Black Beauty facts from the 2011 film "Green Hornet"

Seth Rogan's 2011 film GREEN HORNET was based on the television series THE GREEN HORNET which ran for a single season on ABC. From 1966-1967 Vanzant Williams portrayed the masked hero who owned a vehicle that he dubbed "Black Beauty." The car was a 1965 Chrysler Imperial Crown which was hidden away underneath the garage of Britt Reid who was the Hornet's real identity. Behind the garage wall were a set of switches on a secret control panel that turned the vehicle's headlights to green. There were clamps that would attach to the bumpers of Reid's personal vehicle, and the garage floor would rotate. This hid the car and Black Beauty would emerge and exit the garage.

For the film. Black Beauty came equipped with military-style weapons. There were missiles in both the front and rear bumpers and hood-mounted machine guns. The movie car was a replica of the original and based on a 1965 Chrysler Imperial. The vehicle in the film had the original 413 cubic-inch V8 engine and a 71,421 mile odometer reading. There were also green headlights, a grille-mounted flamethrower, and a revolving rear license plate.

The front door hinges of the vehicle were reversed so that they open rearward. Black Beauty from the movie rode on custom 20-inch wheels, which are larger than the rims that originally came with a stock Chrysler Imperial which were 15-inch. The labels for each of the vehicle's gadgets are written in Chinese, which might be because the Black Beauty was driven mainly by Kato the Green Hornet's loyal sidekick. Kato was the strong silent type but he could kick ass. He was portrayed by Bruce Lee in the television series and by Jay Chou in the movie.

There were 29 vehicles used as Black Beauty in the film and only of them survived. According to AUTOBLOG there were only 2 vehicles used for the TV series and one of them has seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. THE GREEN HORNET began as a radio program during the 1930s. The car that remains is in the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles and is said to still be in working condition, The original was created by Dean Jeffries and you can find more details by clicking on the link.

Dean Jeffries was given 30 days to create Black Beauty and after the television series was over the famous car was left on the back lot of 20th Century Fox. It was later purchased by an unnamed woman in Beverly Hills and it later was found rotting on her estate. A man from Southern California purchased the vehicle in 1993 and returned it to Dean Jeffries for restoration. Once restored Black Beauty remained on Dean Jeffries property, and eventually was purchased by the Petersen Museum. Black Beauty from the movie can be seen in the following video.

Black Beauty resembled a sedan more than a crime-fighting vehicle like the Batmobile. There were some additional tweaks on the car for the movie such as the gas tank filler flap being moved to the back deck ahead of the trunk. This was necessary because the original spot in the center of the rear valance had a gun in it. The rear lights were redesigned so they ran up the trunk and electric switches replaced the door handles.

THE GREEN HORNET only lasted for 29 episodes and the final two were movies that included BATMAN. Kato, his boss, and Black Beauty live on in the hearts of nostalgia lovers and Facebook groups dedicated to them. The television show is still running on DECADES on Sunday mornings so check your local listings.