Living the ‘Rockford’ styles

‘He’s the hero who it doesn’t always go perfect for . ... He doesn’t get paid in the end, or he takes a bullet in the hip. More like a real person.’ Newly hired by the Chargers, Harbaugh set up camp in an RV near the beach à la his TV hero

—JIM HARBAUGH,

Corduroy sports coats. Shiny disco shirts unbuttoned to mid-chest. Bell-bottom slacks. Muscle-bound goons with noses as crooked as Mulholland Drive.

And unsolved capers lining the sun-splashed streets like palm trees.

That’s how young Jim Harbaugh saw Los Angeles when he was growing up in Michigan.

“Laying on your stomach, hands on your chin, elbows on the floor, looking at the palm trees and mountains, sun, ocean,” said Harbaugh, 60, new coach of the Chargers. “‘Wow, I want to be there someday.’ ”

Now, here he is, in the land of “The Rockford Files,” his alltime favorite show, which turned 50 last month. The series starred a square-jawed James Garner as Jim Rockford, who spent a couple of years in San Quentin (falsely accused) and then scratched out a living cracking cases for $200 per day plus expenses. Garner died in 2014 at age 86.

“James Garner had all the things a leading man needs,” said David Chase, a writer and producer on the show who later created “The Sopranos.” “He was great-looking. He was smart. He had a sense of humor. And he was also a really good guy.”

For six seasons, from 1974 to 1980, legions of fans fell in love with the show — and L.A. — the Harbaughs among them.

From “Dragnet” to “Adam-12” to “Columbo,” TV shows in those days highlighted a push and pull to the City of Angels, portrayed as a crimeridden Eden. Sunshine and smog. Glistening wheels and gridlock. Sweltering days and cold cases. Glamour and grift.

There was even a yin-yang dichotomy to Rockford’s accommodations. He lived beachside in Malibu … in a ramshackle house trailer.

So taken was Harbaugh that when he took over in January as coach of the Chargers, he spent his first two months living in an RV across the street from the sand in Huntington Beach.

“On the sand it was $120 a night, but across the street it was $80,” said Harbaugh, who chose the cheaper option even though he makes considerably more than $200 per day plus expenses.

Courtesy of the Chargers NEW CHARGERS offensive coordinator Greg Roman, left, and coach Jim Harbaugh offer each other cheers as they enjoy drinks outside Harbaugh’s RV parked at Huntington Beach. “An homage to Rockford? Yeah, that’s a perfect word for it,” Harbaugh said.

NBC Universal via Getty Images ACTOR JAMES GARNER played Jim Rockford on NBC’s “The Rockford Files.” His character, a hard-working private investigator, lived in an RV trailer on a Southern California beach.