Introduced in a 1965 episode of the classic sitcom The Munsters (buy the complete series HERE), the Dragula (or Drag-u-la, if you prefer) is a roadster the Grandpa character built out of a coffin so Herman Munster could win the family Koach back in a drag race. The Dragula was so well-received when it appeared in that episode, titled Hot Rod Herman, it was brought back for another appearance in the feature film Munster Go Home. The vehicle was designed by Tom Daniel and built by George Barris and his crew at Barris Kustom, who made five of them… and now one of them is set to go up for sale through Mecum Auctions in January!
Silodrome.com offers some information on the making of Dragula:
The biggest difficulty that the team at Barris Kustoms faced when developing Drag-U-La was where to source an authentic coffin. As it happens, it was illegal to sell a coffin without a death certificate in California at the time, however the resourceful Richard “Korky” Korkes, Barris’s project engineer, managed to secure a deal under the table with a funeral home in North Hollywood. Korkes struck the deal, paid in cash and then left the funeral home empty handed. He returned later that night with some colleagues to collect the fiberglass coffin that had been discretely left around the back of the funeral parlor.
The coffin was mated to a real tubular steel, front-engined dragster chassis, Barris and his team then cut out two sections of the top and fitted a plexiglas bubble. The car was powered by a 289 cubic inch Ford V8 said to be capable of 350hp and topped by two four-barrel carburetors mounted on a Mickey Thompson Ram-Thrust intake manifold. A pipe organ-like exhaust was then developed with four pipes on each side exiting vertically with slash cut tips at descending heights, a parachute was affixed to the back, antique lamps were mounted up front as headlights, and a marble gravestone was fitted up front – said to be Grandpa Munster’s license plate “from the Old Country.”
A picture of the Dragula that will be available for purchase in January can be seen below, and more can be found at Mecum.com. There is no reserve for the vehicle, and it will come with a letter of authenticity and certificate of authenticity from Barris Kustoms.
These days the Dragula is best known for inspiring the Rob Zombie song of the same name. Zombie is currently writing and directing a new The Munsters feature film.