Interestingly, the car in Death Race 2000 wasn't a Corvette at all, but a (modified) kit car made by the same folks that did Dune Buggies and all that in the 70s.

I don't remember what it was called,but if you look at it, it's very small compared to a Corvette. I shudder to think that it might have VW internals underneath.

 

Some folks we know have a company that manufactures cooking equipment for tortilla chip companies. I'm pretty sure she mentioned having copied this hood for cutting & grating operations.

 

Death Race 2000 corvette actually looks like an Opel GT.

 

Yup ... Annie was much better looking than the Corvette

 

I guess if Corvettes are cool then a custom Corvette is really cool. I googled Custom Corvettes (images) just for fun all I can say is wow!

 

The Corvette is UGLY, however I really dig the Trans Am

 

If I remember correctly, that paint job looked like a mirror, especially the roof...

Rogman

 

I cant really tell what the car was originally, but on the stock 73' the script on the front quarter was the no space word "stingray" but on the back between the tailights of the car is the script "corvette" but they are seperate characters. But the car's exterior is disfigured beyond recognition so I think my point is mute haha

 

...are you kidding? The *only* way that it could be worse is if it was painted a cheap, Las Vegas GOLD.




MxB

 

I tried to find on netflix..could not. I looked under,"corvette summer"- would it be under something else?..thx

 

The reason that the car was cool back then was because we all were a good bit younger. We easily identified with Mark Hamill's character. While he obviously was far too old to be a high schooler in the movie, I don't remember anybody caring. His character's passion for cars matches ours. While incredibly disinteresting in terms of movie quality, supporting cast and general acting talent, cinematography, lighting, direction, etc.etc.etc. the movie was, at best, a C+ in the B-movie genre.

However, none of that mattered to us back then. From the junkyard "find" (remember the falling Stingray script) to the insanity of playing chicken to win back his dream car, the movie exuded the passion for cars that was inside of a LOT of male teenagers...and the Corvette was (still is) the ultimate example of "cool cars." Anybody remember the line? I don't remember it exactly, but it went something like:

"It's not just a car. (exasperated) It's a CORVETTE."

I easily identified with "Kenny." The "scruffy" kid in jeans who was happier turning a wrench and whose vision of the completed project made even the ugliest starting point a labor of love.

The result of the car in Corvette Summer was part of the era. Even if not "show quality" it was iconic in an "over-the-top" kind of way.

I'm working on a '77 project car with my 17yo son. At least half the time he seems entirely disinterested in it. I'm sure that I'm not the only one here who, at 17, would have done just about anything for even a beater 'vette like the "starting point" suggested in the movie (though it was/is unlikely that that is what they truly started with for the movie car). I would have spent every waking hour working on it until it was ready to drive. A few of my friends and perhaps some here would have even slept in the car; they would have been that close to it in terms of obtaining their dream.

As it was, I purchased a 1968 Firebird with Camaro front sheet metal, no grill pieces, a leaky gas tank that wouldn't take more than $2 worth of gas (back when gas was around a buck a gallon) without dripping out...and so many other "flaws" that my dad felt that I had greatly over-paid at $195 for it...and it was a "running" car with a 350/BOP-glide.

My son doesn't quite understand yet what it would have been like to even consider building a 383" stroker with aluminum heads and roller camshaft. At that age, I would have gladly urinated on an electric fence for a set of roller rocker arms...


MxB

 

I was in my late teens when this flick came out. I never saw it and to date - still haven't. Me thinks this "Grasshopper" chose wisely.

 

Bob... EVERYTHING you said is correct. I grew up in that era, and although I thought the car was hideous... it was still "cool". I have seen it in person (a decade ago) and can tell you that it was a terrible build. They wasted AlOT of time and $$$ on a paint job, over the worst bodywork on earth. But again... it was the car of the age!

And yes... I remember my 65 Chevelle, 69 Camaro, 69 Firebird and others with loving memory... all built in the late 70's / early 80's .... and I would have given a leg to have the motors I build now back then!

 

There really was a different "Corvette atmosphere" back then. It was the late 70's, and the fact is the vast majority of Corvette people seemed to be interested in customs. Flip through an issue of Corvette Power or Vette Quarterly from back then. The pages were simply wall-to-wall tilt nose, custom hoods, fender flares, Motion knockoffs, wild, wild paint, crushed velvet interiors.... this was the state of the hobby at the time.

When we were buying Corvettes back then, there simply wasn't a market that demanded we check the broach marks on an engine pad or the trim tag on a door jamb. There wasn't a conversation about value deductions for incorrectness. It was a different time. Candy green and gold? Cool! Flip flop- 20 coats?? Yeah baby. How much are those Firebird taillights again??

Even back then when wild customs were popular we thought the Corvette Summer car was hideous. It was just ugly. But it was the brainchild of a kid of the 70s and his pals. Perfect movie car for the times.

 

That car took "ugly" to a whole new level!!!!!





And that movie was so lame, it went straight to the drive-in movie circuit, at least around here. My wife and I were dating back then, and we went to see the movie in the C-3 she had back then....

 

Yes, that was my reaction as well when I saw the movie. Really a tragedy what they did to that car.

 

Hey, everybody!!! Look at what I JUST FOUND on the internet!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqPqA...eature=related

Ahhhh, I'm just messin' with ya, man! It was over 30 years ago, things were.......different, back then.

Hey, have you guys heard about this Watergate thing?


Scott

 

I ignored this movie when it was originally released and refused to watch it on TV because I had made up my mind I would hate the movie. Last year I finally broke down and bought the DVD and watched it with my son.

I was pleasantly surprised and actually loved the movie. I guess I saw much in the film that reminded me of my HS days in the 70's.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W9pmT6JTO4

Hope this works....enjoy

 

Bob hit the nail on the head. Finding a just few year old vette in a junkyard to drag back to school to fix up? That movie filled my head with thoughts that led me to spend years in junkyards pulling parts out of cars to fix up my 70 nova 70 and 73 chevelles 78 camaro....

Had my "corvette summer" moment when I spied a 69 camaro on top of a pile of junkers ran to the office to buy it, not in time just as I got to the door heard a loud crash, when another car was dropped on top of it!

Yea the car is an eyesore that movie sucked ....

But still awesome.