VeroWing

Just came across a 1958 movie on YouTube named Drag Strip Riot that had a lot of C1 Corvettes in it, with some racing too. Simple story, but the C1 action is great. Thought I would share.

jasonsamara

I've seen it on there to. Looks like they are a dime a dozen in that movie.

gbvette62

Dragstrip Riot was one of many "Hot Rod" movies, that came out in the late 50's. Others were Hot Rod Girl, Hot Rod Gang, The Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow, Dragstrip Girl, but Dragstrip Riot is the only one that I remember that featured early Corvettes.

You should try to get a look at "Hot Rods to Hell"' from the late 60's. The film is about a family that buys a motel in a small California town, and are harassed by a bunch of local hot rodders. The main antagonist is a kid in a red 58 Corvette. It has the typical 60's gasser look, with Radder Wheels, slicks, a roll bar, flames in the cove panels and a pair of yellow stripes running the length of the car.

big block ken

Wow Glenn. We're the same age and I've never heard of any of these!Don't forget that classic Corvette Summer ...

sub006

Try to find a copy of the "Corvette Summer" BOOK, it goes into detail about Dantley's life, motivations and passions. Much better and more satisfying than the movie!

(Spoiler alert: In the book, young Dantley never met his father. The only picture he had was of a young guy leaning on a '56 or '57 C1 AIR. When his shop class found a rough C3 in the junkyard, he convinced everyone it would HAVE to be the class project.)

gbvette62

Those old hot rod films, use to show up on late night TV. I recorded a few of them years ago. I have Dragstrip Girl, that I found in one of those tubs of $3 VHS tapes at KMart. I also have one of those DVD's from the $5 tub, of The Wild Ride, a 1960 movie staring Jack Nicholson as a dirt track racer. It's not a great film, but hey it's Nicholson!

Some of the old car movies show up on Turner Classics, once in a while. They usually show some of the great old racing films around Memorial Day (Indy 500 time) every year. There will be a day when they'll run films like The Racers, To Please A Lady, The Green Helmet, Grand Prix, and The Crowd Roars, all back to back. It's heaven for a nut like me, who loves old cars and racing.

Hot Rods to Hell, I actually saw in the movies. As a car crazy kid, I went to see all of the car films when they came out, Two Lane Blacktop, Winning, Grand Prix, Le Mans, American Graffiti, The Great Race and even Corvette Summer!

426 Hemi

I remember a school buddy and me going to see the twin feature matinee of Dirty Mary--Crazy Larry and Vanishing Point.

Talk about shocking endings---kinda like Easy Rider. Must have been a trend back then.

big block ken

I remember seeing Vanishing Point at Steel Pier in Atlantic City when it came out in 1970. Even though it's Mopar, it's one of my favorite car movies to this day. I have a collection of just about every hot car chase movie on VHS from the 60's & 70's. That includes "The car that ate people", made in France. Strange!

jasonsamara

I wish I could have the time back that I spent watching Two Lane Blacktop I believe that Chevy is the same car used in American Graffiti. When I was sick a few years back Grand Prix was on TCM I think and I caught the last half of it. I spent the next week on Youtube watching clips from the high banks of Monza.

One of my favorites is the John Milner part of More American Graffiti The rest of the movie kind of sucks.

gbvette62

The primered Two Lane Blacktop 55, was one of 2 or 3 55's, used in American Graffiti. It's been restored back to how it appeared in Two Lane Blacktop, and often shows up at car shows around the country.

The drag racing scenes in More American Graffiti, and the sound track, were about the only reasons to watch the movie.

It's funny that this discussion came up today. I was working from home today, and put the TV on around noon to catch the news. The TV was on the THIS network, and the 1966 Frankie Avalon movie about racing, Fireball 500 was on. The on screen guide showed the 67 Fabian racing movie, Thunder Alley was scheduled to air after it. I was tempted to sit and watch them, but I didn't.

sub006

Thanks for the edited short bersion of AG2! Caught mid-'60s central California drag strip action well. Always liked the girl from Iceland, too.

She and Milner might have had some cute kids, darnit!

ChattanoogaJSB

Ken- vanishing point may be the greatest car CHASE movie ever! I wore a copy out as a kid and now have the DVD. I even had a white 340/4-speed '70 challenger before I got it out of my system a little!

Bullitt? More of a great movie that has a car chase in it. I love that VP is built around the chase (well, and all those allegories...)

Solid LT1

That digger was piloted by Dave Yount AKA: The Fremont Flash at Fremont Drag Strip.....as I recall he made pretty good money for faking the crash scene in that movie. When I was a teenager we would ride our 10 speeds about 8 miles to get to the strip and lock them up by the fence then use them to gain " reduced cost admissions " to the the track.....by jumping the fence.....I still remember going to The Nitro Bowl event that was in January and while riding home finding a stack of Playboy magazines in a moving pile of an apartment house.....it was a LANDMARK day for a 14 year old

I spent many a Wedensday night there....worked at the NAPA parts store which closed at 7:00 PM lucky for me my buddies ran tech and I could haul down there and make a couple of practice runs before the brackets started thanks to instant tech approval.....remember my 1st pass on drag slicks and how the hood of my 440 Six Pack rose so high that I couldn't see very well over it and had to watch the side of the strip to make sure I was going straight down it.

Tigershark3

Thanks for sharing

sub006

Wasn't actor/genuine hot rodder Tommy Ivo in Drag Strip Riot? I know I've seen him in one of those '50s black and white wild kids in cars" films.

yogiboobuck

Thanks for the post. I was just thinking about the Fremont drag strip yesterday. We would all pile into a buddies station wagon and head across the bridge from San Mateo. Great memories.

Procrastination Racing

I stumbled on it also today while looking for other things.

I almost posted it as a new thread, but the Search brought me to this thread. There are a lot of cool mid '50s Corvettes in this along with some early Cal Club / SCCA races.

cbernhardt

I am not certain when "Hot Rods to Hell"' was released, but I remember exactly when I saw it. It was in June 1969, in our camp near Danang. We didn't get many movies and we rigged up a screen with seats made of 2" x 8" lumber. Probably the worst movie I ever saw, except for the Corvette. Rocket attack the next morning.

Charles