Hot Rods Movies and Period Correct Cars?

I just saw "Motherless Brooklyn" yesterday. Not a bad movie about corruption in NY during the Moses era of urban redevelopment. Kind of a little like China Town with Jack Nicholson. But for a car guy too many details to not be distracted by....

A '57 Chevy whose driver goes into a nightclub and doesn't turn off the tailights?

Takes place in the later fifties and all the bad guys driving like new late forties cars?

Biggest big shot being chauffeured around town in a, I believe, '53/54 Hudson?

A lower echelon private detective driving the newest car, '57 Chev sedan?

Just a rant but who do they hire to line up the cars for these things? I guess I expect too much historic accuracy!

 

my favorite is in the movie HOTROD, when they pull the hemi from the AMC ambassador cop car for the WILLYS. I worked 3rd shift at AMC for a bit during that time. don't recall a hemi anything coming down the line. but I did get canned for taking some long breaks, maybe they slipped them thru then...……….

 

Unless you’re a car guy or lived through that time period, all you know is that they are old cars. I’d say most of the movie folks are too young to have lived in that period, and don’t have a clue. You can even see it in 50’s and early 60’s TV shows, some were accurate, others not even close.

It’s all make believe anyway......

 

I know all that but in my heart I can't help being a little PO'd. It's distracting but it's the best we'll ever see I suppose. At least CARS got it right with Lightning McQueen. LOL
Hoping Ford versus Ferrari doesn't let me down...

 

Drives my wife crazy for me to watch movies and TV shows looking for anachronisms. There was an episode of The Waltons, set in the 1930s, in which the camera for an instant catches a glimpse of traffic with modern vehicles on a busy highway. I can think of several where there is a vehicle one of two years too new for when the scene is supposedly set--a '50 Plymouth going down the street in 1948, etc.

 

I do this too, I always watch era movies and look for mistakes. As being someone who grew up during the rise in popularity of the "Fast and Furious" movies, I have always had to watch the cringe of car movie mistakes with my friends, lol.

 

Was just flipping through the Feb. 1999 issue of Rodder's Digest. In "15 ways to tell if you're a hot rodder", it says ""If you go to the movies and try to catch a 1961 car in a movie that's set in the summer of '58, you might be a hot rodder".

 

Damn I wanted to go

 

JFK, the Oliver Stone movie on the assassination of Kennedy; there is a Mustang in it... while it is 1963.

Sent from my online shouting device

 

You guys might want to look here: https://www.imcdb.org/


Sent from my online shouting device

 

To me, the worst are documentaries. It'll be a story about corruption, etc., in the 1940s, and the B&W street scenes show cars from the 50s and 60s. As far as I'm concerned, the show is shit from then on, and I can't trust any of it.
Worked as an extra on "October Sky" back in the 90s. Got to drive a 40s Mopar coupe in one scene, because the PAs couldn't find anybody else who could drive 3 on the tree. I don't think that movie made any car prop mistakes that I can remember. The family drove a 51 Merc 4 door that was green. The guy who really owned that Merc was a friend of mine. He was a little surprised that they painted his beautiful pale yellow Merc a shitty green, and didn't tell him they were going to do it. He was pissed about all the scratches, dings, and damage, too, mostly from the cameras clamped all over the car for the driving scenes. The production company did pay him for the damages after they were done. Never knew how much they paid Mr. King, but he never repainted it.

 

Just remember folks......that's "Hollywood".......entertainment only!

 

Did any of watch that disaster that The History Channel made about the Auto Industry and the men that made it? My god they could not have forked that up any more if they had tried. Non of the vehicles were right for the time frames shown. The one that really got me was Deloren is driving some sort of Buick all the while they are talking about how he transformed Pontiac. You would think that here they are talking about specific vehicles, manufactures and the men that built these companies they would have the correct vehicles being shown and gone the extra mile to verify all of it. What a crap fest.

 

In the film Tora, Tora, Tora about the Pearl Harbor attack, An attache in Washington DC is being driven around in an Olds business coupe, trying to get the word out. Everything was okay for me until I noticed that the steering wheel has one of those vinyl wrap covers from the seventies.

