The American Graffiti 1955 Chevy

THE HISTORY
The story of the American Graffiti '55 Chevy began in 1970 when three 1955 Chevy 150 sedans were built for the 1971 movie Two-Lane Blacktop by Richard Ruth of Competition Engineering in Sunland (CA). Ruth patterned the cars after his own big-block '55 Chevy street racer after Two-Lane Blacktop/American Graffiti/Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz went street racing w/Ruth while preparing for Two-Lane Blacktop. After that evening, Kurtz ordered 2 cars just like Ruth's '55 & a 3rd '55 to be used as a stunt car. While Ruth was building the '55s, the studio arranged for GM to deliver 3 big block crate motors to his shop. One of the '55s rec’d a leftover 1969 L-88 427 Chevy big block while the other 2 were equipped w/the new 454s. Ruth installed a Weiand tunnel ram w/dual Holleys on the 2 main cars, & a single 4V on the stunt car. The stunt car had a full roll cage & was equipped w/a Ruth-designed right & left braking system so it could be intentionally thrown into a skid & rolled over for a scheduled rollover scene. Ruth delivered all 3 cars to the studio painted powder blue, but the studio had them finished w/a gray primer appearance to fit the persona of the drag racers played by James Taylor & Dennis Wilson.
The studio equipped 1 of the 2 main cars w/brackets to support the cameras for filming interior shots while the actors were driving. The other main car was used for the exterior shots of the car on the road. All 3 cars were used during the cross-country shoot on Two-Lane Blacktop & appear in the film to sharp-eyed observers. The original script called for the '55 to roll over as it swerves to avoid a car wreck between a station wagon & a truck. Instead, the driver just ran off the road & did not roll over. Ruth surmises the film crew did not include anyone w/the skills necessary to roll the car over exactly as needed in 1 take using his right/left braking setup. Since it had not been rolled over as scheduled, the stunt car stayed w/the film crew for the entire filming from Los Angeles to the Great Smokey Mountains.

When filming on Two-Lane Blacktop was completed, the three '55 Chevys were relegated to the Universal Studios prop car storage lot. A studio mechanic spotted the three '55 Chevy hot rods on the back lot & bought the camera car since it was in the best condition of the 3. He pulled out the Chevy big block for use in a boat & his son ended up w/the car. The son repainted the car white w/a candy-colored stripe down the sides & over the back, dropped in another 454, & drove it to HS as a daily driver. The car saw movie duty again when, during filming of Smokey & the Bandit, it was used to record motor sounds that were dubbed in for the Trans-Am. The '55 was sold to a new owner & it then passed thru a succession of owners until 2000 when it was located in Canada. It has since returned to the U.S. where it has been returned to the on-screen appearance w/most of its original components intact - including some of the original camera mounting brackets that had been welded to the frame.

While preparing for American Graffiti, transportation supervisor Henry Travers picked up the 2 remaining Two-Lane Blacktop '55 Chevys from the studio storage lot. He had both cars painted black & removed the left/right braking system on the stunt car so it could be driven as a "camera car" because it had an A/T & would drive more smoothly for any close-ups of the actors inside the car. The stunt car was used in the crash scene at the end of American Graffiti where it was towed for the rollover. Travers brought in a non-running, salvage yard '55 to use as the "burn" car. The burn car was actually a 2-dr hardtop w/a piece of wood fastened in place to give the appearance of a 2-dr post. As soon as the scene was finished, the burn car was sent back to the salvage yard.

After filming on American Graffiti was finished, the inventory of studio-owned cars was assigned to Travers for disposal. He removed the drive train & front sheet metal from the stunt car & sold the remains to a California stock car racer who was interested in the battered car since it had a full roll cage. The racer stored the car in a friend's salvage yard where it sat for several years. Due to a zoning dispute, the salvage yard was eventually forced to clear out some of the inventory & the remains of the stunt car was sent to the crusher. The other '55 Chevy sat in Henry Travers' front yard for over a year before it was eventually sold to Sam Crawford, who owned it when it was featured in a May 1976 issue of Street Rodder magazine w/other notable "Graffiti" cars.

