocery in Washington, Oklahoma. I have always felt some kind of connection.
Great clip. Garner was such an iconic guy. I feel better now about my 10 yr mustang restoration.
One of the rare shows where the main character didn’t drive something ridiculously ostentatious (Magnum, Miami Vice, Starsky and Hutch, etc).
Starsky & Hutch ?? 😳 They drove a fat Ford..
I liked Rocky, lecturing his son on how impractical it was to make his living as a P.I. "you're always getting shot at, your car's always getting banged up..."
Always trying to get Jimmy to take up truck driving
Great! Watched the show with our dad in the 70's in Ireland on a B&W tv. We got it a season late I think. Loved Garner, Rocky and all the regular characters. Always a nice looking woman or two also to add to the interest, plus the car chases.
Great car guy! Thank you! I started watching the show in 1977 when I was 14. The show aired every Thursday on German television ARD and was called "Detektiv Rockford -Anruf genügt". I admired the car. It looked very fast even it wasn't.
The 403 olds engine was a good engine, really. I had one, in a 79 Buick LaSabre, and it had enough get up and go, for that big car.
The best of the best James Garner
A+
By all accounts, James Garner often stood up for folks when he believed an injustice had occurred.
Beautiful resto! I used to watch the show with my father. I never missed an episode. Angel always cracked me up. As far as the car, I dreamed of owning one when I got to drive. I ended up with a '71 Pontiac LeMans :)
Oh my, we watched that short every Friday night with me Dad. Thanks for sharing
I still watch a few episodes of Rockford Files every week , even though I have been watching them from the 70s. One of the best TV shows of all time.
Really cool to say you own a car that James Garner drove
What an amazing restoration! My hat is off to you, Sir! I always loved the show. My favorite episode is "Gear Jammers"(I'm a truck guy).
this is one of those cars, you can just hear the music when you look at it.
I'm sitting here whistling it. I can't even help it!
Mike Post. I'm sure i still have the 45.
@@ms8596 Oh man, seeing you write that, it reminds me I probably still have the 45 too!
I loved that show. A lot of scenes involved the car, and it was always a real drive along, with Garner, doing the driving and acting. That separated it from other shows immediately, and the cast and characters, were fabulous.
I grew up loving Firebirds and Camaros. My Dad had a 68 Bird and my favorite old shows had Firebirds. Rockford, Night Rider, Smokey ETC. I've had a few F-Bodies over the years and still have a 2000 Firehawk today. Such cool old cars.
I'm 55 and I love Rockford, I still watch it. That show got me interested in cars because the way Jimbo drove.
Shout out to Mike Post for composing The Rockford Files theme, one of the greatest tv themes ever written.
Thank you for doing this episode! Also a huge Firebird and Rockford fan!
Jay's looking good these days. For the past year or more, he looked so tired and low energy. Glad he's going well!!
My first car was a 1968 Pontiac Firebird 400 convertible. Fabulous car!
Iconic Nostalgia from my past thank you Jay.🖖
Garner was a Merchant Marine WW2 veteran and an Army Infantry Korean War veteran. Wounded twice, once by the bad guys and once by friendly fire. I liked the Rockford episodes that featured Rita Moreno. Garner & she played off well against each other.
My Dad and I never missed an episode of Rockford files. Unfortunately, he passed away in July of 1975. Oddly enough, I liked Rocky’s (Jim Rockford’s father) four-wheel-drive GMC pick up.
I still love James Garner to this day. My uncle did a Rockford episode in the late 70s my mother and my sister got to see the filming and got to meet James Garner and Purnell Roberts. The shooting was at 5 AM so they didn’t wanna wake me up I’m still not over missing it. I was only about 12 at the time but I would’ve loved to have met James Garner. They said he was absolutely wonderful. Kudos to this man who restored such a wonderful car well done Jay.
Back in the day, my buddy had a 76 Bandit Special with a 455 and Hurst 4 speed. It was a rattle trap so he made us drive with the windows down in the winter. He let me drive it in the rain and I couldn't keep it on the road cause it was a positrack and the clutch was pretty heavy for my 145 lb teenage body. He blew the engine once when we were on a double date. Those were the good ole days. 😁
Yeah cool, the Pontiac and the song to Rockford Files are embedded in my brain. Thanks Jay. 😎👍😎