‘American Graffiti’ was one of those iconic movies from the 70s that had a huge audience because it captured a time and a place.
It was set 11 years earlier than its release date in 1973, so it represented a time and a place that didn’t exist over a decade later.
‘More American Graffiti’ was released six years later in 1979, and it clearly moved the dial from 1962 to a less friendly era from 1964 to late 1967—but the cars were still cool.
Jerry Sutherland
Start with one of the first cars in the movie. It was a decrepit looking 1956 Chrysler Windsor four-door sedan done up in pure ’67 San Francisco hippie style.
This was the perfect vehicle for the dope-smoking musicians who owned the old Chrysler although it looked more battered than an 11-year-old car should in ‘67.
The next car was a 1964 Dodge Polara 440 station wagon push car. It appeared at a drag strip, and it was the perfect choice because big heavy wagons were often used as push cars at NHRA events.
This was late ’64, so the car was still in mint condition, but its bright red paint was hard to miss at the track.
A 1958 GMC P-series utility van surfaces in ‘More American Graffiti’ as an equipment hauler for a rock band,
The band is a carefree bunch, so the one of the games the play with the big truck is crashing into stacked garbage cans. Call it a hippie version of a demolition derby.
To no one’s surprise, there’s a 1957 Chevy 210 two-door post at the drag strip. There isn’t a decade when these cars weren’t popular.
That’s why this tire-smoking ’57 Chev made so much sense in 1964—it was part of history…then and now.
There’s another track car that also made complete sense in 1964. It was a 1963 Plymouth Max Wedge two-door hardtop built to dominate at every local track in ’64, so its appearance in a track scene was totally in line with history.
‘More American Graffiti’ also starred a 1960 Pontiac Ventura bubbletop two-door hardtop. These were highly underrated cars in their day, so a Hollywood movie role was a welcome sight for this door number two Poncho.
There’s a student riot scene in ‘More American Graffiti’ where a 1967 Ford Custom San Francisco police car answers the call. This black and white is exactly the kind of car SFPD would use, but there’s no word on whether a young Dirty Harry was driving.
But there’s no question Harry would have approved of the club swinging technique on the hippie student rioters.
The final car star in ‘More American Graffiti’ is a familiar one. It’s John Milner’s yellow deuce coupe (’32 Ford) from the original ‘American Graffiti’.
This is one of those in-the-moment scenes where we learned what exactly happened to Milner and his legendary ’32 Ford after his fate was listed at the end of the original movie.
Killed by a drunk driver–that’s why the deuce coupe is shown cresting a hill and not showing up on the other side.
They pulled all the star power they could out of a bright yellow ’32 Ford because it ended both movies. It worked.
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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