Surprising Stories from the Set of The Andy Griffith Show

Andy and Barney’s iconic squad car was a Ford Galaxie, and it didn’t just look good on screen by accident. The cars were supplied free of charge by a nearby Ford dealer as part of a local promotional arrangement.

Whenever a new Galaxie model was released, it was delivered straight to the studio and swapped in for filming. The previous car was returned to the dealer, repainted, and sold. Over the course of the series, ten different Ford Galaxies served Mayberry, quietly rotating through the role of television’s most famous patrol car.