Running on Empty Photos

Sputzwagon · Post by **Sputzwagon** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:10 pm

Here they are...Some old photos I took in the late 80's at the home of the two owners and their families in (you'll love this!) Kemps Creek NSW.

Enjoy...Scotty.

Smooth customs · Post by **Smooth customs** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 5:47 pm

The Fox and the 57 were stored in a factory around the road from my shop in Peakhurst in the early 80's.

I went and look at the chopped Chevy sedan in a car yard on Parramatta Rd in the mid to late 80's. Was in very sad condition.
After looking at it I mentioned that the last time I had seen it was in the movie.
Passed on buying it
The next time it was advertised it was listed as a movie car!

It was originally from the Northern Beaches area where I use to see it being driven in the late 70's when I was working over there.
And was featured in the original Street & Strip publications from the 70's

Has anyone noticed the flared 1/4 panels on the FOX???
They are not like that now!

Sputzwagon · Post by **Sputzwagon** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:36 pm

Paul,the flairs where screw on when you put the BIG tyres on!
Mopar never put 'em on ...these were taken the day he got the car!
Scotty

Harko · Post by **Harko** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:22 am

Fox pulled into the car wash along side of me at queenbeyanne NSW a number of years back , owned by a guy in QLD and had been resprayed with lextra lighning bolts .

The 57 I saw at a swap in the late 90s in a very run down state which was so dissapointing it horrifies me .

The movie is an icon and at a guess Id say Ive watched it atleast 60 times

Post by **Blacky** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:31 am

I think the Dodge lives in W.A. now, saw it over here a few months ago.

retro · Post by **retro** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:57 pm

i dont know what it is guys, but every time i see that chevy i want one..

I wonder what happend to the corvette,the gt, and best of all spags push bike???

Post by **Blacky** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:05 pm

One of the GT`s (there were 2) my mate ended up with - it was the one that got jumped early in the movie and the car was bent in the middle.
After the movie it was used in an insurance ad and they blew the windows out of it and burnt it from the tops of the doors up.
He bought it for 3 grand and we resprayed it to primer stage and thrashed the guts out of it for a while then he sold it to a panelbeater who restored it.
The one that was trashed in the Gazzard boys scene (driven off the back of the truck on fire and rolled over) was trashed.
Dunno about the Vette - or the pushy !!!

retro · Post by **retro** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:05 pm

blacky, imagine if they made the movie today, those gts and the monaro would probally take the movie to the big budget level.

Ohh and you gotta love the rods from the aces club.

mrs ratbox · Post by **mrs ratbox** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:41 pm

paul i looked at the chopped chev in a car yard on parrametta rd aswell, was it up the back in a shed?
at the time i can't remember if it had been stolen and burnt or if this happened after i'de seen it

Smooth customs · Post by **Smooth customs** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:00 am

I think I still have the advertisement for it somewhere

When I looked at it, there had been an engine bay fire? and the motor in it was just dropped in place and incomplete.

The front screen was broken and the interior was in sad shape as well
Bumpers and other bright ware was also missing

The sales guy was a real jerk!

For some reason I did not take a camera with me, wish I had now.

Sputzwagon · Post by **Sputzwagon** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:11 am

...another point of interest for the owners of the DVD...
hit the pause button at the end of the movie when Fox loses to Mike and heads straight for him just, as he passes Mike PAUSE..now frame forward slowly just before the explosion of the Dodge ..and viola it has magically turned into a VH Valiant (two or four door withe the pillars cut off).
Another little jem is when Mike is walking outside the Aces Club and passes the Dodge PAUSE there and look at the 'interm' sticker on the windscreen!
The Dodge was'nt even properly NSW rego'ed in the movie it was only fully rego'ed much later when Mark Mopar bought it in the late 80's after a fair bit of work to comply with NSW RTA standards.
Scotty.

customfc · Post by **customfc** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:24 pm

I saw the 57 in the carpark at a carshow in the 80's at Lansvale.

It was a rough car. I heard that the 57 flash was added later at some point. Anyone know this for sure?
I have some pics of the fox at All US Day at Castle Hill somewhere...I will have to dig 'em up.
Regards
Alex

mrs ratbox · Post by **mrs ratbox** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:52 pm

customfc time is doing it no favours either last i saw it

i remember talking to a guy that was driving it just after the movie came out, it was at a show at oran park, it wasn't the current owner the guy told me he owned it before the movie sold it to them then bought it back for a song, and i'm pretty sure he also said it started life as a 4 door

Smooth customs · Post by **Smooth customs** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:20 pm

Yes it did leave the factory with 4 doors.
Spoke to a guy in the mid 80's who said that he did the two door conversion and other body mods. He had no measurements for a Factory two door so he just made the doors the length he thought worked
After paint he was able to get some genuine mouldings! and guess what!
They were a different length.And were not fitted

In the early 90's I was asked about some movie work and met the owner of a company that did big things in the industry here and overseas.
He mentioned that ROE was either the first or one of the first he was responsable for all the cars used.
The Chevy was built with a good selection of go fast bits to make it as authentic as possible.
He later found out he could put a dressed up 253 in it and no one would have been any the wiser.

I have had involvement in other movie and TV cars from the US and locally and most are just visual props that have to be built as quickly and cheap as possible and last the length of the filming

Post by **Blacky** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:04 pm

The car that was tarted up and stuck into the wall in place of the Dodge was actually a Toyota Corona or Crown or something. It was a four door and we cut the b pillars out of the car to make it look like a 2 door. The car was chosen because it looked vaguely similar from the back which was pretty much all you could see in the movie.