$65,000 Worth Of Cool: The Highwayman Truck
So apparently, there’s a TV show that I don’t know about. How did this happen? I watch Knight Rider every day that I’m not on the road and this custom (did I even have to say that this is a custom?) cab-under truck, apparently built on a 1982 Peterbilt chassis, was made for a show called The Highwayman, created by the same person who gave us Knight Rider. It’s posted here on craigslist in North Hollywood, California, and the seller is asking $65,000. Here is the original listing, and Pat L., you’ve outdone yourself this time, mister, thanks for the tip!
The trailer is overkill for me, I just want to daily drive this truck. In 2022 traffic with all of the lunkheads on the roads, who wouldn’t? After the success of the TV show Knight Rider, that show’s creator, Glen Larson, came up with another fun way to spend a lot of money creating custom vehicles. Only this time, it would be based in the future. The near future! THE NEAR FUTURE!! (too dramatic?) I’m hoping that Howard and Geo and other truck experts will chime in here to fill in the details. And, any TV scholars who might be able to fill in the details about this obscure show.
Set in the far-off year of, um, the early-1990s, according to many internet sources, The Highwayman pilot movie came out in 1987. Just nine TV episodes were produced in 1988, and then it was gone. The star of the show was Sam Jones, no relation to Ken Barry’s character in The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD, of course. We don’t know if the real Sam Jones can sing and dance as well as Ken Barry could, but he had the perfect hair for being both a hero and a lawman. The photo above is a screenshot from a YouTube video, but here is a really bad recording of episode one here on YouTube. You’ve done many more useless things with 49-minute chunks of your time than to sit and watch that video, admit it.
The seller almost couldn’t have provided more incomplete photos than they did. How is it not possible to take two dozen good photos, inside and out, along with a few detailed photos of a vehicle that you’re selling for $65,000? How about a quick photo showing what’s inside that open driver’s side window, and one inside the trailer? Sam Jones would be very disappointed. There were other cab-under trucks, Hemmings did a great article on one that’s being restored here. There was also a cab-under concept truck in the early-1980s called a Steinwinter, shown here. They were made, for all intents and purposes, to get around trucking laws that dictated a maximum length for truck and trailer.
Here’s another screenshot, just to prove that there is another side to this truck. The seller says that this rig is based on a 1982 Peterbilt chassis and that it has a new Detroit diesel engine with 700 hp. Of course, we don’t see it or anything remotely related to any details at all. You’ll just have to fly in and check it out yourself. Or, maybe you live in the Hollywood area and are working on your own movie, and you just happened to need a futuristic truck? They say that it cost $500,000 to build, which is a bit over $1,300,000 in 2022 dollars, hardly a blip on the radar anymore for any top auction house. It’s hard for me to believe that this running and driving truck with a new engine is only $65,000. How would you use this thing? Have any of you seen this show or this truck?
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Comments
Another well-done Scotty article, featuring a type of vehicle I had no idea even existed. And another example of the wide variety of vehicles on Barn Finds, which keeps it fresh. The Hemmings article, explaining the history of cab-under trucks, was interesting. Can you image the reaction if this thing showed up at Cars & Coffee?
I’m with Bob, Scotty adds a lot to the site, no doubt. 1st, let me say, I know someone close that is in the Hollywood show biz. The waste I hear about and have SEEN, would curl your hair, if any left. I complain about the monetary lifestyle, but it’s all relative. People there are used to lots of money spent for frivolous reasons. It’s no biggie pissing away a million bucks on a scene that may never be used. It’s the cost of entertainment. When it is a success, it pays out big. I’ve personally seen “prop yards” in L.A. that are HUGE, and all this kind of crap is baking in the sun. Every once in a while, they have a sale, and that’s where this stuff comes from.
The truck was a half baked attempt at a “cab-under” format, that the author mentions. Strick , who is known for trailers, tried a cab under with limited results. Before length laws were abolished, companies tried all kinds of wacky ideas. A couple extra feet of cargo space adds up over a year. Hemmings did a great article. As a truck driver, the thought of 40,000 pounds over my head is a bit unsettling to me, and the concept was a dud.
