Motion Pictures Car Movie Fun-Facts

I think most hot rod lovers have probably seen the movies “The California Kid” and “American Graffiti”, and a lot of you probably already know these tid-bits, but what the hay.

This is a picture of the 327 small block Chevy engine that they use in The California Kid movie, to depict the engine in the ’34 Ford.



This is a picture of the engine that is really in the ’34 Ford; a 302 V-8.



The picture of the small block Chevy used in The California Kid is the engine that is actually in Milner’s famous deuce coupe. Cool stuff in those movies!

Feel free to post other cool car-related movie trivia here!

 

Give them credit for showing an appropriate engine for a period hot rod. A lot of filmmakers get those details wrong. Nothing against the Ford engine, but the dressing is all wrong. A friend once said the way you bake a potato is to wrap it in silver foil.

 

I don't know if that was the correct Ford engine at the time of the movie . Seems not that engine may be a later version , Motorsport valve covers not available at movie time . Chrome "Power by Ford " were on car if I remember correctly . The engine pictured also has AC compressor , I don't think The Kid had AC at the movie era . Maybe wrong but , just somethings to take note of

 

No! Poke several holes in it, slather it in bacon grease. No foil.

 

The reason you never see the engine in Bob Falfa's black '55 Chevy in the movie American Graffiti is because it's actually the same car from the movie Two Lane Blacktop which had a tunnel ramed 427 L88

 

Dr No (James Bond) In a 57 Chevy convertible however its a 57 Ford speedo

 

Yes how many movies and tv shows did we watch,no matter the car brand,the starter always sounded like a dodge gear reduction!


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The rollover ''stunt double'' '55 in AG. Painted wheels, there are other discrepancies as well.

 

how many different versions of the Hot Rod Willys were in the movie Hot Rod (aka Rebel of the Road)

3 or 4 for sure.

 

... Yep ... mee mee mee mee mee mee mee .... ;-)

 

That's the mating call of the Highland Park Hummingbird!

 

Then there was the exhaust sound when a car drove away in the movies. It usually sounded like a 6 cylinder Chevy with a split manifold and dual exhaust.

For the movie "Thunder Road" they used that sound on Robert Mitchum's '57 Ford when he drove away from the phone booth. Other parts of the movie did have some good V8 exhaust sounds.

 

Any movie or TV show that used a Chrysler starter sound clip, when it was a GM or Ford starting.

 

I believe it was at least 5. I recently saw this movie again and after the big chase, right before the charger crashed, it still had both hubcaps on the left side. When you wath it again, count how many times the Charger and Mustang pass a little green VW. During the chase, they pass it at least 4 times!

 

Then of course, was the ever popular "car going over the cliff" that started out being say a 1962T-Bird and as it goes over, it miraculously turns into a 1949 Ford or something completely different usually with no motor in it. My wife rolls her eyes whenever I spot something like that and mention it during a show.

 

Speaking of "Bullitt", there is that scene where the cars are barrelling down the hill and a Cadillac pulls out at the lower left of the screen and jerks to a stop to let the cars pass. That was actually an old man who was parked within the area of where the scene was filmed and unknowingly got in his Cadillac and damn near pulled out in front of Steve McQueen's Mustang. The director left that scene in because it looked "so real". Hell....it WAS real!

 

I was there for two nights for the race and rollover scene. They finely rolled it on night three. Didn't get to see it.

 

Speaking of hubcaps flying off and then magically reattach themselves to the car , not to mention damage disappearing watch the Mach 1 in "Gone in 60 Seconds", the original version (much better then the Cage version IMHO). I also like in that movie you can catch 2 different Mustangs jumping the wreck towards the end. First one is in slow motion, you can watch the roof buckle (ouch) as it lands on the front bumper then it spins out 180%, then they show it in real time and it lands flat and hauls ass straight on down the road. I read somewhere that the totaled 7 or so 73 Mustangs filming the chase scene.

 

According to one movie source it's six, and four from the left side!

 

Also in Bullit, the engine sounds (or is it Motor) that you hear are of a GT40 race car and that's why you hear it double clutched most of the time. And in the interior shots it has an automatic floor shifter!

 

I stayed up too late to watch the Bullit car chase just the other day. In the chase scene they have several cameras set up at different angles and they edited one turn into several turns from different angles.


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In the final scene, The Charger supposedly explodes in a gas station, yet can be seen in the background of the explosion.

 

Yep....those guys who film, direct or edit are not usually car guys and let a LOT of things pass that we wouldn't.

 

In the movie Tora, Tora, Tora, the scenes with the Navy Attache being driven around Washington DC by his wife in what I think is an Oldsmobile Business Coupe, if you focus on the steering wheel, it has a vinyl cover with the spiral wrap from the seventies.

 

And why did McQueen wreck the Mustang when he clearly didn't have to?

 

This one I bought from Long Island N.Y.It was in the 1st God Father movie .It was parked in front of a pizza place. Bruce.

 

My wife and I watch lots of 'Film Noir', and have many old serials from the '30s-'50s.
In Commando Cody's 'Invaders from the Moon' there are many old Los Angeles street scenes with late '30s to '40s convertibles, nearly ALL with Carson tops.
Ditto on the dissimilar makes going over the cliffs...the '41 Carson-topped Merc sails off the tarmac, then becomes a huge '27 Maxwell sedan, midair!

In Fried Green Tomatoes, the Model A Coupe they fish out of the river has a flat piece of plywood where the Model A engine oil pan should have been.

In "Hot Rod Girl", the black channeled '32 roadster turns from a Cabriolet into a roadster and back 3 times on the way to the crash scene from the drag strip...At the crash scene, the roadster is on its side. Olds engine, tacky headers, it is the same roadster used in the "Highway Patrol" episode as a getaway car by the ex-con, driven by his younger brother...who 'built the getaway car' from stolen money supplied by 'Big Jail Bird'. But the stickler was that the Olds mill had two fours on an old Weiand intake...and the way the car was identified was by its "roar" the victims all described when leaving the scenes.
Right away, CHP inspector Dan Matthews snaps fingers, exclaiming: "Supercharger!"
He and his uniformed officer cohort visit the NHRA, where a tall, thin actor portraying Wally Parks supplies them with a registry of all supercharger owners. (you have to 'register' to own a supercharger in CA.) LOL
It was cool to see the uniformed CHP officer in the '56 Olds cruiser on the radio: "I'm on the pedal, doing 95...and the hot rod's pulling away from me like I've got the brakes on!"
Scenes we like to see...

 

When I had my shop (San Jose) Mike Hossack (drummer for the Doobie Bros., wrote 'Old Black Water', etc.) purchased the '53 Cad limo used in the Godfather; brought it to me for some engine and other repairs. It still had the holster AND .32 Colt automatic in the drivers door sill, on the lower garnish molding. (the Colt was nickel plated, with Ivory handles...)

Bruce and I could have shot some re-takes on the original trailer!

 

yes it does...guess production figured there were way more Camaros than Challengers