The Munsters Kreapy Koach!

In early 1964, famed Hollywood car customizer George Barris was given only 21 days to create one of the most famous “haunted” cars in television history. While many hot rods and custom cars would appear in TV’sThe Munsters,the famous Munster Koach was the most memorable ride to ever transport one of America’s freakiest families. Therefore, for our 13th and final Cursed Car of Halloween, we’ll take a more lighthearted look at the Munster’s menacing machine.

The Munsters might not hold the same air of lavish excess and prestige as the Addams Family, but their wheels are far more bespoke than some old Packard 12. In fact, you could say that it’s almost literally three times as much car. Barris built the entire 18-foot-long monster mashup from three separate Model-Ts, and he kept the Ford theme going by equipping the killer Koach with 289 Ford Cobra engine pulled straight from a ‘66 Mustang GT. He managed to sandwich Grandpa’s mad scientist laboratory in between Eddie’s rumble seat and the passenger compartment in the front.

Incredibly, the build was pulled together within the three-week deadline, and it cost only $18,000. Barris was a magician of Hollywood cars, having already built the original ‘60s Batmobile. And you’ll remember that it was he who parted out James Dean’s Little Bastard and kept track of (or possibly embellished) some of the tragedies that followed the sales and transfers of those parts.

The Munster-mobile featured in twenty episodes across two seasons and was the star and central plot device in several of those episodes, such as the one where Grandpa almost loses the Koach while drag racing against some local hooligans. Indeed it is one of America’s most famous and beloved Cursed Cars of Halloween, and given its pedigree of Model-T and Mustang parts engineered by the late, great George Barris, it’s no wonder that the Munster Koach is one of our favorite awesomely atrocious automobiles. Thanks for taking this trip with us, dear readers, and have a happy Halloween!

-Trey Fennell