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Trivia about the American Graffiti cars, the Merc and Milner's duece

I can remember when the American Graffiti movie was coming out, that some of the actors of the movie were appearing on late night talk shows to hype the movie. I still remember the night that a little-known actress, Suzanne Sommers, showed up on the Johnny Carson Show. She was wearing a slinky floor-length blue gown and was absolutely gorgeous. They never even gave her a name in the movie. It is hard to believe that was 50 years ago!
I guess more then a few of us knew of a girl that drove a certain type of car and never could catch up with to get her name. I can still see her in my mind to this day.
 
Candy Clark was the girlfriend ( in the vega chase scene) in Blue Thunder........
 
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Fremont 1979 filming

I had my 23t altered, blown/inj. 301cid Donovan there never got on Camera
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not as good but More American Graffiti had some cool Fremont dragstrip scenes
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one of three cars used
one was a car used in the 1971 Tow-lane Blacktop film too
modified for American Graffiti
had a dual 4 tunnel ram LS7 BBC & Rock Crusher 4 speed
different side windows, wheels & scoop with added black paint etc.
to be more era correct for the setting of 'Summer of 1962‘I
Modesto, it was actually mostly filmed in Petaluma Ca.

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great soundtrack too

one of George Lucas's best flicks
far better than any star wars episode/film IMO
I’m glad you posted - I’ve often wondered if the Chevy in American Graffiti was the same basic car that appeared earlier in Two Lane Blacktop. And for anyone ever wondering just how the Muncie M22 Rockcrusher got it’s nickname and how loud it really was in low gears, just tune in some of the interior scenes of driving it around and in the pits at the drag strip. The dialog is nearly drowned out by all the gear whine and howling from the transmission.
 
Jay Leno had James Taylor on his garage show one time and reintroduced him to the 55. Jays a big JT fan. So he borrowed the 55 from the now owner and had it hidden in a garage so when JT opened the door there it was. He was really surprised. They took it for a spin and JT said it brought back a lot of good memories. That was a great movie.
 
American Graffiti is one of those movies that if I happen to be flipping channels and stumble on it,
I always stop and watch from whatever point in the show it happens to be on.
Very few movies do that to me, but I remember when it came out, like so many of you do...
"Magic" like that movie was still possible in those days in this society.
Sad that it really isn't anymore...
 
There was an article about an old Patterson boat that was driven exactly one time. It was sporting a 392 Hemi with a Man-o-Fire marine intake, ran on a magneto, which is why it was only driven once, and a guy bought it in Lake Havasu and pulls it around with his 68 Coronet woody wagon. That intake is a thing of beauty, and after they realized that the magneto was reverse grounded, the entire motor came to life. As the new owner stated….”the cackling of the motor was the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard”. I’ll see if I can find that article and post a pic of the whole setup, car and all, it’s is 1000 points of awesome!
 
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Here's something I never saw before...

Designed by MAD Magazine illustrator Mort Drucker, the promo poster for the movie American Graffiti​

 

I hit that event back in the late 80's when I was stationed at Castle, fun times! I was always partial to Steve's Impala. I'm not a GM guy but I like those late 50 Chevys! When I moved back To CA. after 9/11, I saw it a few times runnin around Vacaville. I never saw the car after 2004, I wonder where it went?
 
Some of these replica cars where set up all week at Iola

Talked with all three Ladies at various points

Pretty cool display

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Let’s see

Pixel quality gets killed when uploading

I tried downsizing

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Great movie. I even got to tryout for the Milner part. I kept beating Falfa too bad so I didn't get the part.
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Looks like Candy and Cindy have aged pretty well compared to MacKenzie - who I think is the youngest of the three. You can see what drugs did to her. Hard to blame her, though, when you know who her father was.
 
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