 

The Quentin Tarantino movie Once upon a time in Hollywood got it right. The cars, movie sets, soundtrack were right on the money. There was even an radio ad for Lions dragstrip on KHJ radio 930 when Cliff Booth was driving the Caddy. Fantastic show.

 

Most movies do a poor job of this. Makes me feel they think their viewers are morons.
The two best examples I know of are : A.G. for cars. And The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
for fire arms.

 

There was a Starz series about Miami in 1959 a few years ago called Magic City. The cars came from collectors all over south Florida. It was a nice gig. If they needed a car you had for an episode, you went down to the set and you were the only one to drive it or park it where it was needed. They paid a decent Per Diem and the breakfast, lunch and dinner catering was like a cruise ship. They tried hard to get it right. Some of the days were pretty long.

 

i like the red and white yeild signs in the movies that supposed to have taken place in the 50's and early 60's. i don't remember what year they changed but i do remember it.

 

Yeah that was just chock full of mistakes, it was really tough to watch as it was just filled with mistakes. The worst was the part on the small block chevy and they are driving a Mercury!

 

I'd always laugh when watching a TV show such as The Streets of San Francisco, showing them taking off down the road in their LTD four door with the sound track from a four speed car.

 

Just saw a recreation of the take-down of Ma Barker & her boys in 1935 on Nat Geo channel. FBI shows up in a !940 Ford Deluxe Tudor

A Christmas Story: Supposed to be taking place in Pre-war Indiana. When Flick gets his tongue stuck to the flag pole, a 1942-47 Ford fire truck and a 1946-48 Ford police car show up. OH FUDGE

 

We went to see the movie Green Book. They travel city to city thru out the south. There is a late forties Plymouth/ Dodge three window that some how is in the back ground in damn near every town they go to. I'm sure there are other cars but for some reason the mopar really stuck out to me.

 

Well, I glad to hear, that I am not alone on this! My wife gets kinda irritated at me doing that with cars and guns in movies and tv programs. I just can’t help it! It’s fun for me. I even joined a “ bloopers” group on one tv show, where we critic all 170 or so episodes...... oh I know I need help!






Bones

 

They used my 1946 Harley in a movie starring Steve McQueens son, Chad and my Harley was covered with dust from Sturgis. I asked if they wanted me to clean it. They said yes but most roads were dirt after WWII and most cars were covered with dust. If you washed your car before you left the house, you couldn't tell it by the time you got to paved road. Another thing was most cars back then had a dent or a hubcap missing or maybe only one whitewall. Notice all the cars in movies are clean and no dents.

 

My bro and I were in a movie about a year ago with his 64 fury, he drove I rode shotgun, two long days. Full access to the Kraft truck (good food) and a buffet in the afternoon both days. They paid 500 per day so a grand. I'm retired but he took 2 days of work with his boss's blessing.
Still haven't seen the film but the cars and trucks we seen were period as were the costumes circa 68/69 small town PA during the draft for Viet Nam,,,,, They cut a check for him, he bought me a case of good whiskey. Life is good.

 

This from someone that must be a movie guy as he has a Peterbuilt 281 in his avatar that was a movie star chasing Dennis Weaver in the 'thriller' Duel we were all much younger back then

 

Not just cars and trucks. The Last of the Mohicans movie with Daniel Day Lewis had canoes with aluminum seats...

 

Yep, they really did get it correct with cars, costumes, music, odds and ends that really evoked the era. But Tarantino is known to be compulsive regarding details.

 

I saw that movie when it just came out. The advertising with the bunny costume really did that movie a disservice. I was one of five or six in the theatre and it only lasted a week or two. However it is now hyper popular. I thought it took place post war or perhaps early fifties. Anyway, I had my '42 Fargo in th sequel filmed here in beautiful BBY and New Westminster BC. They paid well.

 

The one that bugs me is a shot of a hot rod or muscle car driving away from the camera with obvious 4 cylinder noise....