Deathproof? Not Quite

[terrible one]

Just ran across an Ebay listing for one of the many Chargers killed during the filming of the movie Deathproof, part of the upcoming "Grindhouse." Ouch!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1969-Dodge-Charger-Grindhouse-Death-Proof-Jump-Car_W0QQitemZ130096749389QQcategoryZ6199QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[71ChallengeHer]

That sucks.

[bull]

"WOW! What a wreck!" Yes it is, Mr. Understatement. Well, the hood looks ok. And maybe the headlight doors.

Actually, now that I look at it there's quite a few parts that could be used it the bidding doesn't go too high. The whole dash assy. looks restorable and there's at least one upper door pad. The wheels are worth some bucks but other than that and the hood I don't see anything worth using on the body. I'll be surprised if it goes for over $1,000.

[Charger1973]

Why do people always feel the need to JUMP 69 Chargers?  I dont understand it. 

[miamivice]

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!

looks like the A pillars are good too, and thats about it; other than whats been said...

[bull]

Why do people always feel the need to JUMP 69 Chargers?  I dont understand it. 

I will attempt to explain this dichotomy, although I may not succeed. It's not the jumping, per se, it's the image created by the Charger. As we all know "Bad guys always drive Chargers," and therefore the Charger becomes a tool to be used by bad people and bad things happen to bad people and their tools. That's part one.

Part two: In order to celebrate certain things (especially muscle cars) they must sometimes be abused or destroyed. Think about us cheering Mike on every week as we watch him abuse Mr. Angry (http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,24702.0.html) We aren't cheering because he's abusing his car, we're cheering because the car is being used in such a way that it is earning the respect it deserves. I don't believe Chargers should be sentenced to lockup in a garage and rubbed with a cloth diaper, they should be driven, the tires should be spinning, the sound of the engine should scare people and the sight of them should make babies cry and Honda drivers pucker their butts. It's all about image and when you see a Charger on TV or in the movies you want to see it kicking some serious tail. You want to see people shivering at the mere thought of being followed by a Charger.

Part three: The line between abusing and destroying is a thin one and which side the Charger falls on has to do with the character driving the car. If the movie involves bad guys who are driving a Charger and seeking to do bodily harm, the Charger will be destroyed, period. The bad guys must die. The difficulty for us on a cerebral/emotional level is seeing the Charger destroyed, even though we thoroughly enjoy watching the Charger kicking some serious tail up to that point. This brings up the old argument about the Dukes of Hazzard actually being responsible for saving more Chargers that it destroyed. Does the interest in the cars shown in movies and on TV mean more will be dragged into the shop and restored? Had there not been a popular movie or TV series with a Charger it in would the Charger in farmer Brown's field stay put or would some guy see the show, spot the familiar body lines, buy it, join dc.com and restore the Charger after having passed it by 100 times before? Who knows? That said I saw no sense in wrecking the Charger in Fast and Furious or that stupid Dukefest BS but IMO it makes all sorts of sense to me that they mangle a few for Death Proof. It really depends on the story being told.

After all is said and done I still am on the fence about this. On the one hand I want to see Chargers on the big screen, crashing or not. On the other hand I want all the remaining Chargers to be restored and become weekend warriors (which should include some amount of abuse). Ideally, I'd love it if all the sheetmetal were available for the Charger and they could hang it on a Camaro before destroying it. Still, it wouldn't be the same. I guess it's kind of like war, if you're going to destroy a Charger, do it as infrequently as possible and do it right so we'll have something to cheer about.

[BrianShaughnessy]

Why do people always feel the need to JUMP 69 Chargers?  I dont understand it. 

I dunno why they keep doing it...  they should wreck those ugly 68's or '70's instead 

[jasonfromIKILLYA]

Why do people always feel the need to JUMP 69 Chargers?  I dont understand it. 

I will attempt to explain this dichotomy, although I may not succeed. It's not the jumping, per se, it's the image created by the Charger. As we all know "Bad guys always drive Chargers," and therefore the Charger becomes a tool to be used by bad people and bad things happen to bad people and their tools. That's part one.

Part two: In order to celebrate certain things (especially muscle cars) they must sometimes be abused or destroyed. Think about us cheering Mike on every week as we watch him abuse Mr. Angry (http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,24702.0.html) We aren't cheering because he's abusing his car, we're cheering because the car is being used in such a way that it is earning the respect it deserves. I don't believe Chargers should be sentenced to lockup in a garage and rubbed with a cloth diaper, they should be driven, the tires should be spinning, the sound of the engine should scare people and the sight of them should make babies cry and Honda drivers pucker their butts. It's all about image and when you see a Charger on TV or in the movies you want to see it kicking some serious tail. You want to see people shivering at the mere thought of being followed by a Charger.

