American Graffiti Coupe Pictures and Myths

COME ON GUYS!! ENOUGH ALREADY The Coupe wasn't from space!!!
buuuttttttt.............

 

Ruth is "The Man" for 55 info. He built them. I don't think he ever touched the 32? owould have been faster!)

 

As much as I would love to say yes. ???????????? Frenched handles?? Note no lock cyl hole and no decklid handle. The chop is close........ The cowl almost looks pinched? Could be the angle?? Something??

 

Great Blog,

Great to hear the real stories behind some of the iconic cars in our time.
Milner's Coupe & Falfa's 55, some of my all time favourites..

Thanks for sharing..

 

However,... There were two red 32 Coupes riding around "nearly identical" And the other one "had Chevy tail lights",...... Andy Southard took pictures of both cars,.... I would love to see the pictures of the other car.

Andy's picture archives might hold the key,... or not. Either way, it would be fun to find out, and possibly put this rumor to bed,...or ?

 

Is that piss yellow?

That's Tony Danza yellow![/QUOTE]

Kinda looks like one of those Legend race cars that got a little fat.....

 

I never get tired of anything related to AG or TLB. I am suprised that no one has published a book of pictures and what is known about the cars of AG.

 

Have to agree with Harms Way & Acey Deucey. I'm one who can't get enough Milner's Coupe, American Graffiti, etc. Thanks for sharing. GGG

 

Yes it is an interesting thought. When I called Gary Kurtz he told me he thought they bough the coupe in Compton California. Anybody remember a Red 5 window fullfendered car in the Compton area in 70/71 ???

Ya I know Gary Kurtz. I have been hunting the real story's for quite some time. Gary is a real nice guy. He lives in England I believe. He was thrown off a bit by some American Graffiti nut calling him on his cell phone from Chicago Illinois as he was heading out for dinner.

He did spend a few minutes and fill me in on what he could remember. That was a while ago. I can't find that number now.

 

I used to see the coupe often when I worked at Universal. It was parked in the transportation garage for a long time. Transportation was moved and I didn't see
it anymore. Never thought much of it as I had a chopped 32 of my own Olds powered
La Salle box etc. Had mine since early 60's.
I went to work at Uni about 1978 and it was there then.

 

Me too!! My wife and I went to see the movie on our first date ad we've been married over 37 years now!

 

Wow, all the wives and first dates at this iconic film.


Well, me too, but we've been divorced since forever - and she got the rides at the time, a '48 Ford F1, and the '49 Packard sedan which went to pay for it all.


Live and learn, I reckon.

 

I worked for a title company in the mid '70s at the front of the Universal Studios lot. We had to park in the back and took the shuttle through Universal to our company up front. One time the driver of the shuttle took me in the big garage so I could see the coupe. Also saw the merc and the car from "The Car". I'll try to dig up the photos and post them.

 

Found 'em! Sorry about the poor quality but what do you expect from a Kodak Instamatic from the mid '70s?

 

Here's the rest. That's me in the yellow shirt and yes, those are puka shells! I had hair back then, too.

 

^^^^^ cool pics

 

I've been an AG fan from the first time I saw it in the theater. I'm loving all the stories about these cars. Growing up in northern Illinois in the 70's I never had the chance to ever see any of these movie cars in person but, they still made a huge impression on me. I've been a gearhead all my life and I love everything automotive but, thanks to this movie, '32 5 windows and '55 Chevys are two of my all time favorite cars.

Doc

 

Those are some great pictures to have 60Olds98 ( and great memories for sure).Thanks for posting them.
Must have been in the late seventie's I was on vacation in CA and one of the things I was really looking forward to was seeing the Coupe at Universal Studio. A friend had been out a few months before and took pics of the car to show me. When I got there , I walked all around looking for the cars. Finally I asked someone who worked there where they were parked. He told me they had just removed them a couple of weeks ago and were put away in some storage garage.
Boy, was I disappointed.

 

Hello Marshall, It's me, Mark (from Station Wagons) didn't know you posted here!

 

I always loved AG as I was in High school when it came out. I had a bunch of old cars and suddenly I went from being the "odd kid" who dug old cars to being a "hot rodder".Wow.
The irony for me was that about two years later I picked up a 32 5 window project car that sat on original duece rails that had been z'ed at the rear. The body was chopped and then channeled the width of the frame rail. Plus it was set up to run a Flattie.(I was very ahead of my time) and had 40 juice brakes,dropped front axle,etc.Most likely all done in the early 60"s
Unfortunately the time came when I had to sell the car. The guy that bought it told me that he was going to "make the car look like a real hot rod" just like the one that was in AG. I still have nightmares about that.
Karl.

 

Do you remember a Terry Coates that worked there, he brought the Merc and semi restored it as a driver

 

taking some of the red out of them...

 

What a great story and pictures of you being able to see the coupe when it was in storage like that. The one picture might lend credance to the story about the new owner finding the shift knob and license plate in the side pocket of the car. The knob is missing in this picture and it looks like the plates have been removed in the other shots.

Don

 

I have heard for years the interior trim is unknown ,so im sorry if this has been covered before but im 99.9% sure its 1956 ford front door panel stainless upside down and reversed left on right ,right on left.

 

That interior shot I guess clears up the mystery about a radio in the dash.

 

And the missing gauge that was in a previous picture. Also, I see no glove box, remember "File this under CS" and it showed a whole glove box full of tickets?

 

That was in the pocket on the right door shown in his photo...

 

I don't know if this interview with Paul has been posted before, if so, sorry, but it is pretty insightful into some aspects of the movie.

Don

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKekpheBBjA