|
Title: Re: [GFS] '57 Fury ebay
William.
Glenn.
Hemmings Magazine-September 2002: FOR SALE CHRISTINE: fully documented from Columbia Pictures and Polar Films, excellent condition, truly one of a kind, $750,000. PH: 603-425-7994, NH. See our ad in the printed publication of HMN under: "P" Cars For Sale Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 14:13:22 +0000
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 00:30:53 -0400
From: Stein Erik Tveter <moparman@xxxxxxx>
From a 1983 interview with John Carpenter for Fangora magazine, he said 24 1958 Plymouths were bought (various models). 16 were use for filming, and 3 remained intact when filming was complete. These cars went on tour to promote the movie and were later sold. One is known to be rusting away in FL, one is in a NH museum and the other was bought by a collector outside the US. Thanks, Mike 58 Plymouth Hi Everyone, OK... so this Christine talk is really getting old but I have some info that should put your hopes of finding a junkyard full of Christine wrecks to bed. After the movie was done shooting, all of the leftovers were purchased by Bill and Ed's Auto Wrecking in Fontana, California. I know this because I went there right after the movie hit the theaters to find a rust free panel for between the tail lights of my 57 Fury. I was 15 at the time. They had EVERYTHING there and my father and I were allowed to walk through the yard on our own. We found a good rear panel on a 57 body (which is now on my car)and decided to tour the yard to see if a complete car could be built from what was left. We found the 'gas station car' with a huge X member welded across the top of the engine and other bracing below to keep the front end from crumpling up when it hit the camaro. The 'first scene' car was there in truly ratty condition (LeBay's For Sale sign was even sitting in the back seat area!). It was the same car used in Darnell's garage during the "you can't polish a turd" sequence. They just put on a nice hood, bumper, etc to make the audience believe that Arnie knew what he was doing (Those parts were missing in the yard). There were three rear halves of cars (from behind the doors back with no roofs) painted like they were brand new with all of the trim mounted (they even had the rear half of the frame with the differential and they even had the remington wide whites mounted!). There was a painted front clip on top of a debris pile that eventually found its way onto a friend's 58 Belvedere convertible. A stripped 57 Fury was on top of a pile of other cars. The 'suction car' was sitting on the ground with all of its rubber body pieces and the giant vaccum intact. It had tinted windows, no interior, and rubber everything... but was built around an internal 58 shell (they just cut the exterior sheetmetal away). Every single mold was lying around the suction car. I was able to buy the hubcap mold and one for the fuel door. I peeled the fuel door off of the suction car and kept that too. I think I have a chrome rubber Plymouth hood emblem around here somewhere too. The car that was crushed by the caterpillar was there. It had a dual quad 350 with chrome valve covers and air cleaners (probably the same car used for the beginning of the "show me" scene). There were two other cars that had been fairly complete. One was the one that backed up out of Darnell's office and was t-boned by the CAT. The other was just a mess... but had a full interior (also trashed). It was most likely what was left of the car the guys had fun using the sledge on. The best part of that day was the fact that I remembered to take my camera. I took pictures of most everything I saw. There were wing tips and tons of trim. Pieces of the 'burnt car' were lying around too. There was a huge roll of the aluminum they used to make the sport tone trim. The grilles were made shiny by painting them silver and then using 1/4 inch chrome tape to make them 'shine'. It was a Christine paradise -- if you can call it that. It was pretty depressing, actually. We saw what was left of the car that chased Moochie. In one scene the car does a 180 turn. Did you ever wonder how that car stayed so level? Well... there was a rear clip laying upside down that had huge chains welded to both the rear end and the frame. It apparently wasn't going to lean at all by the looks of how tight those chains were! Dad and I walked around for nearly 3 hours that day. Most of that time was spent trying to figure out if one complete car could have been built from the wrecks. The people at Bill and Ed's would have let us do it... they wanted to get rid of that stuff. Unfortunately, there just weren't enough good parts there to build a car. Sure, if we had the use of some welding equipment and a few weeks, we could have built a frankenstein car. Who knows, maybe I could have sold it for $750,000!!! I'm just happy I was able to find a dry tail panel for the Fury. I know of a lot of other 57-58 Plymouth owners who were able to buy parts before they shredded what was left (and there wasn't much) -- so it wasn't a complete disaster as many have stated in the past. I saw cars and pieces of cars in the yard that day that would have equalled ten. Add that to the 2 that were left in decent shape (one was kept by John Carpenter and the other is the prize car that was given away in a contest, the