Earl William "Madman" Muntz (January 3, 1914 – June 21, 1987)[3] was an American businessman and engineer who sold and promoted cars and consumer electronics in the United States from the 1930s until his death in 1987.

He was a pioneer in television commercials with his oddball "Madman" persona; an alter ego who generated publicity with his unusual costumes, stunts, and outrageous claims.

Muntz produced and marketed the first black-and-white television receivers to sell for less than $100, and created one of the earliest functional widescreen projection TVs.

A high school dropout,[7] Muntz made fortunes by selling automobiles, TV receivers, and car stereos and tapes.

In his used auto commercials, he marketed one model as the "daily special"; Muntz claimed that if the car did not sell that day, he would smash it to pieces on camera with a sledgehammer.

"[6] His commercials generated so much publicity that comedians such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Steve Allen often tried to outdo each other during television appearances by telling "Madman" Muntz jokes.

[19] Initial production of the Jet took place in Glendale, where Muntz extended the two-seater Kurtis Kraft Sport's body by 13 inches (33 cm), making it a four-seater, and exchanged the Ford V8 engine for a larger Cadillac V8.

[18] Later, after making just 28 Jets in California, Muntz moved production to a new factory in Evanston, Illinois, extended the body further by 3 inches (8 cm), and replaced the Cadillac V8 with a less expensive Lincoln sidevalve V8.

[19] Paint schemes were extravagant, with names like "Mars Red", "Stratosphere Blue", and "Lime Mist", and interior options included alligator or Spanish leatherette.

[21] The Jet was capable of a top speed of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) and acceleration of 0–50 mph (0–80 km/h) in 6 seconds, a significant achievement for a road car at the time.

[22] Jet owners included the CEO of CBS Frank Stanton,[23] and actors Mickey Rooney[7] and Lash La Rue.

[21] The labor and materials required to produce the Jet resulted in a high price for the end product and, in 1954, after selling about 400 cars and losing about $1,000 ($11,000 in 2023) on each, Muntz closed the company.

By trial and error, taking apart and studying Philco, RCA, and DuMont televisions, he figured out how to reduce the devices' electrical components to their minimum functional number.

[14] In the 1940s and 1950s, most brands of television receivers were complicated pieces of equipment, commonly containing about 30 vacuum tubes, as well as rheostats, transformers, and other heavy components.

He often carried a pair of wire clippers, and when he thought that one of his employees was "overengineering" a circuit, he would begin snipping components out until the picture or sound stopped working.

This was a calculated decision: Muntz preferred to leave the low-volume, high-performance television receiver market to firms such as RCA and Zenith Electronics, as his intended customers were primarily urban dwellers with limited funds.

[33] Before Muntz developed the Stereo-Pak, the only in-car units capable of recorded playback were phonograph-based players, such as the Highway Hi-Fi invented by Peter Goldmark.

[33] The Autostereo could play a complete album without changing tracks or turning the tape over, did not suffer from skipping or premature wear as the phonograph-based players did, and its number of knobs and controls were minimized to allow the driver to concentrate on the road.

Barry Goldwater purchased one for his son, and Jerry Lewis recorded his scripts onto Stereo-Pak cartridges to learn his lines while driving.

His print advertisements often showed the player installed in an appealing sports car and usually incorporated a young, attractive model with a suggestive tagline.

[33] The market for Muntz's 4-track system had faded by 1970 due to competition from Stereo 8, which reduced costs by using less magnetic tape and a less-complex cartridge mechanism.

During the mid-1970s, Muntz thought of taking a 15-inch (38 cm) Sony color cathode-ray tube (CRT) television receiver, fitting it with a special lens and reflecting mirror, then projecting the magnified image onto a larger screen.

He housed these primitive units in a large wooden console, making it one of the first successful widescreen projection TV receivers marketed for home use.

[5] Muntz was quick to feature Sony's Betamax as well as JVC's and RCA's VHS recorders in his store, setting up a showroom to demonstrate the potential for a "theater experience in the home".

James employed his father's advertising techniques to create splashy ads featuring prices that annoyed his competitors so much that they referred to them as "cutthroat".

[44] The "Madman" method pioneered by Muntz was later copied by other retailers, including California car salesman Cal Worthington[45] and New York area electronics chain Crazy Eddie.

[47] Muntz's cultural impact was such that he was mentioned in novels, including children's book The Neddiad: How Neddie Took The Train, Went To Hollywood, And Saved Civilization by Daniel Manus Pinkwater,[48] The Lost Get-Back Boogie by James Lee Burke,[49] and Franklin Mason's Four Roses in Three Acts.

[10] Directed by Dan Bunker and Judy ver Mehr, it was produced by Jim Castoro, an owner of an original Muntz Jet.

[10] The film documents Muntz's life, paying particular attention to his colorful career, and includes interviews with people who knew him and home movie footage contributed by his children.