Hot Rods American Graffiti Pick up

Ok Guys. I didn’t know where to list this so I put it here. Move it where it needs to be if it’s wrong.
There are a lot of you that are more knowledgable than me.
I was watching AG for the 250th time last night and noticed something I had never noticed before.
Remember when Curt was chasing the White T Bird on foot and stopped to watch TV /and sat on Gill Gonzales’s car. Then Bo Hopkins ( Joe the Pharaoh) came up with his side kicks and started to unfold Curt’s evening. It was kinda cool you have to admit.
Did anyone notice the Red Truck in front of Gills car? Look on the back.( Is that a parachute ?) And I also noticed a slight stance and what appears to be a set of Ansen /Halibrand Sprints all the way around with maybe a set of slicks. I didn’t see a release cable for the chute. Just can’t believe that I hadn’t noticed this before.
Anybody know the history on that specific ride?

 

Great now I need to watch it again lol good eye man!

 

Parachute on the tailgate? That’s a bold strategy cotton…

 

I see it’s currently back on Netflix…

 

Looks like a 40 Ford pickup.

 

That tailgate better have some good latches................

 

That has been talked about on here before best I can remember…don’t think anyone was familiar with that truck and most have never noticed the parachute. Modern day Easter egg.

 

I was born at Castle A.F.B. back in 53, just 30 miles from Modesto where George Lucas was from.
Even though American Graffiti wasn't shot in Modesto, as a kid cruising the drag on 17th street in Merced, back in my high school years, from 68 to 71, it was amazingly, very similar to the street scenes in the film.

One of the elements of George Lucas, that I grew to appreciate was his ability to be creative and be a hidden, visual prankster in his films. That parachute on the tailgate, was just a warm up of things to come.

When Spielberg made close encounters, he decorated the mother ship with bits and pieces of stuff from Starwars, if you look closely, you will find a V.W. bus, a small model of R2D2, and a variety of other well hidden stuff that was cleverly hidden in plain sight on the hull of the mother ship. Spielberg and Lucas had fun doing stuff like that associated with each others films. It kept the model makers busy having fun hiding stuff !

 

I noticed that truck in the movie a long time ago. I always thought it was out of place. One of the many wrong things in the movie. I doubt that would have been on the street in 1962

 

Read all about ! Read all about it !

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/cars-of-american-graffiti.873559/

 

Wow swade41 how did I miss that. Live and learn. Now you know why I posted it I knew someone here could give me some insight. I had never noticed that until last night.
F U N N Y.
I do love that truck. Seems everything I own other than the 57 is Red.AG will never die. NEVER.

 

I would dearly love to see a full article /and cover on it.

 

The chute does not have to be anchored to where the pack is located - common on full bodied door cars

 

Just saying

 

Neither of mine were on my Feds. And the one on my Willy’s is where the tag should be on the trunk. But I didn’t see a pull /release cord/cable.

 

Guys that chute is for stopping
Girls not the truck! We are cruuuuuuisin baby!

 

Since it's a Ford it's probably there because " more cushion for the pushin " Lol

 

The Red 40 PU is from Petaluma Ca.

 

I watched AG for the 357th time Friday night. It was Little Truckdoctor’s first time and he noticed the chute right away and I never noticed it until he pointed it out.

 

I've never noticed this car on screen in the movie, but there are a few pictures of the AG cast with it.

 

Looks like AI to me…

 

That picture has been around long before AI. It's a promo shot and there's more pictures like that,but the car isn't in the movie.

 

The truck is still in Petaluma and driven often. Not sure if the owner is on here but I sent him a text and hopefully he will come on and give his story. He's a great guy.

 

Yes, there could be a solid mounting point inside the tailgate, but when chutes are anchored on full body cars, those anchor points usually have external retaining straps which are visible. If this chute actually works, and everything operates thru a hole in the tailgate.......I would want to be sure the tailgate was pretty secure and could not open when the chute flaps about at speed. My original point was that a real parachute would not be anchored to just a tailgate............and usually there are other components on vehicles that help tell you whether its there for looks or might actually be functional. Things like tires and rear end and maybe a roll bar. A vehicle that uses a parachute to help stop it usually has some pretty serious components in addition to the parachute. As you can see by the many previous comments, people like to look for little details when looking at AG pictures.

 

Glad this thread came up. Was in Eureka Ca. this morning. Now I’m in…

 

Jim Bergstrom 41 PU Petaluma Ca.

 

Thanks Bentrodder . I would love to hear /see the whole story .