These are the 10 best 'Seinfeld' episodes centered on cars – Driving

Jerry Seinfeld recently made headlines after declaring he was probably finished with his hit internet show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

But CCC isn’t the only car-centric show Seinfeld’s worked on — in fact, his 1990s hit sitcom featured some pretty interesting vehicles as well.

That’s right. While you might not think of Seinfeld as a show for car nerds, more than a dozen episodes build their plots around vehicles.

Jerry Seinfeld himself is a massive car enthusiast, with a particular penchant for Porsche products. Seinfeld has owned some important race cars and street cars from the brand’s history, and continues to collect them to this day.

There are a slew of cool cars in the show: Newman’s NSX; the Maestro’s Ferrari; Kramer’s various rides; Frank Costanza’s GTO; yadda yadda yadda.

Like four clueless New Yorkers hunting for their vehicle in a parking garage, we looked for the best car-related Seinfeld episodes. Luckily we didn’t get arrested for public urination.

“The Parking Space”

[embedded content]

After scoring a new hat at the flea market, George is feeling good, and starts bragging to Elaine about his parking prowess. He shows off by attempting to parallel park in front of Jerry’s apartment, only to have his spot taken away from him by somebody in a ’69 Buick trying to nose it in headfirst. George and Elaine were headed to Jerry’s apartment to watch a boxing match, but now George must instead duke it out with “Mike” (who also wants to watch the fight at Jerry’s) over the spot.

Eventually, the entire neighbourhood gets involved in the debate between George and Mike. In the end, they both miss the fight on TV.

George’s declaration “I wish you could make a living parallel parking” is ironic, considering he did as much a few episodes earlier. “The Parking Space” was actually shot outdoors; bleachers were brought in for the studio audience to watch, although they couldn’t hear the dialogue very well. The incident was inspired by a story by writer Greg Daniels’ father.

“The Dealership”

Jerry is looking to buy a new Saab 900 NG Convertible from Elaine’s boyfriend Puddy, who has been promoted to salesman. George goes with Jerry to make sure he doesn’t get the bad end of a deal, as he’s skeptical of car dealers and their wicked ways.

While Jerry deals with Puddy, Kramer and a salesperson test a demo model to see how far they can go before running out of gas, since he hates filling up the tank when he borrows Jerry’s car. Jerry’s sweet deal on his new car is soured when Elaine and Puddy break up over his obsession with giving high fives. A long list of extra charges are tacked onto Jerry’s bill, including changing the Saab’s colour from black to yellow.

The overcharging proves George was right about dealerships, but George only cares about getting a Twix bar after a mechanic got the last two from the machine. The episode references Thelma and Louise when the car salesman and Kramer hold hands at the end.

“The Bottle Deposit”

[embedded content]

Jerry has some problems with his Saab after Kramer and Newman borrow it and use the engine bay as grocery storage. Jerry takes the car to Tony, a car-care-obsessed mechanic who thinks Jerry has been slacking off on maintenance. When Tony becomes infatuated about the vehicle, Jerry decides to take it to somebody else to have it repaired, but Tony runs away with the vehicle instead.

Kramer and Newman devise a scheme to drive a mail truck full of empty bottles to Michigan when Newman discovers they can be refunded for 10 cents per bottle instead of five. The bottle return plot is foiled when Kramer spots Jerry’s stolen Saab on the highway and intercepts Tony after dumping the weight of the bottles (and Newman) off the truck.

“The Wig Master”

Kramer parks his 1973 Chevrolet Impala in a cheap lot George recommended, but when the lot loses his keys, he’s forced to borrow a fancy pink Cadillac. George becomes upset when he finds a used condom in his vehicle after parking it in the same lot, accusing the lot attendant of loaning the vehicles out for prostitution.

The wig-master staying with George lends Kramer the coat from the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat he’s working on, which, with the pink Cadillac, gives Kramer a pimpin’ new look.

Like many other episodes, this one is inspired by true events that happened to writers for the show. Spike Feresten’s girlfriend at the time had a wig-master friend stay with them; he also had a parking lot attendant lose his car’s keys, and found discarded condoms in the vehicle when he finally got it open.

“The Little Kicks”

Elaine tells a co-worker named Anna to stay away from George, leading Anna to wonder whether George is some kind of “bad boy.” George, obviously intrigued by this thought, proves he’s a tough guy by borrowing his father’s 1967 Pontiac GTO. George’s mystique is only heightened when Elaine shows up in a cab to take Anna away from him and the car.

