Alizium Auto Blogs: tv and film cars

Checkers in Times Square, 1943

* Old street scene photos tell us a lot about the way things used to be, and Shorpy, the old photo blog, is always good for a vintage street scene, such as this 1943 shot of a rainy day in Times Square by John Vachon. We immediately noticed the Checkers with their funky art deco grilles and landaulet bodies lined up along the street. Only one such example of that style of Checker remains in existence today.

Cityrama bus

* Spotted on Jesse’s blog, we had to find out more about the Citroën U55 Currus Cityrama from the film Zazie dans le métro. It seems Citroën built multiples of these stacked buses for sightseers and tourists in paris in the late 1950s and early 1960s, who didn’t mind being ushered about in such a typically post-war French vehicle.

Clutch, the movie

* Looking like a homebrew version of the Fast and the Furious with more muscle cars, Clutch the movie (as opposed to Clutch the band, from which the movie producers seem to have nabbed their logo) seems to be in post production and headed for a release this summer. We’ll try to get our hands on a copy to see if it’s any good. (via)

Nissan Heritage Collection

* I need to brush up on my Japanese (okay, I need to actually learn a bit of Japanese) because the Nissan Heritage Collection just put up a new website. (via)

Citrogarage in Italy

* And finally, not to subject you to too many Citroën-related links this week, but Garage Journal member lucajack2cv posted some incredible shots of the rebuild of his Citroën-housing garage, which is located in northern Italy, and the photos are worth seeing, if only to inspire dreams of your own old Europe-inspired garage.

Rough Cut poster

Yeah, the ‘70 RR from Rough Cut is just a wee bit less famous than, say The Bandit. In fact, while I remember that there were a bunch of cars involved, I don’t remember a Plymouth at all. It has been a while since I last saw it on the Sunday afternoon movie feature, however.

1970 Plymouth Roadrunner – 90K, 3K on Rebuilt 383, Auto, Bucket Seats, Movie Car (Rough Cut w/Burt Reynolds)
1970 Plymouth Roadrunner (383, auto, buckets)

1970 Plymouth Roadrunner
You could get them like this, right?

Needless to say, the provenance (if it can be established) probably won’t add much when Vantertook sells it as part of the Todd Alley collection in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 30. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t half-a-dozen interesting cars, and a bunch of tools and parts, in what looks like an estate sale. Plus: The rare Sam Posey rearend option, which is apparently part of an offroad package.

1978 Pontiac Trans Am. “All original,” Skybird.

1972 Chevy El Camino SS. “Restorated motor,” 327, 4-speed automatic (?)

1970 Chevy Nova. 302, 11:1, “448 Posey Track.” 4.48 posi, maybe?

1970 Dodge Charger. 318, four-speed automatic (?), “Special Edition.” Yep. Special.

1968 Pontiac GTO. 400, four-speed, Bonneville Tempest Sprint package

1969 Customized Corvair. 305 V-8, four-speed. I kind of like this - it’s still rear-engined.

If these are refurbished, they’re home jobs, and there’s work to be undone - check the auction site for more photos. But the auctioneer clearly doesn’t know anything about cars, so a fun driver might be had cheap here. Let’s hope they don’t think they’ve got gold, though, because these things are rough. Only the RR and GTO are candidates to break $20,000, and we’d want to see some PHS documents for the Goat. I’d say the Trans Am and Charger, too, but the 318 and primer don’t do the Dodge any favors, and the TA has 109,000 miles.

It’s also a little surprising at this point to find two Mopars with what are probably the correct 318 and 383s respectively, after so many of those got Hemi-ized.

Alizium Auto Blogs

Four-Links – Checkers, Cityrama, Clutch, collection (of Nissans)

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