Hardcore car guys are far more interested in a movie’s classic iron than the plot because, in most cases, the cars are better than the plot.
That attention to detail draws them into the continuity (sequence) of a movie because their focus stays on the car.
If the car suddenly changes from shot to shot, a car guy spots it instantly and the movie’s credibility disappears faster than a politician’s promise.
Jerry Sutherland
I’m one of those guys, so every time a car goes over a cliff and turns into a different car, I spot the difference.
There have been classic examples over the years like the ‘Vanishing Point’ 1970 Challenger RT making a magical transition into a late 60s Camaro a nanosecond after the famous crash scene ending.
Another great example is the ’55 Chevy crash at the end of ‘American Graffiti’ because the crash car is wearing different wheels.
Most women and non-car guys never understand why that’s important—but to car guys, it’s a huge breach of trust because cars don’t swap wheels in mid crash. Car guys wish they could—towing would be a lot easier.
I recently watched a movie from 1976 called ‘Small Town in Texas’ where Susan George played a small-town hottie, and Bo Hopkins played a small-town sheriff. Bo was usually a good guy in movies, but in this one he was a bought-off sheriff with no moral compass.
Bo rolls up in a ’71 Plymouth Satellite police car in his first appearance–in my opinion, one of the coolest four-door sedans ever built.
Bo switches to a big 1973 Dodge Polara in a later scene. These large C-body Mopars were standard issue back in the 70s because they were large and reliable cars for emergency vehicles.
Both these cars made sense because the town had a reasonably large fleet of vehicles, so Bo had several options for cars.
The ’73 Polara shows up again in the next scene, but this time it’s driven by a deputy in pursuit of motorcycle-riding Jeremy Bottoms–this is where continuity disintegrates. His ’73 Polara morphs into a ’73 Fury police car from one shot to the next—movie magic at its finest.
Bo Hopkins jumps into the chase in a ’72 Satellite. That lasts about ten seconds before he’s behind the wheel of a ’73 Polara, then Bo is driving a ’73 Fury down the train tracks in hot pursuit of the scofflaw motorcyclist.
That Fury doesn’t last long because Bo is right back behind the wheel of the legendary ’73 Polara in the next shot. Seconds later—you guessed it—he’s driving the ’73 Fury again. That car is doomed because Bo wrecks it at a railway crossing.
That may be a permanent ending for the Fury because Bo is driving a ’72 Satellite in a later scene. Or is it? Timothy Bottoms steals a deputy’s ’72 Satellite, but it changes into the magical ’73 Fury a few miles down the road.
Not only that, the two deputies jump into a ’71 Satellite to chase the ’72 Satellite but once they get behind the stolen car, they’re driving a ’73 Polara. Is anyone surprised?
The ’73 Polara turns back into the ’71 Satellite–but Bo is still driving a ’72 Satellite. The ’72 Satellite ends up underwater in a pond and Bo switches to a ’71 Satellite but stays dry.
Confused yet? It gets worse after Jeremy Bottoms steals Bo’s Satellite but it’s a ’73 Fury seconds later—then it’s a ’71 Satellite again.
I’m going to stop here. More stuff happened, but my notebook was full—the chaotic continuity point is made over and over again.
I have two theories—this was a thinly-disguised sci-fi movie with alternate universes, or there was heavy alcohol and drug use during the production.
This is Hollywood—I’m going with the second theory.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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