Two Lane Blacktop rare photos

radio spot announcements

 

programs from orig release

 

that was great...thanks for posting

 

"Say, y'all wouldn't be hippies now, would ya?"

 

What an excellent thread!

 

Got to agree, what a brilliant thread...saw the film when it came out at a cinema in Islington North London, went home, sold my old Ford pop and started building a gasser...great times, even had the James Taylor hair.

Problem is I have the same hair has James Taylor now!

 

i love the movie but the gto never gets any love well here is a very nice one and looks just like the one in the movie. where is the one from the movie now?????



just so no one ever forgets what it looked like ...enjoy

 

Pretty cool stuff Jalopy Junkie.

 

Kinda looks like the GTO Pickford drove in the movie "Dazed and Confused"....If you havent seen this movie yet do yourself a favor and check it out,not as good as TLB,but still pretty good

 

I think the GTO appeared in an episode of the Robert Blake TV show "Baretta". A very similar GTO is shown in the opening credits (clips from that episode) dragging Blake and running through a wood fence.

What happened to the GTO after that is anybody's guess. My brother owned a similar one years ago, complete with the Keystones but his was a non-A/C stick and I believe the movie car was an automatic with A/C (and the Judge decals replaced with GTO decals).

 

yea i know this isnt a clone or anything i just posted it so people who may not have seen the movie can see what the gto looked like ,,and i own the movie dazed and confused ..pretty good movie also .

 

Not a Judge, but a standard GTO with the "Rally II" stripes and spoiler options (standard on the Judge, optional on regular GTO). Note no "Judge" decal behind the front wheels.

Car was owned by Universal Studios for a long time, and used in movies and TV (On the first episode of "Baretta" with the fence crash, the same scene is shown in the opening credits for the rest of the series)

Universal Studios sold it in 1988 to an unknown person and that's the last anyone heard of it.

 

There was a few other kinda' famous cars in the movie:

Here's the "King Daytona" owned by street racer "Big Willie" Robinson.



another was Bill "Mr. Bardahl" Hielscher's '64 Corvette



Vaughn Currie's 68 Hemi Super Bee, a local racer at Lakeland, TN.



Taylor & Wolff Super Duster AA/FC driven by Gary Henderson in 1970

 

Speaking of "what happened " to the original cars.heres some pics of what the orig 55 looked like before it was purchased approx 9yrs ago and restored to its former movie car glory....these were taken in Canada[where the car was found] in the mid 70s
a side note-the fiberglass doors were sold off in the 70s and were tracked down,bought and reunited with the car during recent restoration

 

The car was Orbit Orange, a special "Judge only" color introduced mid-year after dealer complained about not having a special color like the Carousel Red used on the '69 models.

Really, what would make more sense, ordering an Orbit Orange Judge and swapping on GTO decals (to match the character's name) or ordering a standard GTO, adding the options of a Ram Air motor (standard on the Judge....note black, open scoops and decals on scoop sides), spoilers (only the rear one was optional, the front one was part of the Judge package), Judge tri-tone stripes (the optional stripes for standard '70 GTOs were similar to the '69 Judge stripes) and having it painted a Judge-only color?

If that doesn't convince you it's a Judge, get the DVD, fast forward to the scene at night by the roadside where they stop after GTO's encounter with the cops and watch when Dennis Wilson first climbs into the passenger's side.... note "The Judge" nameplate on the glove compartment door.

That car is a Judge. Oh, and "Rally II" was Pontiac's name for their mag-style five spoke steel wheel, introduced in 1967 and used through at least 1987, not the "eyebrow" tri-tone stripes standard on the '70 and '71 Judge.

 

more info.......

2 GTO's were used in the movie. One for interior shots with camera mounts and one for run-bys.
Was the 2nd car also a Judge? Where's the 2nd car?

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There's a mention in TLB about the GTO having a 455 engine (In the script because of a contract with Pontiac???) A 455 was not available in a Judge. Maybe the Judge logos were changed to GTO by Pontiac so the general public would recognize it better than the Judge, leading to more GTO sales.

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Here's an article written by Shelly Benoit from "Show Magazine" in March 1971 during the film making. http://www.danaddington.com/denny/mag.html

FROM ARTICLE:
"With this brood, a small crew (about35), three matching Chevys and two matching GTOs, and several massive vehicles, Two-Lane Blacktop went on the road."

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Here's both cars together:



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Below are links to the build sheet & dealer invoice to the one "known" orange 70 GTO that was sold by Universal Studios. This car was a obviously a Judge.

http://www.empgmc.com/race/70obs.jpg
http://www.empgmc.com/race/70oa.jpg

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Here's a comment from http://forums.performanceyears.com/ about the paperwork. Also notice the car was supposed to be delivered to Royal Pontiac in Hollywood, CA but they got a full credit.

