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PHOTO: My old 1957 Jaguar XK140MC roadster
Mates,
While watching “Brideshead Revisited”, I was struck by the correctness of the cars- Julia starts out with a little 20's skiff-bodied roadster and later uses an Aston Martin, Lady Marchmain doesn’t appear in the usual Rolls, but has some unknown but expensive D-Back limousine. Lord Marchmain however does return to Brideshead in a Phantom II Rolls.
This episode reminded me that as a long-time car enthusaist I always take note of the cars in films and sometimes remember the cars more than the movie. I find it distracting when they get the cars wrong, for example in “Apollo 13", the Corvettes for the astronauts were correct, but the parking lot in one scene was filled with GM convertibles that appeared to be all alike. Even when it’s only a few seconds of cars that are obviously modernised colours, the wrong hub caps and wide tyres, or too colourful- period movies of the 30's where every car is bright coloured sports model whereas most cars were dark or even black boxy saloons. Look at the street scenes near the end of “The Untouchables” and about every car appears to be a black Model A- and that’s probably exactly what you would have seen.
Some memorable cars in movies/tv: An early 30's Fred Astaire movie has him in an MG PA chasing the love interest’s Duesenberg- (and, the 45HP car catches the 265HP one), Isadora Duncan getting killed when her scarf is caught in the wheels of a Grand Prix Bugatti (while she was actually killed in an Amilcar), the “Madame X” Cadillac V16 in “Lady for a Day”, the custom Buick in “Topper”, Bogart’s Hispano-Suiza in “Beat the Devil- this goes over a cliff near the beginning, Mastronianiannianni’s Triumph TR3 in “La Dolce Vita”, the various contrivances of “The Great Race”, The “Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang”, The Mustang GT350 in “Bullitt” jumping the streets of San Francisco, Hoffman’s Alfa Romeo Spider in The Graduate” (here’s to you Mrs Robinson), Hemming’s special Rolls ParkWard convertible in “Blow Up”, Bertie Wooster’s 1931 Aston Martin International in the Jeeves and Wooster series, Fiennes’ 4 litre Bentley in “The Avengers”, the Lotus 7 in the opening scenes of “The Prisoner”, Cagney’s Mercedes 300SE “Adenauer” in “One Two Three”, the big Plymouth coupe that stars in “Christine”- about an evil car that at least restores itself!, Cary Grant’s 1940 Buick 90 convertible coupe in “Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream house”, the Batmobile! in it’s various carnations, but the current one is actually a very interesting design that works, the cars in the wild, fatal race near the end of “On the Beach”- and so on and so on. I have a million of ‘em.
Does anyone else have favourite cars in movies? Or, movies where the cars are all wrong?
Cheers,
Bambi B
-About 35 cars since 1974
Follow Ups:
...
Going on memory here, did Jane have a dark grey 356 in "Coming Home" and Jacqueline a yellow one in "Bullitt"?
Nice Jaguar,
.
Gumball Rally- main characters drive a Cobra 427 and a Ferrari Daytona Convertible respectively. Other cars featured- Mercedes 300 SL Roadster, Jag XKE (that wouldn't run), Rolls Silver Cloud.
Avengers (TV Show) Lotus Elite and Blower Bentley
Sunset Boulevard- Hispano Suiza
Spinout (Elvis Movie)- several Ferrari's, Cobras, Old Yaller (!), Cooper Monaco and Lotus 19
The Last Run- BMW 507
The Transporter- Various late model BMW and Audi sedans driven at high speed throughout Europe
Best,
Ross
Mates,
I neglected to include the cars of James Bond- these were carefully chosen form the beginning to support Bond's personal style and of course the Aston Martin DB5 in "Goldfinger" is the most famous. It's interesting that Bond chases the girl in the Mustang conv. and seems to have had difficulty in catching her- and that Mustang was a straight six one!
The DB5 was not a screamer- it was just too heavy. Fans of "Top Gear" may have seen the drag race between an XKE, a DB6, and a Honda Accord V-6. Guess which car was the clear winner!
Goldfinger's Rolls was a fun choice too- I don't remember if that was a late 30's- '36 to '38 Phantom II or III. The body was a very dull "D-back" design- looking more like 1934. It was probably a Phantom III as it would need the V-12 power to lug that solid gold body- and I seem to remember the bonnet looked a bit shorter- the Phantom I's and II's had long bonnet for the straight 6 but for some reason PIII's were shorter. Phantom III's though were notorious as they had a Aluminium block with steel liners and if you used the wrong coolant, a lot of those made had - porous blocks and heads and they would disintegrate. I think a complete rebuild today of a PIII V-12 would be $20,000+- they cut the block and heads into sections and weld up the inside coolant passages!
