Classic Cars in Films

I think I noticed a VW in herbie

Please re-read the first sentence. VW shall not apply

The first sentance reads "Here is a call for volunteers.". Dont see anything about VW's. <P>Seriously though, are you talking about "Full Classics" or just any rare and unusual car ? I mean the Godfather 2 has a 1942 Mercury Woodie in it. That is both rare and unusual. I applaud your effort, but you might want to give us a little more boundires.

Thanks Bill. My post to the Swede should have said "first line". Anyway , I begin to see the problem. The audience here has a much better than average chance to identify these ageless beauties. I wish that the film producers would include the car identies in the credits end. They mention everything but the kitchen sink. I have a hunch that if one would select to watch movies that have no "car-actors" the pickings would be quite slim. Americas love for the automobile is reflected in what we see in the movies. On other modes of transportation: one can readily identify the Zeppelin but some of the vintage airplanes are a challenge.

There is a beautiful Duesenberg Town Car in the Jimmy Stewart classic "It's a Wonderful Life". It appears near the end of the movie when his successful friend returns to loan him some money. Where is it today?

Last night on Turner Classic Movie channel, the movie "The Bank Dick" with W.C. Fields had a great multi-car chase scene. The various convertibles must have had some great suspension watching the high-speed maneuvering.

There was a Duesenberg crashed into an entry gate of an estate in the film, "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane," starring Betty Davis.

My all time favorite is "Sunset Blvd" with Gloria Swanson. If I recall correctly Gloria Swanson was driven around in a Hispano-Suiza town car. Another car that I wonder what ever happened to it.

Did anyone see the movie The Mummy Returns, or was it the Mummy 2, well anyway, I watch it the other night, they had a date in the start of the movie, I think it was 1932 or 1934, but when the bad guys drove up to Brandon Fraser house, they had, what look like to me, two 1937 Packard Club Sedans. Has anyone notice this, or is it only me?

Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" shows some wonderful late 1920's classics including a c.1925 Springfield RR Silver Ghost Roadster that gets some hard use. Lots of other Full Classics such as Packard and Cadillac Limos. Not to mention hundreds of other depression era Non Classics in the various street scenes.<BR> The movie "Chaplin" made in the 1990's about Charlie Chaplin's life shows some wonderful Full Classics during the 1920's and 1930's segments about his life.One scene shows a c. 1922 Locomobile Model 48 with a tonneau windsheild that may be considered a Full Classic since the vote was passed at the meeting this month to allow earlier pre-1925 vehicles to share the Full Classic status...<BR> As you can see, I am not only a fan of Full Classics, but of Chaplin as well.

Thanks to all the posters. I shall add all inputs to my web site in a suitable format, then look up one of the good movie databases to add items such as date, actor and of course, the reported car information. Keep up the good work! <P>Harry<P>PS: Favorite cars in my life were:<BR>1) 1964 Porsche 356C which I considered to be superior to the 911 which succeeded it. The body had all compound shapes with high stiffness. Driving a friends 911 I could easily spot the hood warping under certain conditions. like hitting a good pothole. The 356C met a horrible demise. After having the engine totally rebuilt and new paint/tires and Porsche tool kit, some hooligans loaded it (locked as it was) on a flatbed, took it out in the country side and took a blowtorch to it to remove the engine the easy way, then peppered the body with shotgun blasts. <P><BR>2) 1962 BMW 2800. In my humble opinion there was never such a ferocously efficient engine like this 2.8 liter powerhouse. One HP per cubic inch. While this may not impress some muscle car afficionados, I should mention that driving it hard it always got about 28-30 mhg. One economy run I tried (from the Alabama/Mississippi border) to Loop 12 in Dallas, it got 36 mpg. I kept the two gas receipts with mileage noted for a long time.

Probably not quite a classic as yet!. But does anyone remember Steven Speilbergs first ever film, Duel?<P>Well does anyone know what car Dennis Weaver was driving througout the film?<P>Sorry if it sounds a daft question, but im from the UK, so im not familier with cars of the US <P>Thanks

Dodge Dart

Hi Bavarian :<P>In your above "posts" you noted how well the big classics handled. OF COURSE ! That is the whole point of the TRUE classic car movement. Today, when the ordinary average car handles nearly as well as the most expensive luxury cars, it is hard to imagine what the classic era was all about. The fact was, the ordinary car buyer could not, and did not expect to receive the kind of blinding speed, quality, durability, and superior handling that the TRUE classic offered. <P>The more you study what the TRUE classic car was all about, the less you will be surprised as to why we found them so fascinating ! Compared to the ordinary old car of its day, they really were "engineering exaggerations, magicficently over-done"..<P>Pete Hartmann

What about the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I remember several old cars in that movie including a RollsRoyce Phantom something in that scene where the Nazis are asking a King's permission to search for the cup of Christ.

Not that it matters much, but the Dennis Weaver car in <I>Duel</I> was a 1970 Plymouth Valiant.

The car used in Sunset Boulevard was an Isotta Fraschini 8 8A. The movie has some great lines about the car (the movie is great fun, about cars in general, and everyone should have a copy). To roughly paraphrase the words of the great Norma Desmond: she paid $20,000 for her car and it was not one of those newfangled cars made of chromium and spit. The car is posted for sale on the auto collection/blackhawk for sale web site, though they have not posted a picture as of last week.<p>[ 04-02-2002: Message edited by: JOHN MERENESS ]

A good place to see Classic cars is of course<BR>Turner Classic Movies. Last night they offered "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" (Hard to put up on a movie house marquee!<P>Most of the story played out in London and surround. Possibly in the early twenties. There was a wonderful open roadster with a boat tail body design as a supporting actor.<BR>I could not identify it. It had two control levers (shift and clutch(?) outside the body near the driver.

In the Cadillac-LaSalle Club "Cadillac Database", of which I am the compiler<BR>[http://www.car-nection.com/yann], there is a section on "Cadillacs in the Movies". You may not find many CCCA full classics in the list, but it might offer a few interesting titles for movie lovers.<P>BTW Many of the early scenes in "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" were not filmed around London but in Scotland, at Floors Castle, Kelso, home of the current Duke and Duchess of Roxburgh.