If you grew up in the States after 1969, you probably remember Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, as I surely do. There’s a movie out about Fred Rogers, and I watched it the other night during a flight from Ottawa to Vancouver.
One brief scene shows Rogers driving in the mid-late 1970s. It looks to me as though he’s driving a GM colonnade 2-door, or at least something made by GM: the door pull, the sideview mirror and its adjustor, the quarter window we see in the rearview mirror, the shoulder belt—it wouldn’t shock me if Mr. Rogers might’ve been one of the roughly nine people in America who used their seatbelts in the 1970s, though I can’t quite tell for sure from that first pic ☝︎up there☝︎.
But which colonnade is it? The head restraint—or top of a tombstone-type seat?—visible in the rearview mirror might offer a hint to someone more devout. I think it’s not a Chev (wrong quarter glass)…
…nor an Olds (front fender peak, central hood trim). This dashboard might offer a clue, but not to me:
I’m not very familiar with the Pontiac or Buick variants. Can anyone pin down the make, model, and year?
(If you did grow up with Mister Rogers, see the movie. Unless your heart’s made of granite, you’ll need Kleenex.)
Don’t know about the car, but did see the movie with my wife. Daniel is right – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house at the end. And not because the movie was tragic or maudlin! Not at all!
The only criticism I can lob at it is that the whole 7 minutes of Rogers’ testimony before Congress ought to have been included; that can be seen here.
True fact, when I get to grumpy or sad, or just need a pick me up, I watch that clip of Rodgers addressing congress. Makes me feel better every time.
Mr. Rogers was an exceptional human being. Adults can learn much from him too.
The hood trim spear, plus the shape of the hood itself, the fender lip, dashpad shape and rear quarter window indicate that its a Collanade-era Grand Prix. I think only the later ’76 and ’77s have those door pull straps but Im not quite sure. It has New York state registration decals so I guess that’s where they filmed the show.
Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was made at WQED in Pittsburgh. He died in Pittsburgh in 2003. Sure those are NY stickers?
Yessir. The rectangular decal is the registration and the square decal underneath it is the inspection and they were both punched for the month they expired. I believe in those years, PA only had a square inspection decal at the base of the windshield. Maybe he lived in NYS at the time and shot the show in PA or the car is rental.
Somewhere recently I read Rogers had an apartment for many years in New York given his frequency of business visits.
Maybe one is the PA state sticker and the other is for a parking garage?
As a Pittsburgher-cum-Brooklynite, I can confirm that’s the NY pattern. In PA we only had the inspection sticker on the windshield. The registration (both were annual) was a sticker in either the upper left or upper right of the license plate, depending on year. He’s not in character, so I’m wondering if this may have been filmed as part of an earlier documentary.
I concur on the GP, the swing up in the doorline behind Fred in the first picture is the clincher.
Fred Rogers was a truly wonderful human being, who helped countless kids – and their parents – with his work. He is rightly beloved back in the ‘burgh. If you ever get there, be sure to visit the Senator John Heinz Regional History Center, which in addition to many other fascinating exhibits -including one of the Allegheny Ludlum stainless steel 1936 Fords and a Bantam Jeep from nearby Butler, PA – has some of the sets and puppets on display.
I was thinking the door trim looks like a Ford Elite. And I thought the colonnades had seat belts on the headrest not on a stalk from the roof like Ford’s.
There is nothing about what we can see of this car that says “Ford”. It all says “GM”. Ford’s seatbelt roof stalks were close to directly above the front seatback; where are you seeing any such a thing in these pics…?
The outside mirror is definately GM.
Having just driven my Colonnade tonight, that first shot is instantly recognizable as a Colonnade car. The A-pilar, the mirror control and mirror. I also have a Ford Torino, I can tell you, that there is nothing on there that identifies as a Ford.
Loved Mr. Rogers both as a person and as the host of his wonderful show. I like to think he kept a 911 Turbo hidden somewhere for (safe, respectful) blasts through the night, sweater on, of course. Just a tremendous guy all around.
+1 on the 911, probably black. This is a fun question, but I suspect his daily driver was a Volvo and the pictured car was a rental. I have trouble imagining Fred Rogers actually buying a Colonnade Grand Prix. It seems so… excessive.
I agree a 2-door Colonnade, especially a Grand Prix, just doesn’t seem like a good match. A Volvo (144?) would fit well on the conservative/staid/safe/thoughtful axis, but seems kinda fancypants. Maybe a Dart or Valiant?