This? Good heavens, let’s just say folks in California, BECAUSE of the movie industry, live, shall we say, a different life than the rest of us. Still, in true Hollywood fashion, cool find.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2022/05/27/stricks-length-law-beating-cab-under-prototype-returns-to-the-united-states-restoration-underway
Exactly right. This thing sat behind a building on Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood for years.
This thing would probably hold 8 of our race cars (if we had that many).
My first thought was that it was based on one of those airport trucks.
Never heard of the programme!
If anyone has some time to kill, here are the links to episodes 5 and 6.
https://youtu.be/K5HnTGJN-xM
https://youtu.be/ckXOSYER0Lo
I had never heard of the show so I watched one of the episodes in the links. I looks like it follows the pattern of the typical road adventure shows of the era. There was a cool truck, a mysterious man/robot, sexy women/robots, bikini’s, and a government plot. That’s about all I picked up from fast forwarding through one episode.
25 minutes in the 5th episode there’s a cool Toyota pick-up commercial
This rig looks like it would be difficult to maneuver in the city!
Awesome videos. I’ve never heard of the Highwayman. I did watch “Knight Rider”.
$500k to build in 1982? Do we look that stupid?
I agree with one poster who says he would just like to drive the truck part and leave the trailer behind… lol. Seeing this on the road would make most back off a bit because they really aren’t sure what this thing is. I never heard of that show either.
Could make an interesting camper combo though I would hate to be that low and in front of all of that weight in a front end collision.
Definitely unusual. Never heard of the show, and had never seen a concept like this before. Not really sure if I’d spend that kind of money on a rig like this. This would make a super sized camper home though.
I can imagine seeing somebody driving the truck, and replace the trailer hitch with a rotating gun turret.
I remember this show! The sidekick to the titular character was played by “Jacko” of Energizer commercial fame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8g3q165ELc
Was the show trying to be sort of Mad Max-ish? I seem to remember Sam Jones as Bo Derek’s husband in “10”…not that I paid that much attention to him.
It was vaguely Road Warrior-ish in aesthetic and general theme of “rogue loner with iconic fancy vehicle Makes a Difference”, but not quite post-apocalyptic, more like near-future pre-apocalyptic with society starting to fall apart.
I was a huge fan of the tv series and of Aussie Rules Footie hero Mark “Jacko” Jackson. He played Jetto, the driver of the truck,
I vaguely remember this show. Along with Airwolf and Knight Rider future TV made for an awesome childhood…
Still wouldn’t buy this but maybe consider Airwolf for the right price. Lol
Yes! If Airwolf comes up for sale around this price I want some of that action too!
This has been heavily stripped and modified from the original in the TV show
This is not THE Highwayman rig, it’s just one featured on the show. The Sam Jones Highwayman truck was turned into The Highwayman USA Ink mobile tattoo parlor.
The truck listed in the ad appears to be missing the helicopter like pod on top of the truck.
https://youtu.be/Cnf1_14SFbA
Jack, that’s Highway’s truck.
His side-kick Jetto drove the low tractor that’s listed in the Craigslist advertisement.
Thanks for the clarification, Erik! I should have mentioned that there were a couple of famous trucks in the series, one with the helicopter built into it that Sam Jones’ character drove.
I love this thing. Just think, convert the entire rig into an RV. Six or Eight slide-outs, a roof that elevates up to a second story loft and no worries about weight because you have 700hp. OK, no fuel economy, but who cares. It could be “THE” headquarters for Cars and Coffee. This thing would be the star attraction. The only problem is when you don’t want it anymore, who’s going to buy it? I do like it though.
My dad worked for Strick Trailer Corp., the company that designed and built two cab under prototypes. He brought home drawings and pictures of it when we were kids. I thought it was a cool concept but apparently driver safety issues were a major factor in keeping it from production. When I saw this one it brought back some good memories. It was nice to see the reference to the Hemmings article. Things like this is why Barn Finds is on my daily to do list.
I love this claim in the ad… “can make over $100K year on production/movie rentals.” Seems a little grandiose…It is possible that I could fly to the moon next year too….
SCOTTY, GREAT RESEARCH !!!
