I was going to wait until I posted a definitive node on
Mad Max, but after gathering all the information, I realised that there was more than enough information for an individual
node.
Right. There are many cars in Mad Max, but I will just list the specifics of the main ones, such as the
police cars and a couple of others.
Black Interceptor*
The most famous and recognizable car, the one that Max drives toward the end of the film, and what he uses in
Mad Max 2. The car is an extremely modified 1973
Ford XB Falcon GT with the
factory standard V8 Cleveland 351
ci engine. The two most immediately obvious things about the car is the
supercharger on the top of the
hood and the modified front grille. I had originally thought the front to be
Fairmont, or possibly an
XC but subsequent reading reveals it to be a
Concorde, a custom part by
Ford, designed for use by
panel vans and
coupes (there are slight differences between the two). The blower on top is a fake - those stories you heard are true and all that is inside the charger (which is a
Weiand by the way) is the
carburettor. Most of the modifications on the car were purely
aesthetic, like the pipes on the side and the spoiler. The actual workings were pretty much left intact. The car is viewable at
Cars of the Stars in
England
Max's Interceptor
The car Max drives at the start of the film when chasing the
Nightrider. Basically the same as the Black Interceptor, except it was made a year later and is a non-
GT sedan (I'm not sure if the sedans were available as a GT), instead of a coupe. The extra bodywork done to the car (
air dams/
spoiler/
wheel flares) was all off the shelf, but I doubt that the
fibreglass parts are available now. Before the film, the car was a
Victorian Police Interceptor (oh for
the good old days), and is the only yellow
MFP vehicle to survive filming. It's around today - I saw it (or a
replica) after a Mad Max movie night. In the film, you can see Max's name printed on the side ('M. Rockatansky') along with his partner ('
The Dark One') who wasn't in the film.
Big Bopper
One of the first cars you see in the film and also the most smashed up by the end of the first chase, this car is driven by
Charlie and
Roop. The only yellow MFP car to have '
Pursuit' written on the boot (the other two are both Interceptors), the car is also a V8 XB Falcon, but has a smaller engine (302ci). This car was also an ex-police vehicle and was sent to the scrapyard after the film (*sniff*).
March Hare
The third yellow MFP vehicle is another Interceptor (which ends up on it's roof near the
caravan), this car was a 1972
Ford XA Falcon with a
straight six engine, and was driven by
Sarse and
Scuttle. This car was a
taxi before the film, and even though it didn't take too much
punishment in the film it was fairly run down (the smoke pouring out of the back when we first see the car take off is *not* a special effect) and was scapped after shooting.
Nightrider
The black car stolen by the Nightrider at the start of the film that he leads a
high speed chase with may, to the untrained eye, look like the Black Interceptor; but in fact it is a different make altogether. It is a two-door 1972
Holden HQ Monaro LS, with a
V8 350ci (5.74 litre) engine and is described in the film as a
"'Pursuit Special' running on nitro, very hot". (The 'nitro' is probably referring to
nitromethane) The only indications that this is a police car are faint
MFP outlines in the rear of the car, and the standard
MFP radio. In the scene where it crashes, the car is actually being propelled by a rocket and the internals have been taken out (you can see in the film also if you look closely that there are no people in the car). This car appears in the garage seen later with the
light rack from Max's Interceptor on it.
Max's Van
The van Max takes to the country with his wife and child is a
Holden Sandman with a modified
headlights that could be from a Ford XC Falcon. A pretty popular vehicle here for
surfer types who can find/afford one.
Chevrolet Impala
The fiery red and yellow car that gets
smashed up by the bikers is a 1959 straight six Impala. The pipes on the hood are for looks only and are not connected to the engine - notice that when the hood gets
hammered they shake around.
You will see the cars that were smashed up in the police garage (including the Pursuit Special) when Max first lays eyes on the Black Interceptor, but the garage scenes were shot before the chase (which was one of the last sequences to be filmed), and the cars were never repaired.
*Note that in the
first film, the car is not actually ever called an '
Interceptor', but a 'Pursuit Special' like the
Holden, or the 'black on black'. It is not until the
second film that we hear; "
Last of the V8 Interceptors", and the car is commonly known now as the Black Interceptor. You can call it a Pursuit Special, but expect some weird looks.
That was going to be it for the write up, but once I'd watched the film countless times and done all the research I discovered this site:
www.madmaxmovies.com
Damn, it was in one place. It's pretty
exhaustive, and a good resource if you like the movies, so I'll give a vehicle listing according to it just for posterity (I can't claim any credit for what's below the line, except for editing/formatting):
Goose's Motorcycle: 1977 Kawasaki KZ-1000
White car Goose jumps over at petrol station: Ford XK Falcon
Tow Trucks at petrol station: Various Ford F Series trucks
Ute at the diner: Modified HJ Holden
Blue van that gets hit by the Big Bopper: Mazda Bongo Van (This van was actually George Miller's (the film's director) van - they ran out of money to buy a vehicle to smash)
Car towing the caravan: Ford XK Falcon
Goose's bike where Max gives him the apple: 1973 Kawasaki H2 750 triple two-stroke
Toecutter's gang: Kawasaki KZ-1000, Kawasaki Z900, SOHC Honda CB750/CB900
Nightrider's Coffin pick-up truck: '77 Chevrolet K5 (US Left hand drive)
Trike which Goose is talking to the girl in: Honda CB750 engined trike
Fifi's (Max's Boss) Car: Buick Riviera made between '74 and '76
DA's car: Lincoln Continental (US Left Hand Drive)
Car that Goose flicks the antennae of when walking to his bike: 1969 Pontiac GTO (US Right Hand Drive)
Car Johnny the Boy is waiting for Goose in: Ford XK Falcon sedan
Ute which Goose is set alight in: EJ Holden
Car Max drops on Mechanic: 1936 Chevrolet two-door town sedan
White pick-up where Johnny the Boy is stealing the dead drivers' boots: 1969 XW Falcon
Finally, If anyone has an early seventies XA/XB/XC Falcon/Fairmont they want to sell, or if any Americans want to give away a
Mustang or
Torino of the same period... : )