Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: Plymouth: Trial By Torture! Continue reading the Original Blog Post
My eyesight isn't as good as it once was, but at around 2:00 minutes into the film, the car rolling down the hill is a 1934 Ford sedan, not a Plymouth.
2:01 2:04 Hello, It does look like a 1933-34 Ford grille. But, alas, I tried to clean it up frame by frame and these are the best samples. Why would a Plymouth sponsored test show a sturdy 1934 Ford? Jnaki OKC 1947 Maybe, my wife at age 2 was on to something with her family's 1936 Plymouth Sedan? Ha!
Why wreck a good car when there was a Ford around that was cheaper and better suited for the job. Director probably had a budget to adhere to. If you look close at most old movies, you rarely see Fords till the crash scenes. Producers and Directors knew what cars held up to the rigors of filming and what cars were throw a-ways.
My 1st wife's brother gave me a '35 Coupe. I never got to do any thing to/with it but I really liked the way the fenders were sculpted and the hood side panels. It was a beast for stout with steel much heaver gauge than other brands. As I remember, it drove great, handled great and had plenty of power from the flat six and drive train in it. Some where along it path the trunk lid had been removed and a wooden box like a small P/U bed had been installed. That of course was shit canned and a new deck lid from a local junk yard found and put in by her brother. My younger brother, by four years came to live with us and I gave it to him as he needed transportation to hi-school. He forgot, as did I, to put antifreeze in it and the block cracked. I carted it around to a couple places when I moved but eventually gave it to a welder that wanted it. Never saw it again. I did however run across another one in Apache Junction Az. at an insurance agency there. It was cool as hell, black with white walls and running like a fine sewing machine. Wish I was a thousand years younger, I'd find one and rod it like my hi-boy coupe, but not hi-boy style. Tooooooooooo cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
When the car rolls over you can clearly see the the front and back doors are tied together to keep them from opening on impact. But when the car is righted the rope magically disappears. I love the scene in which they show the stunt driver buckling a very thick lap belt to keep him from rolling around like a rag doll in that thing. How many people back then didn't realize this and thought "I'm safe in this car, look how it survived all of that!"
Another anomaly is at 4:24 after a rollover and righting the car, the right rear fender is smashed in against the tire. A guy reaches in and casually 'flips' the fender back out. That doesn't look like high-strength steel to me... There was no doubt some PR hype and vehicle 'doctoring' involved...
Everybody is focused on the car, and I'm wondering just how much that guy got paid in 1934 to strap in and tumble over and over? Did he make ten bucks for that days work? Seems like a pretty tough dude!
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