Apart from screening in the US, it seems this show did rather well as far as international sales were concerned.
Wikipedia says it aired on ITV in Britain from 8 November 1965, but I know that some shows only screened in certain regions, and not in others. It certainly screened in NZ in the 1960s because I remember watching it, and it was on again sometime in the 1990s. I was working in a shop at the time, and the boss had the TV on most of the time.
My Mother the Car was among the shows on in the afternoon. I never got to see a complete episode, as I did have to serve a customer occasionally. From what I have read, and various comments, it seems the show also aired in Australia, Canada, and Brazil. Likely some other countries as well.
It is worth watching, and you can find episodes on You Tube. Here is an item about a Canadian man who was a fan of the show, and actually bought the car.
The AMT kit of the car is not exactly screen accurate, but is reasonably close. It is basically their 1927 Ford Model T Touring Car, with some of the normal Ford parts replaced with parts to turn it in to the Porter used in the series. That was not a real make, and the car used had been modified several times over the years by various people. A second car was built, which could be driven by a concealed driver, so the TV car appears to drive itself.
The AMT My Mother the Car kit has never been re-issued, but the basic 1927 Ford Touring Car has. There was a Laurel and Hardy version, and a Vintage Police Car. Unfortunately, all the special parts for the MMTC version were deleted from these versions. Looking at photos of the parts, I should say it would still be possible to build the MMTC model, although a number of replacement parts would have to be scratch-built, or adapted from something else.
The result might not be 100% accurate, given that it would be necessary to estimate the size of the replacement parts, but it would be possible to get close to the original. I am tempted, very tempted.
Scalemates entry for the AMT kit. This says the model was a New Tool, but it was actually a modification of the Ford kit. Or perhaps the Ford was a modification of MMTC ?
Given that many other shows had toys, comics, and games based on them, it just seems incredible that My Mother the Car appears to have had only a kit and a colouring-in book. There must be more out there somewhere.
Check out the show, I am sure you will enjoy it. A bit like Mr Ed, if you watched that ?
Paul Adams from New Zealand
Its not a show I know at all Paul but its a fascinating post about another slice of nostalgia. AMT released a lot of TV cars didn't they like this one. Did the Laurel and Hardy version get issued as a kit?
ReplyDeleteYes, AMT did a lot of TV and film car kits in the 1960s and 1970s.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, AMT did two Laurel and Hardy car kits - the '25 T Roadster and the '27 T Touring, in 1/25th scale. I have not looked in to these kits yet, but they did come with moulded plastic figures of Laurel and Hardy - each comprising four parts. The actual cars seem to have been normal kits, with the addition of figures and new box art to turn them in to Star Cars.
I was one of the few kids in the US that actually watched that Ill-fated series! SFZ
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