I was thinking since Fred Rodgers identified himself w/Daniel Tiger that he would have a vintage GTO w/a Tri-Carb 389 for his nocturnal blasts.
The Colonades did not have the three-point over the shoulder belts until sometime after their introduction – 1975, perhaps? The shoulder straps were folded and tucked into plastic shelf above the door frame. If you desired to use them, you hooked them into a slot on the lap belt buckle. They did not retract, so they would tangle or get in your way entering or exiting.
My parents has a 1973 Monte Carlo S, and we used the shoulder straps perhaps once or twice in the 16 years of ownership of the car. As a sign of the times, the three of us kids never used the lap belts in the back, we just went sliding along the well padded vinyl from side to side. When mom stopped short, we ended up in the footwell behind the (also well padded) back of the bench seat.
Good times.
As for the model, it appears to be a Pontiac Grand Prix, since only the Grand Prix and Montes had the knife-edged fender tops. Only the Grand Prix had trim levels with a center chrome strip down the hood. The Monte just had a narrow ridge line.
It also could have been a Malibu Coupe, which would explain the larger rear quarter windows…
I like the idea of a Chevelle coupe. Much more fitting. The idea of him driving a Monte Carlo is a bit hard to swallow. 🙂
I’m thinking 1974, when we in the US got that wonderful starter interlock system. Your seat belt and shoulder harness had to be buckled to start the car.
He drove a ‘95 Shurucan…
Alright, a ’74-’77, maybe ’76-’77 Pontiac Grand Prix, then, as it seems.
I’m having fun imagining Mr. Rogers going to a car dealership and negotiating for the purchase. The salesman wouldn’t stand a chance.
Geez, the trailer alone is enough to make me tear up 😢
Don’t know what mister Rogers drove but I watched a program about Mr dressup – ernie coombs was the Canadian equivalent and he had a triumph TR3 in his garage 👍
I just heard of this film on Thursday. I admit i teared up when i watched just the PBS special with the actor Michael Keaton this past spring (who worked on the show back in the 70’s,) so i can only imagine how this movie is…
No idea on the car, but loved the show growing up.
1978 Grand Prix That’s not a 1973-1977. I had one.
I’m thinking more like a ’75-77 Grand Lemans than a G/P.
I admit that I was crying when I saw the movie but I was also laughing like hell when Eddie Murphy was doing his “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” bit.
What movie is this you people are talking about, that makes everyone who sees it tear up?…I WANT TO SEE IT! Lol.
It’s killing me. I initially thought it was a ‘74 Caprice coupe. The fender spear, door pull, mirror, B-pillar, and length of the fixed quarter window (it appears too long to be an upright rectangular opera window of a Monte Carlo or Gran Prix). I can’t place the center chrome strip on the hood. However, the top of the dashboard seems too arced to be a full-size Chevy.
For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen the movie, and have no plan to. Without being a downer, I never much cared for “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”. It was too sappy, and to this 7 year old kid, Mister Rogers was phony. No one acted like him; at least not in my circle of friends’ dads. In fact, his persona came across as creepy. But…that’s just me. I’m sure he was a fine man, but he never “clicked” with me.
You may commence with the arrows…
75 Grand Ville?
Yeah, the driver side mirror control and the curved instrument binnacle is very 1975 Grand Ville . Probably a 2-door hardtop, as the 4-door was pillarless.
http://musclecarride.blogspot.com/2017/04/1975-pontiac-grand-ville-luxury-sedan.html
https://www.mecum.com/lots/DA1011-114418/1975-pontiac-grandville-brougham-coupe/
Well, yeah, the show was designed for 2– to 5-year-olds, so 7 would’ve been kinda old for it.
I shared your perception of Mister Rogers. But this is exactly why you should see the movie. You won’t regret it. In fact once you see it, you’ll regret not having paid at least a little more attention to him years ago…as I wish I had.
I am getting a strong Pontiac LeMans vibe here, 1973- 75 vintage. It would be so cool though if it were a 77 Can Am.
It’s a collonnade-era GP. Only Pontiac used circular instruments-The far left one is the vent. Check the door-pull in the brochure pic.
Also, in the lower right of the first pic, something appears to be on a angle.
This is the top of the upward-sloping armrest.
…and look, there are those tombstone seats I thought I saw.
I am late to the party, but I agree that this is a GP as well. The key identifiers for me are the curved instrument panel, the peaked fenders, the centre hood chrome stripe, and of course the door panels that Roger posted above.
