Cars in Mad Max

created by J. Totale

(thing) by J. Totale (6.7 mon) (print) ? (I like it!) 4 C!s Fri Jun 28 2002 at 5:39:43

I was going to wait until I posted a definitive node on Mad Max, but after gathering all the information, I realised that there was more than enough information for an individual node.

Right. There are many cars in Mad Max, but I will just list the specifics of the main ones, such as the police cars and a couple of others.

Black Interceptor*
The most famous and recognizable car, the one that Max drives toward the end of the film, and what he uses in Mad Max 2. The car is an extremely modified 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT with the factory standard V8 Cleveland 351ci engine. The two most immediately obvious things about the car is the supercharger on the top of the hood and the modified front grille. I had originally thought the front to be Fairmont, or possibly an XC but subsequent reading reveals it to be a Concorde, a custom part by Ford, designed for use by panel vans and coupes (there are slight differences between the two). The blower on top is a fake - those stories you heard are true and all that is inside the charger (which is a Weiand by the way) is the carburettor. Most of the modifications on the car were purely aesthetic, like the pipes on the side and the spoiler. The actual workings were pretty much left intact. The car is viewable at Cars of the Stars in England

Max's Interceptor
The car Max drives at the start of the film when chasing the Nightrider. Basically the same as the Black Interceptor, except it was made a year later and is a non-GT sedan (I'm not sure if the sedans were available as a GT), instead of a coupe. The extra bodywork done to the car (air dams/spoiler/wheel flares) was all off the shelf, but I doubt that the fibreglass parts are available now. Before the film, the car was a Victorian Police Interceptor (oh for the good old days), and is the only yellow MFP vehicle to survive filming. It's around today - I saw it (or a replica) after a Mad Max movie night. In the film, you can see Max's name printed on the side ('M. Rockatansky') along with his partner ('The Dark One') who wasn't in the film.

Big Bopper
One of the first cars you see in the film and also the most smashed up by the end of the first chase, this car is driven by Charlie and Roop. The only yellow MFP car to have 'Pursuit' written on the boot (the other two are both Interceptors), the car is also a V8 XB Falcon, but has a smaller engine (302ci). This car was also an ex-police vehicle and was sent to the scrapyard after the film (*sniff*).

March Hare
The third yellow MFP vehicle is another Interceptor (which ends up on it's roof near the caravan), this car was a 1972 Ford XA Falcon with a straight six engine, and was driven by Sarse and Scuttle. This car was a taxi before the film, and even though it didn't take too much punishment in the film it was fairly run down (the smoke pouring out of the back when we first see the car take off is *not* a special effect) and was scapped after shooting.

Nightrider
The black car stolen by the Nightrider at the start of the film that he leads a high speed chase with may, to the untrained eye, look like the Black Interceptor; but in fact it is a different make altogether. It is a two-door 1972 Holden HQ Monaro LS, with a V8 350ci (5.74 litre) engine and is described in the film as a "'Pursuit Special' running on nitro, very hot". (The 'nitro' is probably referring to nitromethane) The only indications that this is a police car are faint MFP outlines in the rear of the car, and the standard MFP radio. In the scene where it crashes, the car is actually being propelled by a rocket and the internals have been taken out (you can see in the film also if you look closely that there are no people in the car). This car appears in the garage seen later with the light rack from Max's Interceptor on it.

Max's Van
The van Max takes to the country with his wife and child is a Holden Sandman with a modified headlights that could be from a Ford XC Falcon. A pretty popular vehicle here for surfer types who can find/afford one.

Chevrolet Impala
The fiery red and yellow car that gets smashed up by the bikers is a 1959 straight six Impala. The pipes on the hood are for looks only and are not connected to the engine - notice that when the hood gets hammered they shake around.

You will see the cars that were smashed up in the police garage (including the Pursuit Special) when Max first lays eyes on the Black Interceptor, but the garage scenes were shot before the chase (which was one of the last sequences to be filmed), and the cars were never repaired.

*Note that in the first film, the car is not actually ever called an 'Interceptor', but a 'Pursuit Special' like the Holden, or the 'black on black'. It is not until the second film that we hear; "Last of the V8 Interceptors", and the car is commonly known now as the Black Interceptor. You can call it a Pursuit Special, but expect some weird looks.

That was going to be it for the write up, but once I'd watched the film countless times and done all the research I discovered this site: www.madmaxmovies.com
Damn, it was in one place. It's pretty exhaustive, and a good resource if you like the movies, so I'll give a vehicle listing according to it just for posterity (I can't claim any credit for what's below the line, except for editing/formatting):

Goose's Motorcycle: 1977 Kawasaki KZ-1000

White car Goose jumps over at petrol station: Ford XK Falcon

Tow Trucks at petrol station: Various Ford F Series trucks

Ute at the diner: Modified HJ Holden

Blue van that gets hit by the Big Bopper: Mazda Bongo Van (This van was actually George Miller's (the film's director) van - they ran out of money to buy a vehicle to smash)

Car towing the caravan: Ford XK Falcon

Goose's bike where Max gives him the apple: 1973 Kawasaki H2 750 triple two-stroke

Toecutter's gang: Kawasaki KZ-1000, Kawasaki Z900, SOHC Honda CB750/CB900

Nightrider's Coffin pick-up truck: '77 Chevrolet K5 (US Left hand drive)

Trike which Goose is talking to the girl in: Honda CB750 engined trike

Fifi's (Max's Boss) Car: Buick Riviera made between '74 and '76

DA's car: Lincoln Continental (US Left Hand Drive)

Car that Goose flicks the antennae of when walking to his bike: 1969 Pontiac GTO (US Right Hand Drive)

Car Johnny the Boy is waiting for Goose in: Ford XK Falcon sedan

Ute which Goose is set alight in: EJ Holden

Car Max drops on Mechanic: 1936 Chevrolet two-door town sedan

White pick-up where Johnny the Boy is stealing the dead drivers' boots: 1969 XW Falcon

Finally, If anyone has an early seventies XA/XB/XC Falcon/Fairmont they want to sell, or if any Americans want to give away a Mustang or Torino of the same period... : )

printable version
chaos

Automobiles with little or no redeeming value	Mad Max	MFP	Department of Mutant Vehicles
Meat truck	Ute	Burning Man	Some advice on girls by a girl : the simple stuff
Car leprosy	Driving my Saturn through Jupiter on a day when the mercury hit 100 degrees	Who run Bartertown?	Mad Max 2
Holden Sandman	Why I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18	Surviving a fire in your car	Ford Fairmont
How to meet the most girls	Nitromethane	Art car	The girls' guide to being a girl
Gun Control in Australia	The One Tree	supercharger	Girls versus Girls

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