1957 Ford Thunderbird in Breathless

It has been awhile since I saw this classic 80's gem.  But one thing I did remember about Breathless was the nice rotation of cars that Richard Gere drove.  He stole them, for the most part.  Towards the end of the movie, he was riding around in a red Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, a very rare car.  Before that, he stole a sky blue 1957 Ford Thunderbird from some poor woman.

Both cars were great and I'll likely post about the Cadillac sometime in the future.  But the '57 T-Bird was rich in history.  First of all, it was a very popular, two seater 'personal' car that was introduced by Ford to counter the Corvettes.  21,380 Thunderbirds were made in 1957 to the Corvette's 9,168.  More than a 2:1 ratio.  However, this was the last year 2-seater Thunderbirds were made despite its popularity. It wasn't until 2002 when 2-seater models came back as part of Ford's attempt to revive their Thunderbird brand.

1970 Oldsmobile 442 from The Hitcher

From the shelf of a local rental store, the poster for the 2007 movie, The Hitcher, looks tempting.  It's stars Sean Bean who most remember as Boromir from Lords of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring.  Sean Bean also stars in The Island.  I posted on the truck that Steve Buscemi drove in the movie, a Chevy SSR.

In any case, Sean Bean stars as John Ryder, the main nemesis.  This movie is a remake of an 80's film that starred Rutger Hauer as John Ryder.  The 80's movie is a classic, so Mr. Bean had big shoes to fill.

1969 Pontiac GTO Judge from Sex Drive

I rented the DVD for Sex Drive and it was hilarious.  A teen movie about a guy, barely out of high school, who went for a long drive to hook up with a girl he met online to lose his virginity.  It's a road trip movie!  And Ian (Josh Zuckerman) took two of his buddies along with him, Felicia (Amanda Crew) and Lance (Clark Duke).  Of course, they had plenty of mishaps along the way and one of their rescuers was Ezekiel, an Amish mechanic played by Seth Green.  Yes, that's an Amish who can fix cars.  The small scenes with Ezekiel were worth watching alone.  Seth Green's sardonic delivery of a perceived somber and serious character really made me chuckle.

A road trip movie is not complete without a car.  In Sex Drive, the car was an orange 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge.  In fact, the car was constantly referred to simply as "The Judge" by it's owner Rex (James Mardsen), Ian's bullying older brother.  There were quite a lot of scenes with the GTO in action.  It raced a green Mitsubishi Eclipse in an open stretch of highway.  Drove through a patch of corn field as the three teenagers were trying to escape from a vengeful boyfriend.  It ended up jumping onto a highway from the cornfield.  It received a large dent as the vengeful boyfriend eventually caught up to Ian, Lance, and Felicia towards the end of the movie and rammed The Judge with his Ford F-150.  Here's a movie review by UltimateGTO.com.

I referred to the Pontiac GTO Judge in a previous post.  My best friend's father was a mechanic and Shell station owner while we were growing up.  He fixed cars and sold them, but sometimes used them first.  I thought one of the cars was GTO but I couldn't remember the year and model.  But it was blue and could have been a Judge.

1970 Dodge Challenger R/T from Death Proof

What other car can hold candle to the 1969 Dodge Charger?  Another Dodge.  A 1970 Dodge Challenger RT, at least that's according to Quentin Tarantino when he shot the car chase in Death Proof.

The scene is famous because of 3 things

1. It was a long chase, close to 20 minutes, I believe.


2. Incredible stunts by the co-star and professional stunt woman, Zoe Bell.  She practically made love to the Challenger as she rolled around on the hood.


3. White Dodge Challenger vs. Black Dodge Charger -- two HEMI cars with nothing but raw power at their disposal.

The Dodge Challenger is an homage from the movie Vanishing Point, which I still yet have to see.  But it is clearly referenced by Zoe and Tracie Thom.

