Wanted old car movie, need help with I.D. of it.

[hvychev]

Im sure that most of you know that the 55 Chevy that was in Two Lane Blacktop was the exact same car that was in American Grafitti. They just painted it primer and added some goodies to it. Legend has it the it is sitting in a barn somwhere on the west coast.

[hvychev]

Whitetop we must have been writing at the same time!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[budnate]

Not so guys, i have to look for the issue i just got it like last month or so, anyway the other car was the Camera car and was located up in BC and now in Cal'i being put back the way it was in the movie, the guy that rigged'em is still around and offering up his templates for the seats and other stuff, I will look in the morning and post up the mag, real good reading, i think it was in my Chevy Hi-Perf issue, the guy has it looking real good and is on the cover of the issue. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

[55chevy]

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. Actually it's like this. There were 3 55's made for TLB by Richard Ruth in 1970. 2 were nearly identical in all aspects suspension, looks, etc. except for engines. The most popular one was the drive car with the tunnel rammed 427. This car was also used in an episode of Adam 12 in full TLB trim. This is also the car that got a makeover for use in American Graffitti. This car now resides somewhere in Maryland and most of the original Ruth built parts are gone as whitetop stated. Budnate got it right with the recently found 2nd car that was used for interior shots. This car carried all the framework for exterior camaras and crap and appeared the same as car #1 except it had an LS5 454 4bbl and had a holley mounted on a piece of sheetmetal to give the appearance of the tunnel ram through the windshield in some shots. This car was recently found in Canada and had spent most of it's life since TLB as an American Graffitti clone! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] A good deal of the original parts were missing on this car as well, most notably the custom straight axle front suspension and custom fenderwell headers. Someone mounted a Camaro sub-frame to it. A few of the original fiberglass parts were found and the man who built the car to begin with (Ruth) is aiding in its restoration to full Two Lane Blacktop trim. (btw, if you want to see Richard Ruth he is in the movie, He is the guy in the white shirt who walks over and checks out the car when they stop for gas and asks about the headers). The 3rd car was just a rolling junker they were going to use for a rollover crash scene that was never filmed for TLB. I belive that car was used in the roll over scene in Graffitti. And there was a 4th car used in Graffitti for the car that burned after the roll over if you didn't know that. Just this past year the two original TLB 55's were displayed together for the first time since the filming of the movie at a show in Maryland. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Now I'm getting the urge to pop in TLB and watch it for the 1000th + time. The sounds that 55 makes when James rows the M22 through the gears just gets the old blood flowing [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] "Run 'er flat out for a while"
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

Ed

[copo69]

Whitetop, Checked and it shows Culp in both "Hot Rod" and "Outrage". Sorry to hear AG '55 is being screwed up.

web page

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Pop in 'Dazed and Confused', it has some pretty good car scenes - press your 'mute' button though, it's a forgettable storyline!

[resto4u]

corky's cuda is for sale. I remember seeing this recently. May have been on cars online.com Roger

[whitetop]

Copo69
You are right. Robert Culp played Dr. Jim Kiler on Outrage-1973.
Great movie. I saw it 2 times and wish I had taped it.
What was the third car? I remember the Nomad and Camaro pretty well. I'm thinking it was an ElCamino of sorts?

[budnate]

55 chevy, The story I read said the third car was a driver with a LS-5 TH-400 with extra rollcage work, The idea for that car was when he spun out in the field scene they were supposed to roll over the third car up on the Highway, But no-one on the filming crew had the exsperiance or maybe the nerve to do it, Richard said he had riged the brakes independent left and right to help roll the car. it was the one rolled in the end of AG like you say, then they burned a beater, The LS-5 was pulled after the movie and the rest sold for junk, at least thats what the story says in my, Feb,Chevy High Performance, Like I said great reading I never new about the third car, But did notice the two diff cars in the roll over and burn in AG like everyone else. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[JoeC]

There are a few AG web pages with info on the 55
http://kathyschrock.net/graffiti/55.htm