one we all know about, and you have a total of twelve. I know that many of the cars were nearly unrestorable when they were bought for use in the film (the man I bought my Fury from sold a ratty 58 to the production company. My 57 Fury was considered 'too good' to destroy. I also heard from the men at the yard that the two 'beauty cars' were well taken care of during filming. From the evidence I saw in the yard, I know that fronts and rears of cars were cut away and used over and over -- some with rubber pieces too. It wasn't as bad as everyone assumes. I think the film has increased the awareness of the cars, which has helped each of us through increased values. I only wish that I could see a Belvedere hardtop in a color other than Christine red. The metallic green, Toreador red and the pale yellow cars are really pretty. Aaron Kahlenberg
[FWDLK] 4th Christine car found
She was one of over 20 cars used in the movie Christine. I acquired her in 1984. She was the actual stunt car from the alley scene chasing Moohie. She was the only 3 speed overdrive in the bunch. I know this because the guys on the set forgot and when they went to start her up she was in gear and lunged forward almost taking out some equipment. "Bad Christine," they shouted. I bought her 18 years ago from the back lot of a studio in L.A. She was going to be saved for a movie that was in the works at the time called "Cat's Eye," however, they found a perfect red and white Belvedere 4 door and shot the footage they needed from the front and then the rear and did not have to spend the time trying to fix up the wrecked one. Since the car was not used it was scheduled to be scrapped. My friend Al from "Classic Wheels" out of Anaheim, informed me that I may be able to save her. I was able to buy her for 900 dollars and flat bedded her home along with boxes of parts. I was also given a script, movie stills, press kit, fake rubber moldings, trim, fenders, etc. I even found the "CQB-241" license plate that was on the car during the filming in the trunk. When I bought the car she had no interior, just a simple roll cage, 5 point harness, one plastic racing seat and the windows were all painted black on the inside with the exception of a small driver section which was a patch of black window tint so that the stunt man could see. Most of the stainless moldings and trim were rubber or plastic. There was also 4x4 inch wooden beams between the firewall and front core support and the radiator was mounted in the trunk so that in crash scenes the radiator fluid would not spill out. Al from Classic told me where all the wrecks were sent and I was allowed to go into "Bill and Ed's Auto Wrecking" in Chino Calif. This is where all the smashed cars were sent. I quickly made friends with the owner there. I was told that a total of 27 Plymouths were used. Sadly, a very small handful were actual Fury's. It took the film makers almost 2 1/2 years to locate them through DMV records and adds. Ironically, like Arnie, I was able to pull parts off the wrecked cars. Most of my front and rear stainless came from the burn car. They had used rubber cement and poured it all over the car and set it on fire. The sport line trim came from some of the ram cars, and out of the 57 and 58 Belvederes in the yard, I was able to put the interior together. I was 20 years old when I found Christine and put her back together. I did not set out to build a show car, just a nice driver and she is still running and looking good after 18 years. I have more pictures and you are welcome to use them on your web site. My car started out life as a Belvedere, Hollywood made her a star. billy austin wrote: > This has all been real interesting, regarding the VIN number on this particular Fury. I don't it's hit reserve yet, but my guess is that he has about 20 to 22 thousand as a reserve. It's funny talking about the interest in these cars. I picked up the latest issue of Hemmings. There is a 58 Fury listed in there as one of the Furys used in the movie "Christine". Says it has full documentation from the movie studio and everything. Says it's in pretty good condition. Askint price: $750,000. Now, I'm thinking maybe that that price has a type. But, if it does, that makes the car at maybe, $75,000. That's too damn much to pay for a car that was actually in the movie. Plus, since they destroyed 22 cars making that movie, you don't really know if this car was used for close-ups, far-away shots, or some actual rough driving. I doubt the owner would know that either. In this day and age, it's a lot easier to buy a Belvedere and put some Fury nameplates on it, if you want people to think it's a Fury. You could build or restore a pretty nice old Fury or Belvedere for a fraction of what the guy's asking. > Any of y'all aware of this car, or perhaps one of you if the seller. I just wanted to bring it to everyone's attention, as it seems we're always looking out for these cars, or at least interested in what someone has and what they're selling it for. If you get a chance, try and take a look. I'll keep watching the auction and see what it does. Curious myself, as to what pans out with the VIN number. Y'all have a good Sunday > William Lewis wrote:Hi GFSers,
>
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
|
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network