You Can Count On The Countmobile

So, I have some questions about Count von Count, the Transylvanian Muppet of Sesame Street fame with an advanced case of arithmomania, a compulsion to count everything that one encounters. Hey, encounters? Is that somehow related? Anyway, there is some precedent that vampires had this compulsion, at least in Macedonian folklore, though my questions about the Count do revolve around the core question of is he a vampire? I’m not sure he is. More importantly, he had a car, the Countmobile, that I’d like to talk about.

Actually, there were several Countmobiles, and we will get into those, but first let’s just ask some questions about the Count himself. So, he’s clearly modeled on Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of Dracula from the 1931 movie, but despite the hair, mannerisms, cape, and general demeanor, I’m not so sure Count is actually a blood-sucking vampire?

Sure, he has fangs. But he also has a monacle; maybe the dude just likes to accessorize. He’s frequently seen in the sun, and never seen drinking blood from anything. Maybe Muppet vampires only want to drink, what, foam rubber? Felt? I don’t think he’s a vampire. I think he’s just a flamboyant Eastern European-coded Muppet who kinda sounds like some of my older relatives and loves to count.

Okay, back to his car. The first appearance of the Countmobile came in 1974, and looked to be more of a go-cart type of thing built by the Sesame Street techs:

Luis seems fairly impressed there, and it is nice and flamboyant with the purple-and-green two tone paint and huge bat wings, but there’s also wheels that look like they came off a wheelbarrow. I think the Count can do better; he’s titled royalty, after all!

And boy did the Count do better; the first Sesame Street movie, Follow That Bird from 1985, featured a significantly upgraded Countmobile:

For reasons I’m by no means clear on, someone collected all of the Count’s appearances in the movie and made this somewhat sloppy compilation, and the Countmobile features in it a good bit:

Are there Count von Count fetishists out there? Maybe.

Anyway, let’s look at this Countmobile in more detail, because it’s interesting. While it looks like a vintage, perhaps ’30s-era car, I think many of you can guess what it really is under the skin, as revealed by the front axle visible here:

Twin torsion beams. Yep, this is a Volkswagen Beetle-based kit car. I think, based on the unusually narrow faux-grille, that this was one of many kits meant to look like an old Jaguar SS100. [UPDATE: It seems to be a Frazer-Nash kit!] The Count’s version has a nice deep purple paint job and those massive wings, but otherwise it seems to be a pretty straight VW-based kit car.

The Sesame Street vehicle team had a lot of experience with VW Beetles, as those cars appeared on the show a number of times, with ones being owned by non-Muppets like Gordon and Susan, and Oscar the Grouch’s Sloppy Jalopy was a modified/abused Beetle as well:

The Countmobile showed up in other Sesame Street properties, like children’s books, but its portrayal was pretty inconsistent, as you can see here:

At least the eyes are in the proper headlight-location.

I wonder if the Countmobile is still around, and, if so, where is it? Does the Children’s Television Workshop still own it? Does the Count still drive? Is his monocle required for driving?

Not many Muppets had a signature car; I hope that among the things the Count counts, his blessings are among them.