I also think the seats look more like bench seat with the low (and useless) headrests. These cars all had clips that went into the headrests, that often popped out and the belt would hang further back, as it appears to be in the movie car. Either that, or it’s an early model with the separate shoulder belts hanging loose.
Check out his Grand Prix here as it has tons of photos and you can see most of the details I mentioned match the movie car. This car also has the bench seat with the short headrests.
https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1976/pontiac/grand_prix/100975640
Well I’m not gonna add any new information here. I thought I was brilliant coming up with a colonnade GP but everyone beat me to it. I had a rough childhood, and Mr. Rogers was a great example of simple kindness. And that means everything.
I don’t think we’ll ever know the number of children Mr. Rogers made an impact on. I do remember when he received the lifetime Emmy achievement award. He came up, and quietly said “we all have someone’s love that made us who we are. Please spend 10 seconds silently thinking of the people that helped make you who you are today.”
There wasn’t a dry eye by the time he left the podium. It’s just who he was, and we’re all better because of it.
Fred rode on the trolley, of course! Can you say trolley? Sure you can!
Ding, ding! Of course he did. Mr. McFeely would know!
Longtime Lurker – 1st time poster…. i have a tremendous amount of respect for all of you kooks and your ability to identify makes/models…. but I humbly submit that Fred Rogers here is driving a ‘77 Cutlass Supreme sedan with optional sport-mirrors… could not find a google-image of the sedan interior – thus the Supreme coupe interior is pictured below… Sedan door panel was shorter in length (obviously) and would match the distance btw the mirror joystick and the forward door-pull anchor/escutcheon in the Fred Rogers photo … passed my road-test in my dad’s 77 Supreme sedan, so that door card was immediately familiar
I stand corrected… someone mentioned the “fender spear” that would preclude it from being a Cutlass… you guys were right, it’s a Grand Prix … small up-angle trim noticable in the original pic above where the doorhandle would be clearly denotes / matches the GP
Welcome here, and thanks for finding those pics! The bend in the dashboard ahead of the steering wheel, the wheel itself, the high-back bucket seats, the up-angled armrest extension…yup, definite match. And I’m more and more convinced this would’ve been a rented or borrowed car Rogers was driving. Just doesn’t seem to fit with his personality.
I agree, that would also account for the NY/PA disparity. Though it wouldn’t shock me if it were his. Mid size coupes were incredibly popular at the time. With the gazillions sold, a lot of people were driving them and it would be a pretty non ostentatious way for a successful guy like him to drive a comfortable, semi luxurious car.
I’m convinced it’s a Pontiac Grand Ville coupe, maybe a Bonneville, approximately 1975. Dashboard, rear quarter window length, hood chrome, and the slight fender spear. Look at google images for a ‘75 Grand Ville.
My favorite Mr. Rogers story: One of my HS friends stayed in Pittsburgh and went to CMU. Late one morning he was toting a keg back to the beer distributor, when he came upon Fred Rogers on his way to WQED. “Morning, Mr. Rogers!” he said, to which Fred, not blinking an eye, said “And good morning to you!”
The mirror control… It’s slightly behind the mirror. Grand Prix controls were more directly in line with the bottom of the mirror. The mirror seems to be mounted in a more forward position than a Grand Prix. There’s no half bucket wells where the speedo goes so it’s not a Cutlass. Then there’s that hint of chrome left of the speedo which doesn’t look like the round air vent on a Grand Prix of that era. I think it’s a mid 70’s Pontiac Lemans. A cheap one. Rental maybe. Which seems to me like it would fit Mr. Rogers’ personality.
Dude, it’s a GP
I think it’s a grand Prix. First non pick up I ever drove was a 77 grand prix and that one is one of the last big ones.
Before I read the article I assumed it was going to be just a retorical question. I guessed he would drive either a lesabre or Delta 88 coupe. I could see him in a goldenrod or green lesabre full sized like a 73. Then say a 78 tan LeSabre coupe possibly a v6. Then an 81 diesel then a silver 86 then a green 90s. Guess I wasnt to far off
I loved that show and still do
For many months, I’ve been watching old episodes of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood with my young son before bedtime. In the one we watched tonight – episode #1278 from 1973 – Mr. Rogers shows off what he presents as his own car. I’m terrible at identifying pre-WW2 cars, but my guess is that it’s a Ford Model A. The episode includes a film of Rogers driving the car and picking up some friends from the show. Given how much of the program is grounded in Rogers’ real life, I’m fairly confident it really was his car.