The other Bond cars became less and less distinguished as time went on- the Aston DBS was a V-8 truck. When the producers realized the Bond car choices were being noticed, they became just silly product placements for BMW and the like. The Lotus Esprit- that transformed into a submarine- was a good one though. And, Craig's DB9 in "Casino Royale" was just fine- my ideal car. If I won the lottery I'd probably have a DB9 the nest day!
Cheers,
Bambi B
It was our youth.
Nobody can buy that.
The link below is an internet resource where you can look up any car brand and model listed and it will show you an image of it used in various movies. Check it out.
Just found the coolest car in "Bullitt"
Thanks
to one seen in 'Ronin'.
Edits: 02/23/10
.
LA Confidential + American Beauty
GW
GW
in the french movie Man and a Woman.
Des
...the soundtrack is that of a car that clearly has a manual transmission (lots of shifting going on), but then you see the driver throw the stalk on the steering wheel column into park when he gets out.
The old Burt Reynolds "Gator McKlusky " film was infamous for this.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom : Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it.
As in Smokey and the Bandit the Trans-Am (Automatic) motor soundtrack is the dual quad 454 (four speed) featured in Two Lane Blacktop.
nt
Patrick,
Yes, "To Catch a Thief" had two interesting cars- Cary Grant had a big Delahaye 135M Cabriolet- I'd guess 1947 or 1948. I think that was the last model made by Delahaye.
Delahayes always had theatrical bodies- with long swoopy curves. I think the Cary Grant one was probably a Figoni and Falaschi custom and they were about the swoopiest cars ever made- look a for a picture of the prewar F&F bodied Talbot-Lago - it's almost obscenely curvaceous! Delahayes were unusual in that they had a two speed back axle so you could choose among eight speeds forward and two speeds reverse.
Grace Kelly drives that blue Sunbeam Talbot over the mountain road effectively- watch Cary Grant holding on for his life when they're being chased! The chase car was one that I'm sure you remember- an early 50's Citroen Traction Avant - early front wheel drive and very low, known as a "gangster's" car at the time.
More good car choices from Hitchcock!
Cheers,
Bambi B
Yes he had a fine taste for women and..Cars.
Remember him sitting in a chair in front of the Carlton, with his too o so lavish, tanned Cary Grant and a whitish delicate waiting to be princess Grace of Monaco.
The " curved " part of the film was made on the Moyenne Corniche, or what it the Haute Corniche, from Nice to Monte-Carlo.
Thank you for taking time to find out the cars!
I am just watching the fourth series of DVD´s just out right now.
Not all the TV films are excellent but all are more than worth.
Have a nice day Bambi B-
Was my inspiration to get into land yachts.First the Impala - purchased only a few months after watching the movie. Great cheap fun. I went from a Fiat 500 to this .............
Then the Buick Riviera. More decadent.
Finally, the closest I got to the Bluesmobile - a big block 1978 Chrysler Cordoba - purchased for $300 at Little Eddies Used Cars in Tampa. Straight thru exhaust, trashed suspension, broken air con, broken heater, no cigarette lighter :~)
I drove it over 10,000 miles in a couple of months and sold in LA for $250. Sorry for the crap piccy of a piccy - originally taken somewhere in New Mexico or maybe Arizona.
I still love the Blues Brothers and would kill for a boattail 72 Buick Riviera - But my current home simply will not take a land yacht.Cheers,
John K
Edits: 02/20/10
..sometimes driven on the wrong side of the road in "The Birds".
Cheers, Craig
six cars since 1974
PHOTO: Tippi Hedren cruising Bodega Bay in her 1954 Aston Martin DB2
Craiger56,
Yes, I had thought about and then forgotten to include the Aston-Martin DB2/4 Tickford in "The Birds" from the list of great movie car choices. It's important as it is so exotic in the Bodega Bay town with all the Fords and shows Hedren's character as wild- and rich. Remember the scene showing the love birds in the cage tilt as the car is going around curves? It's interesting too as it's the fragile, cramped Aston the four survivors use to drive away after the big bird attack. We know from a scene outside the bird store at the very beginning that Rod Taylor had a white 1962 Ford Galaxie 500- a big 4-door with a steel roof- much safer than the Aston's skimpy canvas rag top. And, since we saw the birds peck through a solid oak door it was a very odd choice. Maybe Taylor just wanted to drive the exotic instead of the matronly Ford!