PILOT EPISODE plus EPISODES 2 AND 7 AND 8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sNguEPTF9I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfWGlUEpupA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLLN2OjU9rw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WKi-__L5dU
Not the star truck of the show, and it survives too. Worth no where near the asking price… stupid if you pay that for a bit part vehicle..
Nobody mentioned the opening narration by William(Cannon)Conrad.
Best part of the show!!!
Yes! It’s impossible to beat that gent’s voice for me, or his show, Cannon. Not to mention him being Sheriff Matt Dillon on the radio version of Gunsmoke. He also did the voiceover work for The Fugitive with David Janssen.
Needs a good polishing.
Half a million? Buy an Army surplus tank recovery vehicle, cut off half (or more) of the armor, chop the top, and you’re half way there.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&iss=sbi&form=SBIIRP&sbisrc=ImgDropper&q=imgurl:https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.DlDTxurX0Yn3Y4gz4c4bTgHaFj%3Fw%3D200%26h%3D180%26c%3D7%26r%3D0%26o%3D5%26dpr%3D1.3%26pid%3D1.7&idpbck=1&selectedindex=0&id=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.DlDTxurX0Yn3Y4gz4c4bTgHaFj%3Fw%3D200%26h%3D180%26c%3D7%26r%3D0%26o%3D5%26dpr%3D1.3%26pid%3D1.7&ccid=cjOiI%2FJ5&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FOIP.DlDTxurX0Yn3Y4gz4c4bTgHaFj%3Fw%3D200%26h%3D180%26c%3D7%26r%3D0%26o%3D5%26dpr%3D1.3%26pid%3D1.7&exph=234&expw=260&vt=2&sim=11
The original, Dragon Wagon!
Shocked Jay Leno hasn’t picked it up.
700hp ? 🤔
yes 700 hp have you never heard o the v12 detroiy diesel?
Lose the trailer.
Paint it bright red.
Slap a Ferrari prancing horse on it in a few places.
Voila
Heavy duty Ferrari.
It’d steal the show at Cars and Coffee.
Especially if it ran over a few cars.
Here is one of the Semi’s in todays world. Sounds like a Detroit Diesel in it.
https://youtu.be/TtnB4122moA
What the hell is this thing?! I’ve watched “Night Rider”, and I loved that show, but I’ve never heard of “The Highwayman”. If only more pics were posted on Craigslist than were.
Tony Primo posted links for two episodes above. You’ve been warned ⚠️
I watched part of one of them. I’ll have to watch more of it, and the other video. :)
An open exhaust Detroit would be a fulfilling sound track. Not sure about 700 HP though. I think they had around 300.
Man, this would be a good one to get to know your HOA real well…. haha
Yes, I remember this show back in the day. It also starred Tim Russ aka Tuvok from Star Trek Voyager and Claudia Christian from Babylon 5.
I wonder if it still has the Lotus Esprit in the back of the truck?
I remember William Conrad‘s narration, and the lead character a little bit but that’s about it. I’ll have to go back and watch it while I think of it, nothing gets my BS meter going more than “lost the title/registration besides, maybe “just needs a battery.”
Would be a cool truck to haul your DeLorean and Testarossa in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpwH9WeVEfU
Volkswagon did it years before….LOL
It’s Volkswagen, not Volkswagon.
Volks = German for folks, or the people
Wagen = car.
So the name Volkswagen means “the people’s car”
As previously stated in the comments its not Highwayman’s truck , its Jetto’s .
Both Trucks where built by Jon ward , at a cost of $350k for both , the new engine was fitted in Phoenix AZ, while the show was still in production , the original 8V92 GM died , so a new crate motor was fitted .
After the Highwayman series , the truck showed up in a Power Rangers movie , it has since been sitting all this time , anyone knows GM’s knows that isn’t good for the engine , someone backed into the drivers door and busted the Glass out , so its been sitting outside baking in the California Sun all the years without the window , truck will easily need $100k maybe more to bring it back to its former glory
Its such a shame to see it end up like this , Just like Highwayman’s rig thats in Texas that has been hacked up modified , was a great show , a little a head of its time .
Best episode besides the Pilot , was “Summer of 45” This truck is featured through out that episode .
Hope someone saves it , but at $65k I don’t see it happening .