THE CORGI 'KOJAK' BUICK, BABY!

 A few photos I’ve taken of the Corgi #290 Kojak Buick Regal which first appeared in 1976, and continued production until around 1980.

I’ve been reminding myself of the original Kojak television series, which started in 1973 following a made –for- TV movie, The Marcus Nelson Murders. This featured a determined police detective called Kojack played by Telly Savalas who wants justice for an innocent young black man, who’s been wrongly accused of heinous crimes by a corrupt justice system   .The film acted as a pilot leading directly to the Kojak series. The series comprised of 118 episodes over five seasons until its cancellation in 1978.

Here in the Britain, it premiered on BBC 1 in August, 1974, soon becoming popular, so much so that a sort of’ Kojakmania’ developed.  Even a spoken  cover  version of the Bread song, ‘If’ was released  as a single by Telly Savalas, which became a No. 1 U.K. hit in March, 1975.

So, who is this Kojak guy, coochei-co?

New York Police Lieutenant Theodopolus ‘Theo’ Kojak is tough, incorruptible, and cynical. But, as he might say, he has heart, baby!   

He is the commander of the New York City Police Department’s 11th Precinct Detective Squad, covering the Manhattan South district. His superior is Captain Frank McNeil; (played by Dan Frazer) McNeil always seems to have a permanent look of bewilderment on his face, like things move too fast for him. But has a lot of respect for Kojak, and although he sometimes clashes with him, he will always back him, when rule bender Theo occasionally resorts to unorthodox methods to get a result.

Sergeant Robert ‘Bobby’ Crocker, (played by Kevin Dobson) is Kojak’s loyal assistant.

George Savalas, younger brother of Telly, plays Detective Demosthenes ‘Curly’ Stavros.  He is credited as Demosthenes in the end titles, to apparently avoid any confusion with his brother, although his full name does appear in the credits as production assistant.

Other members of the Squad are Det. Percy Saperstein (Mark Russell) , Det. Lionel Rizzo (Vice Conti), and for several episodes, Detective Gil Weaver (Roger Robinson)

Unsurprisingly, just like Telly, Kojak is totally bald, and from time to time we are reminded of his Greek heritage. He’s dapper, dresses well and usually wears ostentatiously large gold cufflinks, a gold chain link bracelet and gold digital watch – all very seventies!

In the first seven episodes, Kojak smokes cigarettes or cigarillos, however in the eighth episode, Dark Sunday   we are introduced to Kojak’s trademark lolly pop. 

Kojak drives a brown, 1974 Buick Century 455 V8, (reg. plate: 383 JDZ and designated Car 723K) sometimes sporting white striped tires. The Century was technically the progenitor of the Buick Regal, which frequently shared the same body and power train as the Century.

A light blue Buick Century is also used by other squad members.

Corgi were obviously happy to stick with the Regal styling, although I’m pretty sure not many people would have noticed any differences, especially in the pre-Google days of  1976!

Apart from opening front driver and passenger doors, the Corgi model comes with some interesting features.

In the TV series, Lieutenant Kojak is regularly seen placing his magnetic red flashing beacon on the roof as he races through the busy streets of Manhattan to his next crime scene. The Corgi toy comes with its own detachable beacon. It’s attached by a thin clear plastic strip. Sadly it’s probably the first thing that gets broken off as I’ve seen plenty of original 290 models’ beaconless!

The model comes with a free standing gun-toting plastic figure of Kojak. Obviously, it’s not a perfect likeness to put it mildly, but it’s a nice addition. While mine sports a dark coat and a fedora hat, the outfit he’s generally seen wearing out and about in the series, there is a ‘rarer’ version of the figure, which is hatless and dressed in an evening suit.

Leaning out of the rear driver’s side window is Detective ‘Bobby’ Crocker, arm outstretched, aiming his pistol! What he’s supposed to be aiming at is up to your imagination; something you have to use looking at Crocker’s likeness on the plastic figure’s face! Like the Kojak figure there’s an alternative version with Crocker in a dark blue evening jacket, rather than the more familiar lighter blue.

I’m not sure why Corgi chose to use alternative figures in evening wear and I can understand why there’s not many about; the look doesn’t really fit with the image of the TV series. Kojak was a gritty police drama, taking place in the Manhattan South area of New York. The grimy Eleventh Precinct office where Kojak is stationed looked like it hadn’t had a coat of fresh paint in years.  Dress suits aren’t the first thing that spring to mind, baby!

Another feature is a small serrated plastic disc just beneath the middle of the rear fender. Turn it, and it’s supposed to sound like gun fire! I’ll take Corgi’s word for that one!

The final feature is the original model came with a foil self-adhesive police lieutenant badge.

Mine, like my window display box is a just a replica!

Corgi juniors also released a smaller version of the Kojak Buick #68 in 1977 until 1979.  This has just the red beacon permanently attached to the roof. The backing card has what looks like a generic publicity photo of Telly Savalas.   There was also a double pack with a slightly more inspired backing card using the same Telly Savalas photo, but also with a line drawing of a New York City back drop. The set featured the Buick and a City of  New York police helicopter # 2527, labelled as Kojak – New York Police Set.

N.B. Corgi and Corgi Juniors also reused the tooling for a Buick Regal Police Car and a Metropolis Police Car.

I’ve read that Telly Savalas wasn’t happy when the Kojak TV series was cancelled in 1978 due to declining viewing figures.  However, in 1985, Savalas returned to the role for seven new Kojak television movies over five years, beginning with Kojak – The Belarus File.

Corgi reissued the Kojak Buick Regal in 1999, under their Corgi Classics banner.( # 57403), and aimed at the adult collector.   Using the same tooling, the model had much better detailing, but now gone was the detachable beacon, the sound of gun fire, and the only evidence of the missing Crocker figure was an open rear window. No badge either!

There was still a Kojak figure though; hand painted and cast in white metal rather than plastic, using the familiar fedora hat and coat mould.

This same model was repackaged one final time in 2002. (# CC00501) This was very much the cut price version. The same detailed Buick, but now in a smaller window box with just a small card figure of Kojak.

Although I wouldn’t say it was aimed at a younger audience, the tough, bald headed detective, usually seen with a tootsie pop in his mouth obviously clicked with the kids! The series’ overall appeal and popularity meant we did get some nice nostalgic reminders of what I consider to be an excellent TV series. 

Who loves ya, Baby!