Hitchcock made another interesting choice in cars in "Vertigo" Kim Novac, the rich shipbuilder's wife- drove a Jaguar MK VIII- like a sporty Bentley and we see James Stewart following this two tone green Jaguar all over. The car kept acting as a the kind of marker for where Novac was- the flower shop, the museum, the boarding house,the apartment, and etc. Stewart has a Desoto coupe- perfect for his character- conservative and with a down to earth refinement of taste. The Desoto was a 1956 I think- a car that one of the better-looking American cars then. All the '56 Chryslers were good looking. I had a 1955 Cadillac CoupedeVille and it was a hippo next to the Chryslers.
And, we can't forget when Cary Grant, forced to drink Bourbon in "North by Northwest" was put into a 1959 Mercedes 220SE cabriolet so he would crash it off a cliff. Instead, the MB gets crashed into by a police car.
Cheers,
Bambi B
a '66 Jag 3.4 (going on memory, could have been a 3.8?) w/electric overdrive toggle.
Damned fine car. No electrical problems, either, probably because the dealership's owner was a very scrupulous Englishman (this was Boston).
Speaking of which, I really liked the 420G that was featured in the movie The Krays (about twin British gangsters).
PHOTOS: Jaguar C-Type at the Pebble Beach Concours and below an XKSSLarry I,
Thanks- I've long been a Jaguar enthusiast and had that XK140 for 22 years. I bought that car when I passed up a basket case actual C-Type racing car for $12,000- the worst car mistake I ever made. The C-Type was the most beautiful racing car ever -and they're $2,000,000 now. Well, actually I made another error as I passed up a Ferrari Lusso- only 50 made- for $41,000 too,... I drove the XK140 to the Pebble Beach car weekend twice and drove it around Laguna Seca the years Jaguar was featured. My dream car after the C-Type has been a 1957 XKSS, but as there were only 16 made before a factory fire Ihave to settle for a replica. I saw Steve McQueen's XKSS at Laguna Seca once. My brother is a Jag fan too- he had an XKE for high school graduation- which he rolled and was replaced by a Ford, then a 96 XJ6- which used to cost him $400/month to maintain, still has a 2004 XJ8 and recently bought an XKR coupe. He said the XKR would be only for "special occasions", but since he's had it, I think he sleeps in it!
I somehow missed the movie about the Krays so missed the 420G. Those seemed at the time to be immensely large cars, but just fantastic interiors- like a Bentley.
The Krays: When I lived in London in the 70's there was a neighbour- who was a restaurant owner with 11 Rolls-Royces that he hired out as a side line. These cars often sat a long time without moving and I once gave a Silver Cloud a jump start with my 1952 Morris Minor. This fellow had known the Krays in the 60's, but never would talk about them even though both had been sent to prison a couple of years before- they still had "reach". The Krays were so terrifyingly violent that ordinary Londoners who knew anything about them were reluctant to even mention their names as though saying their name would cause them to appear. This neighbour, by the way, was found murdered in his office in 1976, but of course the Krays had nothing to do with it- and I didn't hear a thing and would never associate them with that.
I'll have to look into the Krays' movie- I'll bet it's very relaxing.
Cheers,Bambi B
Edits: 02/19/10
fictionalized screen stories that are as bad or worse and the story-telling and acting don't elevate the film above the mundane. The Pusher trilogy is far better.... excellent, actually.
You should know that!
Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
PHOTO: Another of my favourite race cars forms- a 1949 Ferrari 166MM Barchetta. Notice the 1930 Alfa Romeo 1750 in the background too- another shapely Italian. Below: The 166MM had the gearshift wonderfully marked in Roman Numerals !
mr. g,
That is indeed another great one- and it was an elegant design inside as well as outside- the structure really is like a bird cage- as designed by Frank Gehry. I always thought the Birdcage was an odd fish- they're extrmely modern- the stucture and the outside form was quite advanced in 1959 in that they had about 3-Litre engines that were four cylinder- as though it was a 1914 Stutz Bearcat. Three Litre Ferrari engines in 1959 were V-12's- they had made V-12's that were only 1.5's. Engine designers knew that more pistons meant greater valves surface and also better thermodynamic behaviour- large cylinders don't have as efficient ignition. The Birdcage engine make a really odd sound too- thumpy and pulsating like Offenhausers as compared to the whine of V-12's. I'll bet you can buy recordings of those engines- and I cold listen all night! A really striking design the Tipo 61. There was a legend about the birdcage that they were incredibly fatal cars in crashes- the driver would get skewered with all those angular structural components compressed into your body. And, it was said that this awareness of the danger that made the drivers extra keen on avoiding walls!
