Glendale, California 1951 – Earl “Madman” Muntz begins production of what he calls the Muntz Jet, a re-branding of Frank Kurtis’s two seater sports car, the Kurtis Kraft Sport.  Muntz, a fixture in Southern California widely known for his ‘Madman’ persona and  flamboyant, groundbreaking television commercials, had started out selling used cars in 1934.

He had Kurtis extend the body of his sports car thereby making room for a rather cramped back seat.  As a stunt, Muntz had him add a small bar in the armrest of the rear seat.  It was fully equipped with all the bar tools needed to make a martini, manhattan or old fashioned – all the consumer had to add was the liquor.

The Muntz Jet was featured on the cover of the September 1951 issue of Popular Science magazine.  After producing 28 cars in California, he moved operations to Evanston, Illinois.  All in all only about 400 Jets were ever sold, and in 1954 he closed the company.  Today they are prized by collectors.