1957 Ford Fairlane Convertible 500 Skyliner from The Lost Boys

In The Lost Boys, one of the cookier moments was when Sam (Corey Haim) went with Grandpa (Barnard Hughes) for a short "ride" in Grandpa's car, a 1957 Ford Fairlane Convertible 500 Skyliner with Retractable Hardtop.  If I remember correctly, Grandpa fired up the car only to have it backdown the driveway, idle it for a few minutes, and back into the garage.  That was Grandpa's secret in maintaining the car in tip top shape all those years.  Eventually, the car was put to use by Sam when he and the Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) rescued Michael (Jason Patric) from the vampires.  Other than that, I don't remember the car being any other scene.

The Skyliner model was introduced by Ford in 1957 as a full-size family car.  It was part of the Ford Fairlane 500 series and absorbed into the Ford Galaxie series in 1959.  At the time, Skyliners were equipped with a 292 cubic inch V-8 rated 145 hp at 4000 rpm.  They also had Holley two-barrel carburetors.

What made the Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner unique was the retractable hardtop metal roof.  Automatic mechanism brought the roof up and folded it neatly within a space in the trunk area.  Sadly, the complex mechanism was susceptible to failure and limited the usable trunk space.  Still, the Skyliner was very popular in its first year, selling 20,766 units.  Ateupwithmotor.com has a great historical look on the Ford Skyliner.

2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP RIP Transformers Jazz RIP Pontiac

In the 2007 Transformers movie, Jazz was ripped in two by Megatron.  He didn't make it to the end of the movie.  Ratchet couldn't save him.  Which was too bad.  He seemed like a pretty cool character to have around.  It's surprising that he had a short-lived role in the Transformers series because I thought he was pretty popular in the cartoons where he transformed into a Porsche 935 Turbo.

In the movie, he had a different alter-ego.  Jazz turned into a silver 2007 Pontiac Solstice GXP.  A two seater roadster, making him one of the smaller Autobots.  So of course, he didn't stand a chance against a much bigger Megatron.

Another interesting thing about Jazz's demise is that the 2009 Solstice is going to be the last of the Pontiacs to be built, as reported by The New York Times.  GM's decision to phase out the Pontiac brand is well-known by now.  They are only sticking with Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac brands.  So perhaps Jazz's death in 2007 was foretelling the things to come because he's not continuing with the movie series.  Additionally, the NYTimes review is not kind to the Solstice.

1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville from 3000 Miles to Graceland

3000 Miles to Graceland is an underrated movie.  It's great action / comedy film pulled off by two of the most fun actors to watch, Kevin Costner (Murphy) and Kurt Russell (Michael Zane). In Murphy, Costner has created an enigmatic character that is both loved and hated by fans of the movie.  Courtney Cox (Cybil) is at her best as a super hot, charming and conniving single mother.

There are two great shoot out scenes.  One in the casino.  The other in the warehouse.

Cars play minor parts.  But two stand out immediately: Murphy's black Lincoln Continental and the subject of this post, Michael's red 1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville with white top.

The Caddy is one nice car.  You'll remember it just from the trailer.  Michael keeps it clean.  He even has silver skull-shaped tire caps that's begging to be stolen.  In the movie, the car goes through some tough times, but none of them are car chases and shoot outs.  It falls in a ditch, after running over a coyote.  It has been towed, presumably, to an impound with Courtney Cox inside.  And eventually, Michael ditches it to sink in a river.

1974 Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible from Sixteen Candles

Only in a handful of very short scenes, the 1974 Rollsy Royce Corniche that Jake loaned Farmer Ted (geek) to drive Caroline (hot drunk blond) home really gave a lasting impression.  I mean, back in high school, how'd you like to wake up in a parking with a hot blond in an expensive luxury car?  To top it off, no one remembered what happened, but someone had birth control pills.

Rolls Royces are really sweet.  Maybe the top of the pyramid for luxury cars.  But what else can you expect from a car maker who also made airplanes and jet engines.  In 1973, the car division was split off on its own as Rolls Royce Motors.

Maserati 3200 GT from Underworld - Maserati Coupe

I find it interesting that in a movie about warring vampires and werewolves, there are some kick ass cars to ogle.  Perhaps maybe because in the same movie about warring vampires and werewolves, they also have guns to ogle.

I'm a sucker for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror flicks.  In Underworld, modern day vampires and werewolves continue their centuries long blood feud using human technology.  So they play with guns and cars, just the way we humans do.

