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According to the link, it was thought to be lost, but the longtime owner finally got in touch with Ford to let them know he had it.
I would have sent it to the crusher in President Obama's excellent 'cash for clunkers' program of 2009! I don't see a need any more for 'muscle' cars of this type.
Great chase seen though. This is the short version. There are longer versions on youtube if you want more.
That car and Christine are two of my favorites. There have been other movie cars, but those two are iconic, IMO.
I am not that far away from the auction site, and may go, just to say I saw it.
I just watched the Gas Monkey Garage episode where they "recreated" the car, but in usual Gas Monkey tradition, they didn't get it quite right, and couldn't keep the car running long enough to do what it was supposed to do. They finally got one scene shot, but it was still a little lame.
They had this thing displayed on the D.C. mall last year. Pretty neat to see it in person. A bit beat up (rusted areas as well as holes drilled into the car for camera/rigging, etc.), but the display was awesome as it was in a lit glass enclosure.
According to the link, it was thought to be lost, but the longtime owner finally got in touch with Ford to let them know he had it.
I would have sent it to the crusher in President Obama's excellent 'cash for clunkers' program of 2009! I don't see a need any more for 'muscle' cars of this type.
Great chase seen though. This is the short version. There are longer versions on youtube if you want more.
That would most definitely be a must see for anyone living in the area. For the chase seen alone, I saw that movie at least a half dozen times when it was first released.
I must confess, though, to a tad bit of skepticism that that is the mustang. Kept quiet all these years, all the while the movie being iconic? Stretches to the limits of credibility.
I seem to recall reading that Steve McQueen was a very skilled driver. I think maybe participated in racing from time to time. Wonder if he did his own driving in the scenes? IIRC it was set in San Fran, and they were flying up and down the steep hills.
I seem to recall reading that Steve McQueen was a very skilled driver. I think maybe participated in racing from time to time. Wonder if he did his own driving in the scenes? IIRC it was set in San Fran, and they were flying up and down the steep hills.
Indeed he was and, indeed, he did do his own driving in the movie. That was really him.
One of the first things I did after moving out here in '73 was to drive a good portion of his route....a bit more slowly and carefully, though.
He at one time had a custom built FLEXABLE bus converted into a car hauler for his race car, It had a small kitchen and shower a a couple of beds. It was powered buy a 426 hemi engine which replaced the old diesel one before the conversion. I rode in it several times when a fellow I knew had it. It was used in a christian mobile book ministry in south america before my friend acquired it for a traveling rock band.
I absolutely love Christine.
It actually did a drive by in one of Stephen Kings other movies.
Steve McQueens Bullet Mustang is incredible.
Not sure I am sold that it the one though.
The other iconic cars are the 32 coupe, 55 Chevy, and 58 Chevy from American Graffiti. Not so much for the 58, but the other two are great.
Funny part is, the 32 really wasn't built perfectly, as any hot rodder will know. The grille shell was chopped because they were going to channel the body, but they ran out of time, so the grille shell is way too low. There are some other no no's on the car, but it is still cool because of the movie.
The 55 was actually built better than the studio wanted . Jerry Ruth built the car for another movie "two lane blacktop", and thought the studios wanted a full blown gasser, so it was very trick and very fast. When the movie was done, the movie folks used it for the Graffiti movie too.
After the movie was over, the coupe and 55 were stored away in an outdoor storage lot at the Universal Studios facility. After a few years, they ran an ad in the local paper advertising the coupe and 55. I forget the final selling prices, but I think they were in the $ 800-$2500 range. At that time they were just old used up movie cars and no one knew they would become iconic.
Another iconic car was Grabowskis T bucket from 77 Sunset Strip. That one was turned into a show car with goofy stuff like twin blowers and 4 slicks on the back, and is hidden away somewhere where the new owner will not let anyone near it.
Just a little car/movie history.
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