Funny story, I went to Vegas when I was 16 in 1980 and my Dad kept teasing my buddy and me we'd see Dan Tanna. We went by the "warehouse" where he lived and it was there alright, right behind the strip but instead of a bachelors pad with cool antiques and props there was an older contractor inside smoking a cigarette and cutting a board with a power saw. He said he owned the warehouse and leased it to the "TV Folks". I did see some props, like a jet ski that you'd see hanging on the garage wall when Tanna pulled in..it was nothing more than a painted jet ski on a paper thin piece of wood. There were plastic plants in the planters outside though complete with the Desert Inn sign..Anyway, we left and were heading down the strip. There I sat, slumped down in the back seat, dejected that I'd never see Dan...when low and behold and pickup truck with a guy operating a film camera passes us. I look out the window and up pulls ol'Dan in his flame red t-bird..white suit jacket and a nun in the passenger seat! I was going to a catholic high school at the time so I said it figured there would be a nun involved. My buddy and I start hollering for my Dad to pull over because the entire film crew pulled into a nearby parking lot. While my Mom ran to get film from a souvenir shop, we ran over to the T-Bird. There it was, the car of my dreams in all it's glory with an overheated engine. The production director told us not to get to close, but we looked over and Urich was talking with the "Nun" while holding a script. WOW. We were in hog heaven. I talked to the guys about the car for about half an hour and they told me all kinds of things about it, like there were two of em..One stock for up close shots and another that was for stunts..it had a big dodge engine in it, and a button on the shifter that would lock the back wheels, so they could screech around corners. The guys also pointed out the hub caps were bolted on with tiny screws because they kept flying off during chase scenes. They also told me it was originally a white 57 that had been painted a 1978 corvette red rather than the flame red that ford produced. The funniest part of the whole day was that Urich was trying to lay low and had taken off his white jacket and was wearing a green dress shirts with blue tennis shorts and sneakers..As he was standing in the shade, a dozen or so Asian tourist saw him and the car and ran over like a buffalo herd yelling.."Dan Tanna" Dan Tanna!!!" Urich was swamped and signing autographs..one of the tourist showed me a piece of paper Urich had signed and he had written.."Dan Tanna" instead of "Robert Urich"..Anyway, I was thrilled to see the car and some 18 years later I found the car(s)..but thats another story for another time.
