By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

AVON PARK, Fla. — Remember the hit series The Beverly Hillbillies? The long-running show that was on television from 1961-72 ranked among the top 12 most-watched series on television for seven of its nine seasons.
Along with its unusual storyline, part of what made this series so memorable is the vehicle the characters drove, a 1921 flatbed Oldsmobile four-cylinder truck. All of their belongings fit into the back of the truck, along with that famous rocking chair.

The vehicle that Jed, Granny, Jethro and Elly May made famous week after week is indelibly imprinted in the minds of viewers. So, once visitors at the Florida Flywheelers Park spotted the sculpture replica created by Ron Johnson of Huron, Ohio, it was quickly recognized.

“I retired and wanted something to do,” Johnson explained.
Building with metal seemed a natural expansion for this master plumber, who said he worked with sheet metal, among other materials. Johnson is a farm boy from Indiana who graduated from high school in 1957. After farming for a few years, he eventually became a master plumber and worked at his trade for 35 years before retiring in 2002.

In his skilled trades training he learned not only plumbing but pipe fitting and sheet metal. This led him to the copper artwork that he enjoys so much after he retired. “I (also) built the Ford car,” he said, talking about the 1910 Model T.
On his website at http://customcopper art.com/order.php Johnson describes the car as a “full-size copper and brass replica of a 1910 Model T with Henry Ford at the wheel, Edison adjusting the headlight and Harvey Firestone fixing the tire. They are dressed in three-piece copper suits complete with copper ties, shoes and even copper hair.

“Each one has a copper rose in their lapel. The car doors open and close and the wheels can turn. This is all mounted on a 13-by-7-by-1-foot treated wood deck clad in sheet copper. Total weight of display is approx 2,000 pounds.”
The Ford car is also on display at the Flywheelers; he calls this display The Traveler. Once that sculpture was finished, Johnson was ready to move on to the next project – the Beverly Hillbillies.

“I built it the next May,” he shared. Both sculptures are created from copper and brass.

What inspired him to build the Hillbillies truck came about while watching television. “I was sitting on the edge of the couch and I saw this guy in an ad. He had 1/32nd (scale) cars. I had the 800 number and I called him and asked if they were exact replicas. I bought the little car (like The Beverly Hillbillies) and took it apart.”

That model served as a pattern for the much larger sculpture: “I measured the parts and just blew it up to full-size.”

The sculpture has been on loan to the Flywheelers.

Recently, Johnson and a couple of other Flywheelers built a picket fence and some benches and shade within the fenced-in area to create a quiet oasis so visitors may take a breather while taking in its village, flea market and antique tractors at the Flywheelers’ big shows.

As for the original car, according to the TV Acres website at www.tvacres.com/trucks_clampett.htm “When the series ended, the truck used to transport Jed, Granny, Jethro and Elly May to Beverly Hills was donated by Hillbillies producer Paul Henning and placed on permanent display at the Ralph Foster Museum on the campus of the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout near Branson, Mo.

“There is also a replica of the truck and all of the Clampett family on display at the Movieland Wax Museum exhibit in Buena Park, Calif.”