It’s not possible to have a more badass a car than the 1967 Pontiac GTO. The stacked headlights and Torq Thrust wheels on Frank Constanza’s example make for a perfect “bad boy” muscle car.
Elaine’s bad dancing in the episode was inspired by Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels, who has been seen dancing “as if he’d never seen another human being dance before,” according to writer Spike Feresten, who used to be a receptionist for SNL‘s afterparties.

“The Smelly Car”

In season four, Jerry drove a BMW instead of a Saab — but only until it turned sour. When Seinfeld has his car returned from the valet, he and Elaine notice it stinks of body odour, which rubs off on anybody that comes in contact with it. Elaine’s boyfriend tells her to go home after smelling her hair, and Kramer gets the smell on him after borrowing Jerry’s jacket. Jerry brings the car back to the valet to make him smell the car and pay for a cleaning. It doesn’t work out.

Eventually, Jerry calls the vehicle a total loss, dropping the keys in front of a street hoodlum in hopes they will take it. They get overwhelmed by the same smell that has plagued the car the whole episode.

The idea for the episode came from a friend of writer Peter Mehlman, who had been complaining about the smell of his own vehicle. Mehlman’s friend would continually pitch terrible ideas for the show only to have them rejected, but his own complaining turned out to be good enough for a plot.

“The Parking Garage”

[embedded content]

Jerry, Kramer, Elaine and George are lost in the parking garage of a shopping mall in New Jersey trying to find their space after Kramer purchases an air conditioner. Kramer sets the unit down and forgets about it; Elaine begs people to help them find their car; Jerry gets in trouble for public urination; and George is pressed to meet his parents for anniversary dinner.

This episode posed significant challenges for the crew, as renting an entire parking garage for a few days was too expensive. They were forced to take down the apartment sets and build their own parking garage from scratch, using mirrors to make the garage look massive. Shooting the episode was physically exhausting for the crew and actors, especially for Michael Richards as Kramer, who requested he be given a real air conditioner to lug around because it would look more realistic.

They eventually do find the car. The gang was supposed to drive away and the end of the episode, but an unscripted moment of the car failing to start proved to be a much better ending.

“The Cadillac”

Jerry is making a pretty good living as a comedian, and decides to buy his father a brand-new Cadillac Fleetwood. His father rejects it for being too extravagant a gift. The Cadillac proves problematic when Morty Seinfeld runs for re-election as president of his condominium board, and Jack Klompus accuses Morty of embezzling condo fees to buy the car.

Nothing says “I love you” like a Cadillac, unless you’re Jerry’s dad, in which case it says the complete opposite. A Cadillac to an old man is like something shiny to a magpie — they won’t be able to keep away from it.

The plot for this episode came from a true story that happened to Larry David, who bought a Lexus for his father, who was the president of his condominium in Florida.

“The Fusilli Jerry”

[embedded content]

Kramer goes to the DMV to renew the licence plates for his vehicle, but is instead given plates that read “ASSMAN”. Although initially upset, Kramer eventually realizes he can use them to park in a space marked “doctors only” and try to pass himself off as a proctologist. The plate also scores Kramer a date with a big-bottomed woman named Sally, plus catcalls when driving down the street.

Kramer’s car is a 1973 Chevrolet Impala, and perfectly fits with his “hipster doofus” vibe. In the 1990s, a ’73 Impala wasn’t really considered a classic vehicle, and would have been a cheap option for somebody like Kramer — who doesn’t have a steady job.

Although it wasn’t that special at the time, Kramer’s Impala was actually an extremely rare experimental vehicle from GM, one of only 1,000 fitted with airbags as standard from the factory. The tech is visible in the center of the steering wheel when he “stops short” with George’s mother.

“The Mom & Pop Store”

George is conflicted about which used car to buy: a reliable 1989 Volvo, or a Chrysler LeBaron. His decision is swayed toward the LeBaron when the salesman tell him it may have been formerly owned by actor Jon Voight. Jerry is skeptical when he uncovers ownership papers listing a John-with-an-h Voight having had the car, not Jon the actor.

When Kramer spots Jon Voight on the streets of New York, he approaches him, only to have Voight bite his arm and run away. George attempts to find a dentist who can match the bite marks on Kramer’s arm to ones on a pencil he found in the glovebox of his new car, to see if it was really owned by Voight. (Spoiler: it was not.)

The episode was once again inspired by the writers. Tom Gammill bragged to Seinfeld his car had been owned by Jon Voight, and Jerry insisted he turn it into an episode. The conversation between Jerry and George matches the conversation Gammill had with fellow writer Max Pross almost verbatim, including the owner’s manual reading “John.”

The actual Chrysler LeBaron that Gammill had bought was used in the episode, and when Jon Voight showed up on set to film his scene, he confirmed he had never owned the car.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Source link