The vampires have particularly great taste in cars.  They drive around in Jaguars and Maseratis.  The one that caught my eye is the silver Maserati 3200 GT that Selene (played by Kate Beckinsale) drove in the second half of the movie.

The luxury coupe looks sleek and sounds great.  Too bad it's not being made anymore.  It has been in production from 1998 until 2001.  And it has never been sold in the US, just largely Europe.  It does have an American successor, the Maserati Coupe, which has been introduced in the US in 2002 as Maseratis returned to North America after an 11 year absence.

1960 Chevy Corvette from Less Than Zero

In a movie about parties and drug abuse by Beverly Hills rich kids, there has to be something in there about a nice car or two.  In Less Than Zero, starring Robert Downey Jr, Andrew McCarthy, and Jamie Gertz, a classic 1959 Chevrolet Corvette made an appearance.  And for many, it was the best thing about the movie.

I only recall two scenes involving the red classic Corvette -- when Andrew was kissing Jamie after going through the tunnel with a bunch of motorcycle riding past them and when Robert Downey Jr. died on the passenger side at the end of the movie.  For the most part, that's all I remember about the movie.

I'm unsure whether or not the Corvette was a '58, '59, or '60.  All three years had the same body, including the distinctive front grille, kind of a toothy smile.  Sweet car.  Powered by a 283 cubic inch V8 rated at 230 horsepower.  Options included a detachable hardtop.  And it came with eight color choices: black, white, turquoise, blue, silver, green, red, and maroon.

What a great sports car!

1979 Porsche 928 in Risky Business

If you're trying to get away from a someone named Guido the killer pimp, don't you think that it's a good idea to do it in a fast, sleek Porsche?  Luckily for Joel Goodsen (played by Tom Cruise) and his friend Miles (played by Curtis Armstrong aka Booger from Revenge of the Nerds) they had one during the car chase scene in the movie Risky Business.

Joel borrowed his dad's Porsche 928 for the night.  That's a really sweet car.  Too bad it ended up in the river.  I admired the car when I first saw the movie, not in the theaters but on cable.  It sounded so powerful.  According to IMDB, though,

"The exhaust and engine sounds were dubbed from another Porsche 928 that had a hole in its rear muffler, therefore created much louder sound that a stock 928."

Still, it's a nice car.  In fact, several Porsche 928s were used in the movie.  And they were not all the same year.  Mainly '79s and '81s were used.  The '79 version was used for most of the wide shots where the entire car was scene including the car chase.

1969 Ford Bronco Sport in Cellular

Jason Statham, who is a staple of today's action movies, will be in this blog quite a bit.  He's already in 3 other posts, driving 3 other cars: MINI Cooper S in The Italian Job, Audi A8L in Transporter 3, and a Ford Mustang GT in Death Race.

In Cellular, it wasn't any car that Jason Statham drove that caught my attention.  It was the Bronco that Chris Evan drove in the beginning.  A 1969 Ford Bronco Sport.  The SUV stood out because it reminded me of an afternoon ride, along time ago, up and down PCH with a friend's older cousin.  We were still too young to drive, so we had a blast.  His cousin took us to Venice Beach and it was all a good time.  I don't know exactly what year Bronco it was, but the color was similar and the build (half-cab configuration?).

Chevrolet SSR in The Island

I got a chance to watch a 2005 Michael Bay movie that I had not seen in the big screen.  It's called The Island, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlet Johansen.  An interesting sci-fi film.  With Michael Bay at the helm, there were plenty of things blowing up and, of course, car chases (see Transformers and The Rock).  This time around, the car that caught my attention was the one owned by Steve Buscemi's character, a Chevrolet SSR.  I've been seeing these sporty trucks all around Southern California and glad that I'm getting the chance to write a post in this blog about them.

Earlier in the decade (2000-04'ish), I began noticing cars with retro designs.  Specifically, the PT Cruiser, the Chevrolet HHR, and the Ford Thunderbird.  By retro, I mean these styles go back to the early 50's and before.  I'm talking during the days when Kaiser Dragons were still being made and De Sotos were all over the place.  The idea to revive the classic designs were great.  It certainly rekindled the interest in T-birds, which was a waning brand for Ford.