What Happened to the CHARIOT from Lost in Space? 

I'm 67..my "arts and crafts" class project was to make a chariot..pretty sure got a D in that class but been fascinated with tracked vehicles ever since..LOVE this channel! Thank you for the memories!❤❤

I always wanted to have my very own chariot from lost and space.

I was born in 1959 so I kind of grew up watching Lost in Space. The show with its special effects and futurist ship and robot really captured my imagination. It was my favorite show growing up and I still enjoy watching it today as well. I really do believe that shows like Lost in Space helps to make young people interested and curious about science and technology. Great video Dan!

I was probably six or seven years old when my parents drove down the road next to the Fox lot. Sitting next to the fence and fully visible from the road was the Chariot! Best day ever!

This is one of the BEST channels on RU-vid. Thanks Dan for another fantastic glimpse behind the scenes of my favorite TV show, Lost In Space.

The Chariot was my favorite part of the show after the Robot ! Them Chariot theme in "The Angry Sea" was my favorite Music cue too

Since Billy Mumy and Angela Cartwright and Marta Kristen are still with us, I'd like to see an updated film of the Lost In Space characters in a new story to see what happened when they got older. Did they ever make it back to Earth? Did they just accept that they would never make it back? Imagine seeing Will Robinson in his 60s still piloting the Jupiter-2 through the galaxy. But also imagine that they never encountered other humans and so never fell in love and married. Being truly lost in space would have been a prison. It would also still be possible to have June Lockhart in the project since she's still with us at 98 years old ... she'll be 99 on June 25, '24.

When the series first came out, I *WANTED* a chariot like that!! That, and a flying belt, lol. Thanks, Dan!

Great video, Dan. Thanks!

Now, tell me there isn't magic all over that series. Amazing things happened and we are all fortunate to have that material still around. Great episode!

The Rocket Belt (Jetpack) would be perfect to bumper to bumper rush hour traffic. I would've loved to elope with Judy in the Spacepod.

My grandparents had a cabin in Big Bear Lake, CA. In 1970, I was 9 years old, and I saw the Chariot parked just off Hwy 18 at the Snow Mountain ski area (now Magic Mountain sled & water park). I begged my parents to stop and let me look at it. At the time, it still retained all of its exterior show appearance , although it was looking pretty rough. I climbed up on it to get a to look inside. The drivers seat and skid steer controls are all that I remember seeing. The next time we came up to Big Bear, it was gone, and I never saw it afterwards.

I have a photo of my 8 year old self standing next to the chariot in 1967 on the studio lot back when 20th Century Fox had tours for the public.

It justs shows the true genius, and production of the show. They didnt miss a beat with the chariot. Amazing. Thanks Dan.

Here in the UK, we've had a huge number of homegrown sci-fi TV series, along with plenty of Hollywood productions that have shot here. You'll often spot props from some movie or TV show turning up as hired-in elements in another show. One of the repeat offenders for this is the BBC's Doctor Who (particularly during it's original run, between 1963 and 1989). Because of the format of the show, with the Doctor bouncing around time and space and sending up somewhere new every few weeks, the show's designers had to be on the ball. But they also had to spend their limited budgets wisely. So they'd call round props houses and scenery high places to get whatever they could. One particular story saw the Doctor land on a planet where alien computer absorbed all energy. So when the Daleks turn up, their death rays are useless. But in secret, they fit themselves with a bullet - firing gun with a distinctive barrel. These were provided by an armourer company who hired out guns for TV and films. A couple of years later, this same armourer company was providing weapons for a production called "Star Wars", which needed a lot of prop guns. So, they reused the barrels of the Daleks' replacement guns and stuck one on a pistol. That gun was given to the character known as "Walrus Man", and you see it again in The Mandalorian, amongst his arsenal aboard his ship.

Lost in Space was one of John Williams' first composing jobs, long before he wrote the themes for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark. What's interesting is that he didn't compose for each episode but rather did several different themes for different possibilities in the show, like intense moments, scary moments, whimsical moments and so on. Then the editor for each episode would just use whichever sounded appropriate. Alexander Courage did the same thing for the original Star Trek series.

You are da man, Dan!

