This is a wonderful story but I'm sorry to have to report that the car Columbo drove wasn't built by the props department, it was a 1959 Peugeot 403[0].
[0]https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/columbos-car-it-...
[0]https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/columbos-car-it-...
• 1. "Murder by the Book" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_147439-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-1...
• 2. "Death Lends a Hand" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_88435-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-19...
• 3. "Dead Weight" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_66108-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-19...
• 4. "Suitable for Framing" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_94005-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-19...
• 5. "Lady in Waiting" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_71913-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-19...
• 6. "Short Fuse" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_36906-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-19...
• 7. "Blueprint for Murder" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_75558-Peugeot-403-Cabriolet-19...
But there were two TV movies (the second one made as a "pilot") before it became a TV series, and in the first one Columbo is briefly shown with a different car, a Chevrolet C-Series:
"Prescription: Murder" https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_876671-Chevrolet-C-Series-1967...
(He doesn't seem to complain about his car in either of them though, so by the time he's complained about it, the car has already been shown on screen, including multiple times in the first episode.)
https://www.periodpaper.com/products/1959-ad-peugeot-403-sta...
There were a few hundred Peugeot dealers in North America.