Steve Fitch of Wichita (KS) bought the Graffiti '55 from Crawford in the late ‘70s. Fitch later bought the yellow '32 Ford Coupe driven by Paul LeMat's character "John Milner" in a sealed bid sale from the studio after More American Graffiti was completed. He owned both cars when he & the 2 most famous cars from American Graffiti were profiled in an October 1983 Car Craft magazine article. Fitch did a meticulous, detailed restoration of the '55 to American Graffiti trim, & is credited w/preserving the Coupe in as-is condition from the filming.

When Fitch later put both cars up for sale, the '55 wound up in Maryland in the hands of the current owner, Wayne Newsom, & the '32 Coupe returned to the San Francisco area w/Rick Figari. The '32 Coupe has continued to be carefully preserved by Figari & many "movie prop" features on the car are still visible - such as holes drilled in the frame & brackets welded on for the camera mounts. Figari is committed to preserving the Coupe because, in his view, it will only be original once.
THE CAR
Shortly after the '55 was shipped to Maryland, it rec’d an extensive frame-off modification as a show car & its appearance & originality was radically changed from when it was used in American Graffiti. There remain, however, several visible details on the Graffiti '55 that point to the authenticity of the car, in addition to its well-documented history.

• In both movies, & today, the car has distinctive radiused rear wheel wells.
• In Two-Lane Blacktop, the car's trunk was lift-off fiberglass & held in place w/"hood pins" on the upper corners & in the center of the lower edge below the trunk emblem. In American Graffiti, the pins can still be seen on the car. The trunk on the car is now hinged, but the original brackets used to mount the pins are still in place on the top corners & the spots where the holes in the trunk lid were filled are still visible if you look closely.
• In both movies, you can see the tube front axle & chrome radius rods under the front of the car. In the magazine articles, the car is shown w/the tube axle, the 4-link setup, & the coil-over suspension. The car still has the same axle, which was custom built by Richard Ruth, altho the other components have been changed.
• In Two-Lane Blacktop, there are several good shots of the big block 427 engine, the Weiand tunnel ram, & the headers. The Street Rodder & Car Craft articles also show the engine & headers. There were no shots of the engine compartment in American Graffiti, most likely because the film was set in 1962 & the only big block Chevrolet engine then available was the 409. The car is thought to still have the same L-88 427 engine, & is still equipped w/the headers that were fabricated by Richard Ruth & are unique to the car, altho the original Weiand tunnel ram & the hydraulic throttle linkage installed by Ruth have disappeared.
• In Two Lane Blacktop the car had front bucket seats, a white headliner, fiberglass doors w/sliding plexiglass windows, a roll bar, & no rear seat. In American Graffiti, the bucket seats were replaced w/a bench seat, the fiberglass doors & plexiglass windows were replaced w/stock steel doors & rollup windows, the roll bar was still in place, the headliner was still white, & the rear seat area was covered w/a white "tonneau" cover from the top of the bench seat to the package tray. The original old-style Covico 3-spoke steering wheel is clearly visible, too. The car's current interior represents the biggest change from the car as seen in the 2 movies. The car now has a full red/gray leather interior, the steel doors are equipped w/power windows, the roll bar is gone, a stock '55 steering wheel has replaced the Covico wheel, & Bel Air trim & gauges have been added to the dash.
• In the 1983 Car Craft magazine article, the '55 is pictured w/the Kansas license plate "GRAF 55." The plate is still on the car since it has never been titled or licensed in Maryland.
• In Two-Lane Blacktop there is a gas station scene in which the attendant is seen filling the gas tank after the fiberglass trunk lid was removed. The gas tank filler neck was accessed thru a hole cut in the floor of the trunk on the driver's side close to the rear bumper. That hole is still there, but covered by a sheet metal plate that has been fastened to the floor of the trunk from underneath. Richard Ruth also appeared in this scene. He’s the mechanic wearing the Glendale Speed Center T-shirt who strolled out to look at the car.
  

• Main Car #1 - Equipped w/a 427 crate motor, M-22 Muncie, 4.88 Olds rear, fiberglass front end, doors, & trunk lid, straight axle front suspension when built. Used for exterior shots in Two-Lane Blacktop, modified for American Graffiti.
• Main Car #2 - Equipped w/a 454 crate motor, M-22 Muncie, 4.88 Olds rear, fiberglass front end, doors, & trunk lid, straight axle front suspension when built. Used only in Two-Lane Blacktop for interior scenes.
• Stunt Car - All steel-bodied car equipped w/a 454 crate motor, TH 400 A/T, Olds rear of unknown gearing. Used Two-Lane Blacktop, modified for American Graffiti. Crushed in the late ‘70s.

