Motion Pictures Two Lane Blacktop Revisited

Meatball; that would werk ,,Maybe Monte Hellman would help ,,he wanted to do a sequel when he did the last scene with the film being burned ,,

 

Well,,maybe doing a remake of TLB would be like the old saying ,,"you can never go back home",,i lived in Anchorage fo r6 years ,,my memories are clear as a bell ,,BUT ,,i went on Terra Sever and looked at the satalite pictures of Anchorage and Elmendorf AFB & Polar DragWay,, ,,,it don't look nuthin' like it did when i left in '69 ,,so ,,going back just might destroy those good memories i have of it all ,,

 

Kinda why a updated version might be able to capture some of the vibe but give it a 2k edge......plus the cars would be just as exotic the 55 could still have the big motor but when the son finds its tired he goes to a 572 with the same tunnel ram set up,and still kick the shit outa all comers along with findin some new hotties.And it gotta include the LA Street Racers..........

 

the other negative side of a remake is there is NO way they would do it with just 3 cars they would have to buy a fleet of 55's to cut up for all the "driving" scenes of the "actors" you really want to see all those 55's cut up? i dont

 

well,there's over 1800 '55 Chevys on the market today ,,cut a half a dozen up ?? who cares ,we're not talkin' about Bel Airs ,,just 2 door posts ,,,,make the movie ,,hey ,,anybody can restore a '55 ,,it takes a REAL MAN to cut one up,,

 

Remakes usually suck, but what the hell. Use a bunch of 4 doors, just put on re-pop two-door quarter panels and doors.

 

For the most part ,,Remakes usually do suck ,,but ,the Star Wars didn't ,,nor did Indiana Jones & Rambo,,,mater fact ,,they got better ,,but then,thats just my opinion,,

 

Walt sent me this picture this morning ,,this is the two Grafitti cars when the guy in Kansas owned both ,,,before Fagari bought the Duece and the '55 went back east ,,the guy refurbished the Duece ,,it didn't have a fuse block ,and one day while driving it ,smoke started coming out of the left kick panel ,,he took the panel of ,and there ,,having been hidden years before ,,was the original license plates from the movie ,,they had shorted out a wire ,,so when Fagari bought it he got those license plates with it ,,kool find ,,

 

There's another good thread on TLB from a couple years ago

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315913

Here's a photo from Jalopy Junkie:


A movie still

 

Now for the GTO that is always 'overlooked'...



It was held onto by the movie studio for some years and used in several TV shows.

1973 TV movie, Columbo:


Some still shots from the opening scene of the Baretta TV series:






1974 episode of Kojack


The car for sale in the early 80's for $4500


In 1988 Bruce Hershberger bought the GTO and it went to Alaska.

Here's the car as he restored it.

 

Low Kat ;; Man,,that old thread is awesome ,,lotsa kool pictures in it ,,some never seen outside the movie ,,thanks for posting it ,,

 

Well hell if ya wanna do that just make a "SHORT"movie........... I crack myself up......

 

Meatball ;;; That cracked me up too ! made ne LOL,,,

 

I know everybody on here loves the sound of that Muncie M-22 "Rock Crusher" ,but ,,has any of you ever driven a car with one in it ?? it's been a long ,long time since i have ,,'71 in the Dickie Harrell No 1 COPO '69 Camaro ,
but with open hedders ,,it was hard to hear the whine of that trans ,,

 

So Cool!!! thaniks Conn for geting all the correct info out.. This is great! heck i gotta get wild out today.
Oh I hope wild can get a part some where maybe at a drivin or something... Lowcat ,I even saw a photo I never saw before. where did this quality photo come from?
Very Cool guys... TLB forever.. Thanks Walt such a great job he did with this 55!!!

 

TLB has been in heavy rotation for me since I first saw it at an underground drive-in movie event in SF 10 or so years ago.

I just remember driving back to Oakland in my then '70 Ranchero and wringing out the Cleve. My mind was blown.

I ended up with a terrible bootleg VHS copy that the first 15 minutes were too blurry to play. Watched it a bout a hundred times.

A buddy is staying with us and he'd never seen it, so we netflixed the dvd and have been looking at it again.

