5 of the coolest cars from American Graffiti

American car culture has been the subject of countless television shows and films, from the mid-’60s TV comedy “My Mother the Car” to the much more recent “The Fast and the Furious” series, which has featured many since its inaugural year impressive cars took center stage. The film was released in cinemas in 2001. George Lucas is best known as the creative force behind the Star Wars film series, but he is also a well-known gearhead who dreamed of becoming a racing driver before focusing on filmmaking after an accident. With the 1973 coming-of-age film American Graffiti, Lucas’ second feature, Lucas mixed these two interests – and paid tribute to his upbringing in the 1950s. “I spent four years of my life cruising down the main street of my hometown of Modesto, California,” Lucas told the New York Times. I went through all that, driving cars, buying alcohol and chasing girls.

Advertising

The film starred Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Paul LeMat, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford, but the film’s 1962 California setting also gave Lucas an excuse to show off some cars from the glorious 1950s and earlier show. Here are a handful of our favorite American Graffiti cars and the stories behind them.

One of the most iconic cars in “American Graffiti” is the white 1958 Chevy Impala owned by Howard’s character Steve Bolander. For most of the film, Steve loans his car to his nerdy friend Terry Fields (Charles Martin Smith), who has it stolen from him during a romantic adventure. Steve’s car is adorned with chrome trim and red and gold paint, giving it a custom look that probably didn’t come from the factory. 1958 was the first year for the Impala, which was sold that year as a variant of the Bel Air. It received its own nameplate in 1959 and remained in production for ten generations until the 2020 model year.

Advertising

The movie car had a 348-inch V8 with a four-barrel carburetor and was sold to high school graduate Mike Famalette for $285 after filming was completed. The engine quit while Mike was driving it home, so he and his brother swapped it out for a 283 cubic inch small block. Mike joined the Marines in 1974 and left the car in his parents’ garage, where it sat for decades. It was auctioned off in 2015 and NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham was able to secure a deal for the car. “When I was growing up, it was all about this car,” he told Car and Driver. Evernham painstakingly restored the Impala, right down to the crocheted dice hanging from the rearview mirror. “We wanted to portray it the way the people are depicted in the film,” he explained.

Advertising

Although most of the cars in American Graffiti are huge hunks of American steel and chrome, Dreyfuss’ character Curt Henderson is the owner of a blue 1967 Citroen 2CV. Curt parks it outside Mel’s Diner at the start of the film and spends most of the night as a passenger in other people’s cars. Lucas ignored the time travel element of having a 1967 car in a 1962 film, and the 2CV had remained relatively unchanged since its debut in 1948. The French small car was similar to the Autobianchi Bianchina in which Lucas had his accident just days before his own high school graduation in 1962.

Advertising

The Citroen featured in the film is now owned by Jerry Casubrook of Petaluma, California, where most of the film was filmed. To celebrate the film, the city hosts a Cruisin’ the Boulevard event every year, and Causbrook has been known to bring the Citroen and show it off to fans. He bought the car from a woman in nearby St. Helena and told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, “It hadn’t been driven in years and she was moving to L.A.” Sal Maldonado’s Sonoma County-born wife, Jackie, persuaded him to move to Petaluma After learning that “American Graffiti” was being filmed there, the couple spoke to Press Democrat reporter Meg McConahey at the event last year. “This is the movie that got me excited about cars,” Sal said. “I can’t believe this is the real car.”

Advertising

Curt spends much of the night in a red 1951 Mercury coupe driven by the Pharoahs, a local gang. Like many others from this era, the Pharoahs’ Mercury is highly customized, with low-profile suspension and a chopped-off top. After the film was finished, the Mercury was parked in the Universal Studios parking lot. Guitar legend Eddie Van Halen bought it from Universal and later sold it to Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer. Hagerty reports that it eventually ended up in a scrapyard.

Advertising

A similar purple chop-top Mercury coupe appeared in animated form in the 2006 Pixar film “Cars,” looking abandoned as it was towed away by a tow truck. Red animated versions of the car also appeared in “Beavis and Butthead” and “American Dad,” and real Mercury coupes from the period appeared in more than 100 other Hollywood productions, including the 1954 version of “A Star.” is Born”. .”

John Milner’s (Paul LeMat) yellow hot rod probably has more appearances in American Graffiti than any other car and is known around town as an impressive street racing machine. It’s a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe with the hood panels removed to reveal the engine and front suspension, and fitted with fat rear tires and distinctive exhaust pipes to complete the look. The Beach Boys memorialized the street racing legend on their 1963 album Little Deuce Coupe, and the title track made SlashGear’s list of the best car songs ever recorded. After filming, Steve Fitch of Kansas City purchased the hot rod, along with the next car on this list.

Advertising

San Francisco native Rick Figari bought the Deuce Coupe in 1985 and, decades later, remains impressed by the film’s staying power. He told Hagerty that he was driving the car on the highway in California when the occupants of another car recognized the coupe. “They rolled down the windows and shouted, ‘Hey, is that the real car from ‘American Graffiti?'” Figari says. “They were only about 20 years old – they hadn’t even been born yet when the film was made, and I realized that it had been passed down from generation to generation.” When he bought the car, the piston shift knob and license plate were there “THX 138” in the trunk, which gave his purchase a certain authenticity.

Milner’s Deuce takes on a black 1955 Chevy 150 driven by brash out-of-towner Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford) in the film’s climactic scene. Falfa drives his car off the road into a ditch, where it overturns, catches fire and explodes. He and Curt’s sister Laurie (Cindy Williams) escape without serious injuries, but Falfa’s ego is as destroyed as his car.

Advertising

Universal hired Hollywood automotive legend George Barris to purchase the Chevy, along with Milner’s Deuce Coupe and other cars used in the film. Barris was also responsible for creating the original Batmobile and several other iconic film and television cars.

Steve Figari also owned one of the two Chevys used for the cruise scenes in the film. Another vehicle that had been rescued from a scrapyard was used in the accident sequence. It was the last scene shot for the film and two attempts were made before the car flipped onto its roof as Lucas intended. Frates Road on the eastern edge of Petaluma served as a replacement for Paradise Road, where the near-tragic race took place.