'Drag-U-La' car and 'Dragula' song, a spooky season driving update

Pearl the Prius passed 75,000 yesterday, earlier than I expected, so I needed to write a driving update. This ran into my plan to go full spooky season this week, as well as my usual Sunday entertainment feature, but I found a way to combine all three, a Halloween car from television (and a movie). Watch The Munsters Drag-U-La Coffin Car and Koach by MyClassicCarTV.

Behold, two of the spookiest TV and MOVIE cars ever built! Dennis gets a close up look at the insane Drag-U-La coffin car dragster. It's a casket on wheels! Plus, we pile into the Munster Koach and FREAK OUT the neighborhood! In the Munsters episode titled Hot Rod Herman, Herman Munster loses the Koach in a drag race so Grandpa Munster builds the Drag-U-La to win back the Koach. "The Munsters" was a hit TV show in the 1960's.

I'm not the gearhead that Dennis Gage and John Sbrigato are, but I do appreciate dopamine returned on gasoline invested and classic cars. I also have fond memories of watching The Munsters in syndication during the afternoons when I came home from elementary school. However, I didn't remember the first appearance of Drag-U-La, Grandpa's Vampire Car 'The Dragula' | The Munsters (TV Series) | Fear. Well, it's been 60 years, so I have an excuse.

Grandpa takes the custom vampire dragster for a spin.

From The Munsters Season 1, Episode 36, "Hot Rod Herman": Herman is dragged along by Eddie to compete in a drag-car race and modifies the family hearse into a dragster for the event.

All three generations of Munster men are geeking out over the hot rod, although Grandpa doesn't share that surname. That's a great television moment.

By the way, Wikipedia describes a different origin story for Drag-U-La in The Munsters movie.

The 1966 movie Munster, Go Home! features an alternate origin. After Herman crashes a Jaguar limousine owned (and raced) by the Munster family of England, Grandpa builds the DRAG-U-LA, using the motor from the Munster Koach, so Herman can drive it in a cross-country automobile race.

Eh, alternative continuity.

The Drag-U-La stuck around in the series, showing up in the end credits of the second season. See if you can catch it in Munsters Opening and Closing Theme Season 2.

The reason I fell into this rabbit hole is because a cover of the Rob Zombie song "Dragula" appeared on my feed. While it inspired me, it didn't make it into this post because of the following passage from the song's Wikipedia entry.

Zombie told Billboard magazine that the title came from the name of Grandpa Munster's eponymous dragster DRAG-U-LA on The Munsters. He goes on to say that it "was a classic show with great comic characters..."

The music video shows Rob Zombie driving the Munster Koach (not the actual Dragula racing car) with various shots of the band members in Southern California locations such as the Pasadena Arroyo Seco Parkway with shots of the 3rd Street tunnel and Lower Grand Boulevard in Los Angeles and different scenes from classic horror films, e.g. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) at the beginning of the video and the killer robot from chapter film series The Phantom Creeps (1939) along with home video footage of mid-20th-century families being entertained by a clown with clips of nuclear testing mushroom clouds sardonically overlapping of when the clown and a girl are laughing, with the multi-color backdrops referencing Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), also with early-20th-century footage of children being entertained and shocked.

Instead, I'm embedding the original, Rob Zombie - Dragula.

Music video by Rob Zombie performing Dragula.© 1998 Geffen Records

I could go on about Rob Zombie being such a fan of The Munsters that he wrote, directed, and produced the 2022 film, but it's time I climb out of this rabbit hole and write my personal driving update. Follow over the jump.


As I wrote at the start of this entry, Pearl the Prius's odomenter rolled over 75,000 miles yesterday, 57 days after it passed 74,000 miles on Friday, August 28, 2026. That translates to averages of 17.54 miles per day, 535.09 miles per standard day, and 535.08 miles per standard year. That's a lot more than the 12.82 miles per day, 391.03 miles per standard month, and 4,679.49 miles per standard year I drove her between Wednesday, June 10, 2026 and August 28, 2026. I expected as much, writing "I expect I will be driving more by the next update at 75,000 miles because I will be working at two campuses, four days a week at the farther one and two days at the closer one." I also ran more errands than I usually do, including driving to the Social Security office to drop off documentation for Medicare Part B. Yes, I'm serious about retiring, which is why I expect to be driving less at the next update.

Now for the joint driving update I promised in CNBC explains 'Why Fuel Economy Rollbacks Will Spur More Trucks, More V-8 Engines,' a driving update. First, "Ahsoka the Grey's odometer rolled past 3,000 miles on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, exactly eight months (250 days) after it passed 2,000 miles on Friday, February 20, 2026. That translates to exactly 4.00 miles per day, 122 miles per standard month, and 1,460 miles per standard year." It now reads 3,005, which is where it was yesterday. Next, Pearl's odometer registered 71,569 on Friday, February 20th and reads 75,001, where it ended yesterday, for a total of 3,432. Added together, that's 4,437 miles over 254 days, which translates to an average of 17.47 miles per day, 532.79 miles per standard month, and 6,376.00 miles per standard year. That's a lot more than the 15.54 miles per day, 473.76 miles per standard month, and 5,669.59 miles per year. My wife and I may have driven Ahsoka less, but I drove Pearl so much more that our total miles rose. We are definitely contributing to Americans driving, although the latest report is from May, when miles actually decreased for the month, while the overall trend was still up.

Travel on all roads and streets decreased in May. The 12-month moving average was down 0.06% month-over-month but was up 0.93% year-over-year. However, if we factor in population growth, the 12-month MA of the civilian population-adjusted data (age 16-and-over) was down 0.10% month-over-month and up 0.32% year-over-year.

It's not one of my Halloween week posts without an appropriate drink recipe, so I'm closing with Hot Rod Shooters by Tipsy Bartender.

HOT ROD SHOOTER
2 Parts Tequila
1 Part Lime Juice
2 Dashes Tabasco Hot Sauce
Garnish: Tajin Rim/Lime Wedge

PREPARATION
1. Rim edge of shot glass in lime juice and tajin. Set aside.
2. In an ice filled shaking glass combine tequila, lime juice and tabasco. Shake well.
3. Strain mix into rimmed shot glass and garnish with a lime wedge. Enjoy responsibly!

Stay tuned for more Halloween posts through the end of the month plus a bonus Day of the Dead entry. Trick or treat!