Part three: The line between abusing and destroying is a thin one and which side the Charger falls on has to do with the character driving the car. If the movie involves bad guys who are driving a Charger and seeking to do bodily harm, the Charger will be destroyed, period. The bad guys must die. The difficulty for us on a cerebral/emotional level is seeing the Charger destroyed, even though we thoroughly enjoy watching the Charger kicking some serious tail up to that point. This brings up the old argument about the Dukes of Hazzard actually being responsible for saving more Chargers that it destroyed. Does the interest in the cars shown in movies and on TV mean more will be dragged into the shop and restored? Had there not been a popular movie or TV series with a Charger it in would the Charger in farmer Brown's field stay put or would some guy see the show, spot the familiar body lines, buy it, join dc.com and restore the Charger after having passed it by 100 times before? Who knows? That said I saw no sense in wrecking the Charger in Fast and Furious or that stupid Dukefest BS but IMO it makes all sorts of sense to me that they mangle a few for Death Proof. It really depends on the story being told.

After all is said and done I still am on the fence about this. On the one hand I want to see Chargers on the big screen, crashing or not. On the other hand I want all the remaining Chargers to be restored and become weekend warriors (which should include some amount of abuse). Ideally, I'd love it if all the sheetmetal were available for the Charger and they could hang it on a Camaro before destroying it. Still, it wouldn't be the same. I guess it's kind of like war, if you're going to destroy a Charger, do it as infrequently as possible and do it right so we'll have something to cheer about.

very well put.  I couldn't agree more.

[TruckDriver]

Did no one see all the other cars from the movie in the back ground in this shot

[The70RT]

Why do people always feel the need to JUMP 69 Chargers?  I dont understand it. 

I dunno why they keep doing it...  they should wreck those ugly 68's or '70's instead 

I know why. There are more junk 69s than 70'S

[konigcharger]

look at all of them, and the challenger too 

[71ChallengeHer]

I didn't even notice the other cars. 

[69chargerboy]

That's the number one thing that pisses me off! Stop destroying these cars! They also destoyed Challengers! Makes me SICK!!!!!

[Charger1973]

I dont care what movie its for.  Its stupid. 

[TruckDriver]

I wont see the movie because of it either. I want a second gen Charger again so bad it isn't funny. But because ass^*#@* like that keep destroying these cars, I'll never most likey find one again I can afford

[68chrgrwife]

I wont see the movie because of it either. I want a second gen Charger again so bad it isn't funny. But because ass^*#@* like that keep destroying these cars, I'll never most likey find one again I can afford

yeah they should start destroying thrid or maybe even first gens, huh?  J/K   It is sick that they do that to the cars....I did see the commercial for the show and was thinking to my self...damn that is one nice car wonder what they do to the car?  ALL movies that have mopar in it they kill it.....as far as i can tell......

[red72chrgr]

look at all of them, and the challenger too

Look in the upper right corner,car next to last. Is that another Charger? Looks like it to me.

[mikepmcs]

It looks like the second one is a 2nd generation as well as the last 2 way off in the distance too.

[COKE]

That people does not have heart...

[1BAD68]

they have to destroy them, all bad guys must die along with their bad cars.
People always want to see the bad guy get killed and unfortunately bad guys always drive Mopars.

[69bronzeT5]

look at all of them, and the challenger too

Look in the upper right corner,car next to last. Is that another Charger? Looks like it to me.

Theres a Chally in the far left corner and theres actually two in the far right corner. And did anybody else notice the other destroyed 69 in the background of the 1st pic?

[Mean 318]

Terintino was on Leno a few days ago, he said they  killed about 6 Chargers and 6 Challengers. There were 1 charger and 1 challenger that didn't die. He kept them.

[squeakfinder]

Why do people always feel the need to JUMP 69 Chargers?  I dont understand it. 

I dunno why they keep doing it...  they should wreck those ugly 68's or '70's instead 

68's aren't ugly!

[mikesbbody]

is it true leno gave tarentino some crap about wrecking the cars? anyone know? i didnt see it.

[topduarte]

This was filmed in the Central Texas area, I took my 67 there with some other members of the local mopar club.  the car guy afterwords said they bought most of the cars in El Paso.  the main two cars was the charger and the challenger.