Playmates, Piranhas and Espionage

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Okay, the car is clearly not the centre of attention here, but they are great shots never the less. From left to right we see the girls Danica d'Hondt, Sharon Tate and Kathy Kersh with David McCallum in the middle. Yes, it’s a publicity picture from Hollywood - in this case it’s from 1965 and promotes the television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. in which all four of them starred.

Apart from pretty ladies and smart men, the spy series was full of cool cars, with plenty of episodes set abroad and giving a nice glimpse of transport in exotic locations. The Jaguar E-type (or XK-E) was seen in several episodes, as were Cobras and Corvettes, Alfas and Astons, Plymouths and Peugeots. 

The real automotive star of the show simply had to be the pretty Piranha. The rear-engined, gullwinged, Corvair-powered special was conceived by plastic model kit manufacturer AMT, and a small number were built as full-size working cars by California customiser Gene Winfield. Appropriately for a spy vehicle, it disappeared without trace after filming, but it was found in Colorado in the early 1980s and restored to its original condition by an Oscar-winning special effects artist.

Words by Jeroen Booij, Pictures by MGM Television

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