The best part, is that my 3 1/2 year old twin sons are completely stoked on the movie. Yes, they've heard the word "motherfucker" before, but nobody gets punched or shot, so we figured it's cool.

I mean, they just sit mesmerized by it.

Maybe someone can help me here? In the diner scene where the blonde kid accuses them of being hippies, and GTO says, "These are hometown boys. That's Silas, married to Mary, and this here's Davis his brother."

It's kind of garbled, but does he say Silas? That's one of my boys names.

Wishful thinking.

 

B. C. Yes I have a M-22 in WILD 55. Well its kinda.. It is a More modern AGE super case. Made a little stronger and is about 140 thousands longer.. It also has a Steel plate instead of the Aluminum plate between the case and tail section...

As you know about wild .. Its the gear box Of my dreams all these years... Well things have changed since I last used wild as a driver/racer over 30 years ago...

A lot of folks said I should do a 5 or 6 speed... I know what I wanted... I love my M22.. but with 390 gears and a 28 in tire I sure could use some overdrive... If I had it to do over I would go with a over drive trany The wineyest one made. Or a gear master over drive would be cool with my m22.. But I am broke...

 

PSB ;; hey dewd ,,save up and buy a Gear Venders Over Drive ,,turns than M-22 into a 8 speed trans ,,you can O D each gear at the flip of a switch ,,AND ,,it's stronger than your M-22 ,,up to 1200 HP ,,
Bolts right to the back of your Muncie ,replaces the tail shaft housing ,
Yeah ,,I know ,,it ain't cheap ,,but ,,what is these days ,,,

 

Big Smiles... I do think about 8 sounds from the M22, Ya Hoo!!! Man That would be something!!

 

'nother screen shot

 

LowKat; ;;Neet pics Man ,,thanks ,,,funny that gas filler in the TLB '55 was fake ,,i have one identical to it on my T ,,a Boat Gas Flip Cap from my days when i was a Jet Boat Dealer ,back in the '70's ,,,Walt told me that Richard Ruth had a buddy in the Boat Business ,,thus the "Covico" boat steering wheels ,,the Hydralic Throttle on the tunnel ram ,and that gas cap that was right over the frame ,,,no way to hook it up to the gas tank ,,,Movie Stuff i guess,,

 

This is a couple pics of the no 1 TLB / Grafitti '55 at Steve Fitch's home in Kansas ,,getting a fresh paint job ,,it was then listed for $20K in a ads section of Hot Rod Mag ,Feb 1985 ,,eventually sold for $15K in July 1985 to Wayne Newsome ,,from back East ,

 

Funny you should say that about overdrive,Im thinkin about pullin the M-21 outa my 56 chevy and doing a 5spd (overdrive) and a old school geardrive (whine) and then put the 4:11 posi back in the car.........but like you it will wait for the cash

 

I haven't priced the 5 speeds /O D transmissions ,,the Gear Venders set-up costs 'bout $2000 bucks ,,but it makes your 4 speed a 8 speed ,,or a Auto Trans a 6 speed ,,since you can overdrive each gear ,,a couple years ago I helped a friend put one in his 32 foot motor home ,,454 -TH 400 trans ,,,he has a 4;11 rear gear ,,he loves it since he spends the winter in Florida ,,and summers here,,he went from 9 MPG to about 14 MPG ,,
it was an easy install too ,,

 

If any of you go to these Grafitti Tour Shows ,,ask Fagari Why He's Hypin' His '55 Clone as the Real Deal ,,Ya ,,Junp on Him About It ,,

 

Wish I lived closer to these back East shows ,I hope you East Coaster Guys go to em ,,gotta be kQQl to even see the stars ,,yet alone the cars ,,take some pics if you go and post em on here ,,

 

This is a TLB '55 Clone being built ,,it has exact duplicates of everything the movie car had ,,straight axle w' 4 links & coil overs ,,Big Block ,,Olds Rear ,,M-22,,seats ,,EVERYTHING ,,only thing IS ,,,it's being built in ,,,,,,,ENGLAND !!!!
Holy Cow !! what a dedicated TLB Movie Fan ,,he'll send more pics when it's finished,,