As a long time fan of the original "Lost in Space," I was happy to see not just a 1/24th scale model of The Chariot finally released, but just recently, the 1/35th scale version shown at 12:50, as well. Thanks for this deep-dive into the history of this iconic, TV Science Fiction vehicle! I would like to request a future "What Happened to . . . ," deep-dive into another, "Lost in Space" prop that was only seen in S1, E8: The Luminaries' Ship from "Invaders from the Fifth Dimension." This had to be one of the most unusual alien spaceship shown on TV at the time - really, for any time. It looked more like a piece of Modern Art than advanced alien space hardware, and it had capabilities similar to the TARDIS used by "Doctor Who;" mainly because it was "bigger on the inside than on the outside," (though to be fair, so was the Jupiter 2 . . . .) But if memory serves, it was never seen again in LiS - either in its original form, or repurposed for some other prop. Was this a prop built in-house, or was it actually some kind of artist's sculpture rented for this one episode? It would be very interesting to know! Thanks for posting this video! 563rd Like.

Those extended black and white sequences from the first season of the Chariot rumbling over an alien landscape to the tune of composer "Johnny.' Williams' intrepid original score, Classic!

Thank you for a great video on this. My wife and I got to sit in the Chariot replica at the 2017 East Coast Comicon in New Jersey as well as have our photos taken while in it. We also had the once in a lifetime opportunity to have a group photo taken in front of the Chariot with the Mark Goddard, Bill Mumy, Marta Kristen and Angela Cartwright.

Even as a 10 year old I could never figure out how they stashed the thing when not using it. It was almost a quarter the size of the J2. 😂

Thank you for this amazing episode. Props like the Chariot took LiS to the high shelf of sci Fi TV, and why it is loved by so many.

“Sooo…..what happened to..” I swear, I hear those words and I am IN. Thank you for this channel.

Wow, Dan, you've truly transported me back to 1965, a time when life felt like an endless adventure, especially with our beloved TV shows like Lost In Space. It's as if I can still feel the warmth of that old Black & White Murphy TV, the anticipation buzzing in the air as my family gathered around it. My parents, now resting peacefully, would settle onto the sofa, and my siblings and I would perch eagerly on the rug, eyes wide with excitement, passing around chocolates as we waited for the show to begin. Dad always made sure to get the TV warmed up early, and that new aerial on the roof? It was like a beacon, ensuring we received the crispest, clearest picture possible. Those nights were special, weren't they? We had to be ready early, lest we miss a single moment of the thrilling conclusion to each episode. And sometimes, our neighbors would join us, drawn by the promise of the best TV signal in the district, courtesy of Dad's towering aerial. But beyond the excitement of the show itself, those moments symbolized so much more. They were a testament to the joy of family togetherness, of shared laughter and anticipation. In those simple evenings, we found the magic of childhood, the wonder of exploration, and the comfort of being surrounded by love. Looking back, I realize how fortunate we were to have those experiences, to be part of such a close-knit family in a time when every moment felt like an adventure waiting to unfold. Lost In Space wasn't just a show to us-it was a portal to endless possibilities, a reminder that even in the midst of ordinary life, there's always room for a little bit of magic.

Another great video. And why am I not always surprised that the fans care more for these props than the studios do. Thanks again for the memories

I had the opportunity to see the chariot at the Peterson Auto Museum in L.A. back in '22 or '23.

As a kid watching Lost in Space, I wanted a Chairot just because it looked fun as hell. Still hope I can hit the lottery and have one built. I am 64 and still live all of the old shows the best

Dan Madnbad still here watching 🔥💯‼️Please dont quit!!!

This guy has the ultimate old classic AM Radio DJ voice. Close your eyes as he's speaking & you can almost hear "tonite I'm spinning those hot stacks of wax . . . " His voice along makes me smile😊

Always wondered how they loaded the chariot on to the Jupiter 2

I wanted the robot and the chariot.

That ski slope deserved to go out of business for abusing the Chariot that way. Just having it for a skier transport would have been an attraction in itself...

Lost in Space & Star Trek were 2 shows that shaped my youth! Dan, would u do some shows on the new Lost in Space please 🙏🏻

In my local area starting at 3:00 channel 35 played reruns of the original Star Trek, then Batman (with Adam West) followed by Lost in Space. I used to RUN my butt off from the bus stop to get home in time to watch them. Such good memories!

The chariot, the Jupiter 2, the Robot, and the jetpack were all so cool to see when I first watched the series in the '60s, and they still are today.

I wonder how much the chariot influenced the design of the AMC Pacer.

You do know you have the best channel on RU-vid right? Thankful for you helping me relive some of the coolest shows of my childhood. Just for starters Jupiter2, Pod, Chariot, the Spindrift from Land of The Giants, Icarus from Planet of The Apes and all the other great videos and the research that you put into explaining the history of these cool spaceships and props. 🙏!!

