There were four DMCL cars.

[nvrbdn]

im sitting here reading this as a train horn sounded out side my office. that was wicked. now the ones i recorded onto vhs off the tv must have already been corrected on color. i have 1 original vhs that i dont play. 2 vhs copies recorded from tv and 3 copies of the dvd version. just in case i may need one.

[model maker]

I was commenting on this very fact in the color thread, i will paste part of my post here.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

On a side note, there was another charger that had fake 69 tail lights on it and it can be seen as the damaged car limps into the walnut grove. If you have the dvd watch as it passes the camera and look at the stripe, where it says 440, you will see a round 68 light on the quarter panel & NO 69 reflector below  On the pan below the rear bumper no reverse lights & the tail lights sit to high. they used  2 cars and blended the scene very well. the damage is simular but look at that on the dvd and pause, zoom and step the pause button. this MAY have been the same car that was seen that showed the 68 grille when the cop car got knocked into the river. sorry to go off topic but compare the colors of different cars. ALSO knowing what I know about ARC lights used to light outdoor scenes in movies, those also change some colors on film.   

[jwramc]

im sitting here reading this as a train horn sounded out side my office. that was wicked. now the ones i recorded onto vhs off the tv must have already been corrected on color. i have 1 original vhs that i dont play. 2 vhs copies recorded from tv and 3 copies of the dvd version. just in case i may need one.

In case you never caught it, the train doesn't just appear at the start of the film and for the big ending. When Deke and Mary sit and chat after the tire change, it can be heard rumbling and blowing the horn in the distance- a bit of artful foreshadowing...a hint just about nobody caught.

[model maker]

I saw & heard the significance in that, thats when deke tells mary " YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE HERE  MISS MARY" which she replies, " I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO "

[Brock Lee]

The car 68 situation, they may have felt the differences were subtle enough to film stunt driving, but when they needed it or close up work, the differences were too obvious. You could still buy taillights brand new from any dealership at that time, so it isn't like they had to track down junk cars. They likely already were really familiar with them already. Ir maybe they even had to order the lights and shots of the round lights is while they were waiting for them to come.

[nvrbdn]

as these cars were so redily avaliable at that time, why the heck wouldnt they just get the cars they wanted instead of going through the trouble of changing parts?

[jwramc]

I think it was a combination of budget and scheduling. They grabbed the lowest cost cars within a certain radius that were available quickly. As was mentioned earlier, this was the age where you left the theater with only memories. You didn't get to rewind and slo-mo that shot again. You were seeing it for the first time, following the story and before you could stare at a shot of the car long enough to notice something amiss, the scene changed and it was lost to you. Only with VHS, then DVD and now Blu-Ray do we get to be the nit-pickiest bastards a director ever loathed!

[nvrbdn]

well regardless of the low budget and all, this was the biggest car movie of all time. glad this thread got started, a lot of knowledge.

[Brock Lee]

Time was likely the main reason. They have production schedules to adhere to. They can't take their time to comb around looking for 1969's. And most of the searching would be word of mouth and newspapers. They likely took what they could immediately get and made it work.

[Ghoste]

Now they need to do it on blu ray.

[nvrbdn]

we have a projector and in the summer at the camp ground we put up a big screen and show movies at our camp site. this movie always brings a big crowd. its just fun to watch it on an eight foot screen.

[jwramc]

It already has some grain showing on DVD. I'd be afraid to see it on Blu-ray.  

[MoparManJim]

sorry wrong thread.. My fault

[Mike DC]

I think it was a combination of budget and scheduling. They grabbed the lowest cost cars within a certain radius that were available quickly. As was mentioned earlier, this was the age where you left the theater with only memories. You didn't get to rewind and slo-mo that shot again. You were seeing it for the first time, following the story and before you could stare at a shot of the car long enough to notice something amiss, the scene changed and it was lost to you. Only with VHS, then DVD and now Blu-Ray do we get to be the nit-pickiest bastards a director ever loathed! Smiley

This is a huge factor that causes older Hollywood stuff to appear sloppy to modern eyes.  They knew nobody could go back and pick the footage apart at the time, and they used that to their advantage to keep costs down.  

Same reason the General Lee used to be shown crashing into the dirt and folding up.

 

[StoneCold]

It already has some grain showing on DVD. I'd be afraid to see it on Blu-ray.  

It probably won't be given a proper restoration for blu. I have several blu-rays of older shows where they don't really look much better than their dvd counter parts.
At any rate, I'd still buy a new version 

[Ghoste]

 Me too.  It's less about the better quality than having another copy of it. lol  Have VHS distributed, taped off tv, taped tv copy from Lost Drive In with Bruce Dern commentary, the dvd...
Yeah, I like the flick too.

[nvrbdn]

  we knew you did.

[Ghoste]

I'm Mr. Obvious aren't I? lol

[404NOTFOUND]

I still see four cars.

Pic 1 shows the R/T with roof script and black door handle button.

Pic 2 shows standard Charger with no roof script and black door button.

Pic 3 is a closeup of the button in pic 2.

Pic 4 shows the moment of impact with the train. See the reflector on the quarter panel? It is a '69 with no roof script and  although not shown here, it has CHROME door handle buttons.

And of course, we have a '68 car as well. Thats four cars.

[model maker]

You can also notice that the width of the stripes varies from car to car.

[Ghoste]

I don't know man, pic 2 looks to me like there is a script there inside that glare spot.  I still think three.

[404NOTFOUND]

I don't know man, pic 2 looks to me like there is a script there inside that glare spot.  I still think three.

Agreed about the glare spot but, that was the only part I was able to freeze. Watching the film, you can see that area without glare and there is no script. Regardless, you still have two '69 cars with black buttons and one with chrome. And there is the '68 car too. The 4th car is the one with the chrome door buttons. That is the one that hit the train. It was not used elsewhere in the movie.

[jwramc]

What scene is that second and third pic from?

[jwramc]

OK, found it....your second pic is the grove entry turn.

Here's the thing. Even the DVD is somewhat grainy, transferred from film and played with on computers. It's very easy to think you see one thing when you really see something else. And two people looking at the same thing will see different things. Here's my evidence, your honor...   (Apologies for the many photos, but it's necessary)

Pic 1: You claim to see a black door handle button, yes?


But a few frames later, same turn...what do you see now in the second photo? I say maybe chrome. Lighting plays tricks, too.


3rd photo- here you see chrome, I see body color (as in poor repair overspray).


How to tell if this is the same or two different SEs? The '440' on the stripe. Pictures 4 and 5 put it in the same spot. Same car, (my #2).




By comparison, the R/T's '440' is a bit further forward (pic 6) and the '68's doesn't matter here .


Note the SE also wears the tow frame beneath it in most shots (at flea market, approaching crash with pickup and it rips loose during the train crash). Always the same SE.







Three cars.

[MoparManJim]

I don't know man, pic 2 looks to me like there is a script there inside that glare spot.  I still think three.

I see two small holes.. meaning script is removed.