Milner's Coupe

 
Some people well tell you that the "Piss Yellow" coupe in the movie American Graffiti single-handedly brought back Hot Rod cars. One thing is for certain; it & the movie help feed the fire that grew into the multi-billion dollar Hot Rod industry that thrives today! Lucas launched not only his career w/this movie (& the career of his film stars); he also launched Street Rodding's career as well!
Several years ago I was standing in the famous Roy Brizio Street Rods shop talking to parts manager Dave Catellini about that very subject when he said he knew the guy who now owns "Milner's Coupe"! I said "Dave, you've got to see if he'll let me photograph the car?" Dave set up a date w/car owner Rick Figari of San Francisco. Rick was more than happy to pull the car out of the garage for us to shot pictures of it!! Rick explained that when he 1st saw the car at Steve Fitch's ranch in Wichita (KS), the car looked pretty rough. It had been sitting out behind the barn exposed to the elements. The aluminum valve covers had been replaced w/stock orange Chevy valve covers, the dual 4V manifold that they used on the car in the sequel had its air cleaners stolen & so the motor was full of water, the chrome was dull, faded & chipping. But all that didn't matter to Rick … this was the car of his dreams. He had fallen in love w/the car after seeing the movie & he just had to own it!

Once Rick got it back to NorCal, he drained the motor & put in fresh oil & changed the filter. Much to his surprise, it fired right up & it still runs strong today. Next, he searched for a replacement for the missing Man-A-Fre dual 4V manifold & the Rochester carbs. Rick says he doesn't drive the car when he has a cold because there's no fuse box -- if he smelt something burning he would pull the car over & check all the wiring. This car is rough, the carpet is falling apart, the upholstery is torn & worn, the firewall is rusty. When I asked Rick why he didn't fix the car up he had a very good answer: "I want the car to remain as original as possible"

It's only recently that Rick started making improvements to the car. He figured if he was going to drive the car, a fuse box was a must! So Roy Brizio's Street Rods rewired the car but mounted the new fuse box under the cowl vent, out of sight! Rick has also had a lot of the chrome replated. But it was decided that the old, custom-made headers wouldn't survive an acid dip at the platers, so they were powder coated in a chrome finish. The coupe's grille was painted flat black (as seen here) for the sequel, but since these pictures were taken Rick has had it replated. Rick is taking great care in restoring the car w/out changing it.

Some interesting things about the car: There are "U" shaped brackets on the bottom frame rail on each side of the car. These were used to bolt-on & bolt-off platforms for the movie cameras & directors' chairs. If you watch closely during the movie, you'll notice that the hinged front window flops open every time the car accelerates. This is because there's a rope tied around the window post on the passenger side & the other end of the rope was tied to the director, George Lucas! The passenger's side door lock under the door handle is missing -- we think that was used to feed microphone wires thru the door. The "THX 138" plates were custom made for the movie. One of Lucas' good luck charms is to carry something from his past movie into the next movie. The plate refers to his 1st movie "THX 1138", a sci-fi movie filmed here in NorCal (many of the underground shots are actually the Oakland/Alameda tube that runs under the water between the 2 cities). If you look very closely in Star Wars, you'll see some fuzzy dice hanging in the Millenium Falcon. The car was originally a full fendered, red, Street Rod & was purchased by the film crew mainly because it had a chopped top & the script (Lucas!) wanted a chopped top fender-less Hot Rod. Rick's not sure, but he thinks the cars been repainted since the movie.

One thing Rick told me when he bought the car he was disappointed that the THX plates & "piston" gearshift knob were missing. Two very important pieces. One day Rick was chasing down a burning wire smell & pulled back the driver's side kick panel & found both the plates & gear shift knob underneath it!