June Lockhart still with us at 98! Awesome! Thanks

Great show! I was so glad to hear that this had a happy ending regarding the 3 Chariots.

Do a What Happened to Bigfoot and Wildboy. Seems not to many people my age remember that show. I'm 55 now.

Someone should bring the Chariot back into production.

Thanks for all your work. Bill Mumy said about Harris' role in his first episode, "It was actually implied that this villainous character that sabotaged the mission and ended up with us was going to be killed off after a while." The series was successful upon its debut and, midway through the first season, Harris began to rewrite his own dialogue to add more comedy because he felt that his strength was in portraying a comic villain. Due to Harris's popularity on the show, Irwin Allen approved his changes and gave him carte blanche as a writer. Harris subsequently stole the show, mainly via a seemingly never-ending series of alliterative insults directed toward The Robot, which soon worked their way into popular culture.However , after listening to Mr. Monroe's excellent explanation of the rest of the story I now understand the actions and causes of the change. Thank you, Mr. Monroe. However the elephant in the room was why would the parents permit the evil Smith to go on excursions with their child and the Robot. The first black and white season was fun. The Dr.Smith and Will Robinson show was silly and very strange. ‘Oh the pain … the pain’.

When you see the Jupiter 2 flying, it doesn't look big enough to have a 'lower' deck, yet it has an expansive lower deck. Where on earth did the chariot park? And the little pod?

MAN, I remember building my Lunar Models Lost in Space Chariot in the mid-90s with additional props to make it more accurate at the time with a miniature toy Robot that seemed to scale to the Chariot. I did a photoshoot on the property I used live on that had a landscape out of the show's studio set of an alien world. The photos look GREAT! Over the years I collected nearly all the LIS model kits on the market. I kept collecting, but never had time to build. So - I sold them all together on ebay 😢I had to. My career kept me from model kit building.

I love your deep dives into things I loved both as a kid and even into adulthood!

Grew up watching lost in space! A few years ago I was working in Trona and drove out to the pinnacles just to see what they were! Well I realized when I got there that this was where lost in space filmed the Chariot scenes, and I researched the Chariot and saw the photos from Big Bear! I love that show! Thanks for the update!

Great job on this. Would love to see what happened to all of the Battlestar Galactica props.

I had the B9 robot! 15inches tall wired rc! I'm 60. Got it for Xmas as a 9 year old.

67yo. Still get pissed at smith.

Kills me to see the chariot so messed up when they get rid of props that people love.- i'm so happy it was restored

Wow, hearing June Lockhart's voice again was the best. :) Great job !!

I thought American Motors bought the design for the prototype Pacer.

Whenever I see you've got another video on anything that's the FIRST thing I turn to. Your segments are fantastic, Dan! And Lost in Space was my favorite show back then, even more so than StarTrek.

Awesome video... the chariot is pretty cool.

Can you do an episode on Johnny Quest? My favorite on Saturday mornings!

Fun fact: the snow cat that was modified into the chariot was initially a prop for voyage to the bottom of the sea. In the black-and-white first season on a couple of occasions when they would go to the arctic or Antarctic, they would break out the Snow cat and drive around. This is the modified version you show at 3:28 in your video. However, it was never a very heavily featured prop. I think it only turns up two times maybe three in the first season, and we never see it do anything other than start up and move a little bit and then they cut to another scene. And then and one episode they go to the Arctic and the Snow cat is conspicuously absent, presumably because it was being modified for lost in space. Cool, right?

Loved this chariot!

I never knew that there were three full-scale versions of the Chariot. Thank you for that information.

Waiting for the next episode, just like the old shows. Thank you!!!!

Dan, always enjoy these videos.. you are such a good narrator. Just a fun time.. please keep the videos going

Your programs are, Wonderful, Dan. I have a huge collection of Lost in Space items, including, which I think you know about, a Life Size Icon B9 Robot. I could open up a small Museum. Thank you for All of your fine work.

As a kid in the 60's watching Lost in Space I questioned how can the Jupiter II be so much larger on the inside than the outside.

Awesome video! I’ve seen the replica Chariot at a Con in Massachusetts, it looked fantastic!!

Some years ago when 20th Century Fox is transitioning to Malibu Creek State Park. I was doing a film documentary for college and came across what was left of the tower from the movie, The Towering Inferno! The state park gave me the top section of the towering inferno, but sadly I had to get rid of it. If you do a segment on what happened to the tower from the towering inferno, I can send you pictures of when I owned it.