Speaking of Maserati race cars, I was at the local used Ferrari / Maserati lot in Calabasas, CA a few months ago and they had this amazing polished Aluminium Maserati prototype from 1953. It was just beautiful- and tiny. Even though this one had had a serious racing life- all slightly tweaked - it was sleekly catlike and powerfully muscular at the same time- an Aluminium Leopard. And, those old Maserati engines were like watches. The Italians have no concept of what electrons do, but they make mechanical things an art. This dealer had the new Maserati series- the soupe, roaster and Quattroporte and the new look is even stronger than the the last one- nicely refined.
Another 50's race car I think it an absolute stunner is the Ferrari 166MM "Barchetta" -or "little boat"(photo above). These were almost miniature cars with 2-Litre V-12's that made that ripping canvas sound. Can you imagine allthose parts for 2-Litres! The bodies were just perfect, pure form and all the curves resolved into each other- fantastic. Still, the thing that I found the most delightful is the gearshift knob with the gears marked in Roman Numerals!
Those Italians- Mama mia !
Cheers,
Bambi B
P.S. The only Italian car out of 35 I ever had was a 1974 Fiat 124 "TC" - which was the boxy four door but with the engine from the 124 Spider sports car. It really was fun- like a larger, squarer Mini Cooper- vertical steering column and all. The short wheelbase, wheels at the corner, neat and fast 4-Speed shift, and high revving Spider engine made it fun- even sounded rorty- ripping sound on the overrun. Of course, all the electrical switches fell apart and it ate alternators for breakfast, but a lot of fun. I gave it to my girlfriend of the time, she drove it for three years and gave it back- she needed a larger car- and I sold it for what I paid- a lot of fun for $0.00.
The original Tipo 60 "Birdcage" Maserati was introduced in 1959 and used a 2 litre / 122 ci 4 cyl motor. It was designed to be a customer car, robust and easy to repair in the field. The Tipo 61 (next model) used a slightly larger versions of the same motor; 2.5 L and 2.9 L. These cars dominated US Sports Car racing in 59-60-61. By the early 60's Maserati, like Ferrari had changed to rear engined cars. The Tipo 63 was the 1st rear engined Birdcage and initially used the existing 4 cyl engines. A later version used a 2.5 L 12 Cyl engine derived from the motor used in the 250F Grand Prix car from 1957. Later versions also used a derrivative of the 4.5 L V-8 from the 450s and a larger 8 cyl motor derrived from the original Quatroporte sedan.
Beautiful cars that in their day were among the best racing cars in the world.
Best,
Ross
That old Daimler convertible.
PHOTO: A 1961 Morris Minor coupe I had as a parts car years ago (about 1995), sold on Ebay for $500. I had 5 Minors over the years, starting with a 1952 coupe I had in London in the 70's, license number NUR 401 -"Only 401" for you German speakers. In the photo above you can just see the back of my 1965 Volve 122S estate car which is now In Belgium.
Patricko!,
Yes, and there's another big Daimler in the movies, the blue one driven to Cornwall by Anthony Hopkins in "Remains of the Day". Daimlers were amazing as into the 1930's they still had a model with an engine designed in about 1914.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Bambi ho ( Wooster ),
Another beauty:
dont know what it is...
thanks
Phil
PhilJ,
Yes, and how about "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" spit and burble cycle car and the vivid three tone 1956 Chervolet bought by the father in "Mon Oncle"? The end of Mon Oncle also has a parade of cars around an airport and in the background is a Mercedes 300SL convertible. In "Trafic", Tati drives a silly kind of RV to a trade show.
Tati was the greatest!
Cheers,
Bambi B
GW
BB
with their fine use of period automobiles.
Of course with Tucker, not getting the car(s) right would just be so... Ed Woodsian.
Maybe Coppola is a car buff amongst his other interests?
I'm not much of a car buff though so naming specific cars from specific films isn't something I'd be adept at, though I can picture many of the ones (and specific scenes) that you've mentioned.
" Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination."ť -Michael McClure
musetap,Yes, of course Tucker is a car enthusiasts' dream movie- interesting to watch the depiction of the way the prototype Tucker was made. The green Tucker rolled at the test track scene was a glassfibre replica interestingly done with the rollover damage moulded in.