It isn't real clear if it was given Universal Studios by PMD in exchange for "promotional considerations". The Invoice shows that the car was Invoiced, and the Sales Type appears to have been "Cash", a rarity. The Documents suggest that it was Charged to the Los Angeles Zone (in Montebello) and shipped to a Zone facility there, although it was ultimately Invoiced to a Retail Dealer at a price apparently established by the LA Zone per a Zone Memo instruction. I am not able to interpret the Invoice entirely, but I can say there are some unusual things on it, like why is the notation for the Advertising Association Collection not posted in the body of the Invoice as done normally? There is no question this was not a run of the mill Zone Stock build.

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The car was also used on Adam-12 episodes. (the TLB 55 Chevy was too) Can be seen on on HULU.com, go to the 20 minute mark and watch this episode from 3/15/1972. A younger Jack Klugman is driving.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/46145/adam...x-0,vepisode,1

You can see the damage on the LR quarter panel near the bumper that was also present in the Baretta fence crash scene:

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Some still shots from the Baretta TV series:
Has a California license ending in "APO" same as TLB.








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Below is a photo by John (Framair @ aol) Notice partially repaired dent in the same location as seen in the Baretta footage.

Here's John words:

"During my USMC years in S.Calif. back in the early 80s, I met a fellow junkyarder named Dimitri. He claimed to have the GTO used in "Two Lane Blacktop". The story was that Johnny Carson obtained it from Universal Studios and he later sold it to the guy Dimitri bought it from. I last visited Dimitri (lived near Hollywood) in 1987. Windshield still had a Universal Studios sticker on it." The day I visited him, he couldn't get the hood open but told me it had a RAIV in it. The other '70 he had (Judge) did have a RAIV in it (have photos). Everything was for sale... the Judge he wanted $3800 for but he wanted to keep the engine (or add $1k to the car).
The TLB GTO he wanted $4500."



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The car sold in 1988 to Bruce Hershberger and went to Alaska.

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2 of Bruces's comments in his own words:

"I sent you the PHS and broadcast sheet you attached in this post. I purchased this car in 1988 form a collector in East LA from a Hemmings ad. He also owned the Johnny Carson GTO, and other neat cars.
He is the fellow who purchased the car from Universal studios, and told me it was the Two Lane Blacktop car and was also used in the Baretta series. I drove the car from LA to Seattle and then shipped it to Alaska, I completed a frame off restoration that summer and fall using as many NOS parts as possible."


"John Those are great photos, that pic is almost identical to the street scene that was there when I purchased the car, I remember Johnny Carson's blue 455 GTO sitting on the curb aong with a early 69 Judge and a 69 Trans AM. The car was advertised in Hemmings motor news early 1988, I contacted Dimitrious Panagatous and we made a deal, I sent him a deposit. I flew down with my wife and 2 children and did a Disney land/ car buying trip. Dimitrious picked me up in a nice 72 442 pace car vert, we drove to his studio apartment to make the transaction, (which was on that street in John's picture) he recently had the car painted so I had ordered a set of stripes prior to our trip and installed them on the car in the parking lot of the hotel we were staying in the next morning. Also he had installed a 4-speed in the car, he still had the original numbers matching 400 trans which was in a shed in East LA which I insisted on getting, I followed him in the Judge over to the shed and loaded it in the trunk, the interior in the car was still original with the seat covers being brittle and missing some areas of vinyl, have some of them pics somewhere I'll have to dig out. after our Disney fun we loaded up and drove the PCH up to Carmel and then over Donners pass to the interstate to Seattle where we loaded the car on the Sealand ship to Anchorage Alaska. I'll have to dig up the pics Dimitrious sent me and post them.
Bruce"

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Here's Bruce's photos of the car as he restored it in 1988.
Why didn't he restore it as the TLB car instead of a common Judge ?







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MORE POSSIBLE TLB GTO SIGHTINGS:

1973 TV movie, Columbo: Requiem for a Falling Star (season 1 episode 2)
Looks like Keystone mags and not stock Rally wheels to me.


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1974-1975 TV Series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (season 1 episode 2)
more Keystones


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couple more photos:

 

Damn, Lowkat! Your research on this is was an amazing read. Thanks for adding to an already informative thread.

 

Great thread for a great movie..my old lady didn't get it either...It confirmed for her I was weird...

 

Thanks Lowkat for all the info,I'm sure you have mucho time invested in the research/posting...great read...-jj

 

James Taylor reunited with restored TLB 55 before a concert a few weeks ago,thanks to the TLB forum for pics and an interesting read



I know he's thinking "wasnt that engine fan green back in '70?"