The American Graffiti 1956 T-Bird

THE HISTORY

The '56 Thunderbird convertible was purchased by Clay Daily & his wife in 1964 on a used Ford car lot in San Bernardino (CA). It had been painted red & had 55,000 miles showing. A few years later the Dailys moved to Petaluma (CA). This where they had the car painted white.
In 1972, Clay's wife had the car parked in downtown Petaluma. When she returned to the car to go home, she found a piece of a brown paper bag on the windshield. Someone had written a note on the paper & asked if the car's owner would like to have the car in a movie. They left a telephone # & said to call if interested. The Dailys thought it was a joke, but they called anyway. To their surprise, it was Lucas Films & they wanted to use the car! The Dailys agreed & the T-Bird appeared in the movie. All of the night shots were done in downtown Petaluma, so Clay & his wife were able to watch some of them.
In 1998, American Graffiti was inducted into the "Hall of Fame" at San Bernardino's Route 66 Rendezvous, on the movie's 25th anniversary. The Rendezvous organizers contacted the Dailys & asked if they would bring the car over for the induction. They did & were joined by Rick Figari & the yellow '32 Ford coupe, too. Two of the stars of the movie, Paul LeMat & Cindy Clark, were there to accept the induction plaque.
In 1999, the Dailys & the T-Bird were on the Leeza television show. The show was to have Suzanne Somers as a guest & wanted to surprise her w/the car. During the segment filmed w/Suzanne, Leeza had the Dailys in the audience & had them stand up. She asked Suzanne if she knew them. The answer was she didn't think so. Leeza then told Suzanne that the Dailys knew her & had a surprise for her. Everyone was asked to go outside the studio & when they were all there, Suzanne's husband drove up in the T-Bird. Suzanne was really surprised since she hadn't seen the car since the movie was filmed!
Clay & his wife still drive the car quite a bit. It now has a little over 300,000 miles & is still running strong. The Dailys belong to a Classic TB Club & do 10 or so parades a year plus outings.

The American Graffiti '58 Impala

THE HISTORY

Mike & Sandra Famalette, of Washington state, are the owners of the '58 Chevrolet Impala (Steve Bolander's car) from the movie. Sandra writes: "Mike purchased the '58 from Henry Travers who was working for Lucas Films. In 1972, before the movie was released, Mike had seen an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for a car auction for movie cars & Mike had already been looking for his 1st car. So Mike & his father went to Sonoma. They were the only 2 there & Mike's dad was not too happy w/his son purchasing this car because it was not in good shape. In fact, one of the puttied-in Caddy taillights fell off just before getting home & he ran a stop sign because the brakes didn't work. Mike drove the car to HS."
"In 1974, Mike joined the Marine Corps & the '58 was parked in his parents' garage. It wasn't until our daughter, Ashley, was looking for a senior project that she thought about the car. At her HS, the seniors have to choose a project that is a stretch from the normal things they do & there has to be a related topic to write a paper about. Since Mike was helping, she choose "the importance of a positive father influence on his daughter."
"We were so happy when she came up w/the idea to remove & replace the engine of the car as her project. In the summer of 2002, Mike, Ashley, & our son, Matt, went down to California & pulled it out of the garage for the 1st time since 1974 & brought it back to Washington. Ashley finished her project & got an ‘A’, but the '58 still was not running."
"The local Spokane paper, the Spokesman-Review, has a column that runs on Saturdays called My Favorite Car. Mike had sent them some information & pictures of the '58. We missed seeing the article, but John Soloman had seen it. John went thru a lot to try to get in touch w/Mike, but came up empty every time. Then, one day, John showed up at our house when Mike was not home. He started to tell me that he was in charge of promoting of the Late Great Chevy 2004 show in Coeur D'Alene in August 2004 & that he would like us to bring our car. I called Mike & John went thru his story again. Mike wanted to bring the car but only if it was drivable. So John Solomon, Bob Bushnell, & Larry Fitzgerald helped w/the final completion."
"Many other people helped out thru the years. Rick Blackstock & a Marine buddy, Chris Gilbreath, were the 1st to help, & Todd Johnson, my daughter Ashley's automotive mentor during her senior project also helped. The car was originally brought home w/a tired 348 4V & a 3-spd transmission. It was replaced w/a 283 & a 2-spd Powerglide. The next engine change was a 350 LT1, & it now has a 348 w/Tri-Power & a 3-spd Turbo-Hydro. Mike has owned it for a very long time. The car has never been a show car & always been more of a movie prop. In fact most of the '58 replicas look much nicer than our original movie car, but we like it a lot, none the else."