Gangsters often had great cars in the movies. "The Godfather" series had some interesting cars. Remember Sonny's Lincoln Continental coupe that he's driving when machine gunned at the toll booth? Also, deNiro drives an early Model T truck when he's just getting down to "business" in an early days' scene. When Spats Colombo (George Raft) goes to shoot informer Toothpick Charlie- the Valentine's Day massacre- In "Some Like It Hot", he bursts into the garage in a big Deusenburg J limousine, from the trim strips on the rear wings, I think with a custom Murphy body. In "The Sting" there are a lot of scenes with head gangster/banker Lonnegan's (Robert Shaw) blue 1936 Pierce-Arrow.
It's not a gangster car, but Faye Dunaway drives a yellow 1938 Packard Twelve convertible coupe in "Chinatown" and the pen and ink star Jessica Rabbit drives the exact same model in "Who framed Roger Rabbit".
I was reminded for some reason too, of the Kissel roaster that Donald O'Connor drives early on Singing in the Rain" It has a flat and O'Connor says, "I don't understand this car hasn't given me any trouble for six hours!"
Cheers,
Bambi B
Edits: 02/19/10
Man, you knows your automobiles!
The scene in Godfather II where Michael is going to visit Hyman Roth and is (slowly) driving that beautiful
red & black____ always stands out because that car is so beautiful and regal, and he drove it with the authority and
sureness of his character.
No noticable cars or car scenes in Godfather III (that I can remember), yet another disappointment therein!
Gangster films have certainly, traditionally featured the Detroit steel, though not always in the best interest of the vehicle!
Great version of a great car song in this video (if you're inclined)...
" Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination."ť -Michael McClure
.
Share a bowl of grits with someone you love tonight.
mr g,
And lest we forget, all those Mini Coopers in the two versions of "The Italian Job". I love the early version where the Mini's do gymnastics- drive down an interior stairway and over a levee. The originals were really like go-karts and really fun to drive , but I could never really fit them- long legs and 6'2".
Cheers,
Bambi B
I notice the cars, too. Often you'll see (aside from backround autos) that every car pertinent to the action is of one brand, or manufacturer. Sure enough, in the credits there is Ford, Chrysler, etc, listed as the sponsor. An example would be Goldfinger where, in the US sequences, the cars are Ford products.
geoff,
Yes, I often noticed in American movies that all the cars would be by teh same maker. In "A guide for the Married Man" everything are those nasty 60's Chrysler products, Walter Matthau drives an Imperail convertible- similar to the one Milton Berle drives in "It's a Mad. mad, mad mad World- and then when Matthau rents a car to drive to his assignation, it's a plain jane Plymouth.
Some movie star and car related stories: I saw Walter Matthau once at a car dealership in Encino California (Terry York), looking at a Rolls Corniche and himself looking quite pale and frail. That was about 1995 or so. The other movie related celebrity I saw at a car dealership was composer Danny Elfman at a Jaguar dealer (Galpin) and I also saw Bo Derek at a Jaguar service shop (Calabasas, CA). She was looking at me from a distance and kind of stared. I had designed a lot of houses in that neighbourhood and thought she may have lived in one. When she had gone, I asked the shop's owner, "That woman was sort of staring at me and I think recognised me, who is she?" She was tiny and freckled- no resembled to the goddess on the beach in "10". And finally, sighting stars and their cars: When I was going into the Maibu Deli -probably 1990 or so, Dick van Dyke held the door open for me and then walked over to a waiting Chrysler LeBaron convertible- the nasty K-car version- all white with a white top and white interior. The striking thing was that vanDyke was wearing a long white Kaftan robe- looked fresh from the ashram. I also had some hair-raising rides over a Malibu mountain in a well-known movie director's Humvee that he's had converted to the military version. Oh, one more- once at a Tower Records, I was nearly run over in the parking lot by in a big stretch limo featuring as passenger Kelsey Grammer. This was shortly after he'd crashed a Dodge Viper while drunk and I guess had had his licence suspended- hence the limo and driver.
I often thought it would be dangerous to sponsor movie cars in this way because it would then appear that criminals prefer Ford or whatever they chose. Actually, Clyde Barrow wrote Henry Ford that he always stole Ford V-8's "whenever I can" because they were so much faster than most cars in the mid 30's. -And they were.
Cheers,
Bambi B
while we were browsing at a Mercedes dealer in Beverly Hills(?). Also, I was waiting for a coffee shack to open at Watkins Glen early one morning. I turned around and there was Paul Newman (he was driving some Datsuns that weekend) - He and I talked about cars until we got sick of waiting. Very down to earth guy. My friend was running a LeCar POS.
so there are a disproportionate number of Ford/Mercuries in Hollywood films. Clever product placement + one manufacturer that didn't need Govt. bailouts
GW
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