I enjoy listening to hear Dan’s deep baritone voice as he shares his wealth of knowledge on RU-vid.

NEVER LOOSE THE DANGER DANGER AT THE END !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did they fit that into the Jupiter 2. It’s almost as big as the ship. LOL

I've read that Lost in Space took the stupid story/plot turn in 1966 because they wanted to see if they could have some of the great success of the Batman series which was intentionally silly. Even as a kid, after Dr. Smith seriously screwed up so many times, I just wanted them to NOT rescue him at some point. But, of course, Will's affection for him conveniently prevented that so the LAZY show writers could continue to use him as the convenient DOLT to get them into stupid situations instead of coming up with DECENT SCI-FI scripts.

.....ahhh, remember when there were ads on tv announcing the dates of new TV programs set to begin each September? I went to the neighbors house to watch thr first episode. It was an instant hit with everyone.

Black and white or color it didn't matter because we didn't get a color tv until 1973. I'd be playing outside and when it came time for lost in space to come on my mother would come out and say your program will be on soon, those were the days.

Love to see some info on the Gil Gerard buck Rodgers tv show.

as long as the chariot didn't have a ford ecoboost engine, it will be ok

Wow, I read a story in the 1980's that the Chariot was hauling snow and you have pics. Great stuff, Dan. Keep growing the channel.

The full size replica was at the Los Angeles car museum when I visited 2 years ago. I had no idea it was there, when I walked around the corner. It was amazing

Thiokol made the snow cat. It is a chemical company. Made solid propellant for the shuttle. Remember the huge explosion in the desert.?

Hello Dan. Just FYI, back in March 2021, the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, had the smaller model of the Chariot on display. I really enjoyed your video. Take it easy.

That was great,Dan . Well, it was until you had to mention the Toilet Seat Cover Jupiter 2 and the refuse truck Chariot from the Netflix show.

Fantastic episode. I've got my Chariot model to build. Looking forward to starting on it soon!

Dan - Are your photos of the EID Chariot replica from East Coast Con at Meadowlands ? I was at the show that had the Chariot, the Robot, Bill Mumy, Mark Goddard, Angela Cartwright & Marta Kristen !

I'd imagine that even those toy replicas that came out during this classic show's original run are selling for mega bucks now as well?

Dan, you gotta talk about the jetpack to, I wanted one in junior high so I could impress everybody.

THat was just awesome! Thank you for sharing these incredible and endearing stories with us. As a kid, LIS was my favorite!

I worked with Chris at Disney, the full size was at his home awaiting restoration. I don't know the status as he left Disney over 10 years ago. I didn't see it in person but would have loved to.

The Chariot was pretty darn cool, but even as a kid I couldn't figure out how they could manage to fit both it and the Pod inside the Jupiter. I guess the Jupiter was like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside.

I would love to ride in the chariot, Great show Dan !!

Come on Chariot collectors…contact Dan and send him current pics!

They stopped making them when they came out with the Astro Van!

HEY DAN, The British TV series UFO had a mobile unit that bore a slight resemblance to The Chariot.

So, where did Jeff Dunham get his chariot? Fully restored. He drove it around LA.

I always had a problem with the chariots size, where exactly did they put it inside the Jupiter 2

Im glad i bought the dvd series after these Lost In Space uploads! I can watch it for the first time now!

The original tracks have a high point in the middle, not seen in the replica. The point of that is to reduce drag when its turning. And to center the track. Old school engineering tricks lost on the new folk. PS the wheels on the models look like Dubro model aircraft tires, still available today.

It's heartbreaking and sad for one who grew up watching LIS as it was happening. Sadder still is how old it makes you feel thinking this was decades ago not to mention the actors that have passed away.

Thank you Dan for your podcast, you bring back many memories to this old man , and even create a lot of new ones Thanks again!!

I gotta admit, I came for popular shows and movies props, but stayed mainly thanks to Dan's wonderful, relaxed, laid-back narration. Doing good there Dan.

I just love the way you end each video. Makes me want to see the next video with baited breath. Thanks for another home run Dan.

Dan, a fantastic channel that brings me back to my childhood. Really really enjoyable and put a smile on my face every time I listen to the stories you have created. I spent a lot of time telling my grandchildren stories and they love them and this is what life is all about.

The new chariot didn't have the same cool factor. Hard to top the original.

I to was at that slope, we were waiting in line and I saw the top of the chariot off in the distance, went and played on it. It still had all of its glass and the dome.

whats amazing is the miniatures sold for those prices, they went for more then some really nice rare fully restored cars