Contrary to what has been said in one comment, not all cars in the film were original - especially the ones that were crashed were not genuine 917 and 512, but rebodies Lola T70s. Just thought you might like to know :-)
Also, is the script available on the web somewhere? I would like to compare the characters as originally intended with the finished product.
you seem to know quite a bit about the cars in this film. do you know what year and model McQueen is driving along the road in the beginning before the flashback?
If I remember correctly, the car was a Porsche 942D.
share911S 2.4L
shareit was a 2.2 , maybe a 2.0 , not 100% sure, the 2.4 only started in model year 72 ( production year 71 ) but the movie came out well before that.
Yes, it was a 2,2 S with US specification and many options.
The only thing that I still don't understand is the color of the car: I looked at the moovie so many times and I believe it's really dark (non metallic) grey. But this color was not available for the 2,2 model. Any ideas?
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US spec. are clearly visible from electrical equipment (lights). The dark grey paint ( schiefergrau ) was only available for previous model year ( until 1968 if I remeber correctly ). A grey-green was not vailable. I'm a Porsche fan too with a small collection of 356 and early 911.
Ciao
You can see the yellow body of the T-70 in a couple of shots during the big crash scene.
shareSome of the cars used in the movie:
Porsche 917k (the Gulf Porsche team)
Porsche 917l (the white longer bodied car seen heavily at the start of the race)
Porsche 911 (Steve drives one at the start of the movie, and a number of them are seen in the movie)
Ferrari 512 (long bodied version)
Lola T70 III (used for the crashes and skids)
Alfa Romeo T33/3
Matra 650
Chevrolet Corvette
Porsche 908 (a camera car they entered into the race to get authentic footage)
Ford Mirage F40 (another camera car)
thx, great information
and great movie, the shots in the end, when the porsches battle the 512 are golden
Even more fun are the "background cars" shown on the city streets and at the track: a Citroen 2CV and Morris Mini 850 especially caught my eye. I remember growing up in Los Angeles in the 50's, 60's and early 70's, where you could see Mercedes 300SL's and Shelby Cobras racing on Sunset Blvd at 2 am. And of course, Steve McQueen was reguarly seen at the Brentwood Country Mart in his Austin Mini Cooper, and Paul Newman drove a VW Beetle with a Porsche motor, down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, to you east-coasters). The 60's and early 70's were marvelous, because the most amazing cars were imported (and regularly seen) in the USA: Abarths, MG's, E-type Jaguars, Ferraris, Masaratis, Lamborghinis... and even pedestrian models were amazing: the little bubble cars from Isetta-BMW, the Fiat 500 and 600, the BMW 750 mini-car, and any number of cool sporting Lotus 7's and Elans, Cosworth Fords, and obscure Berkeley and Riley sports cars.
shareDon't forget that white GT40 queueing to get in with all the other traffic!
People should spend more time watching movies and less time bitching about IMDB spoilers.