Chevelles (and
other A-bodies) in Movies and TV -- 1990s and beyond
The 1990s might be a time when the older generation of A-cars became the
next wave in collectible automobiles, since the tri-year Chevrolets of
1955-57 are now glass ceiling commodities. A-cars of 1964-72 vintage,
regardless of GM division, have been featured in recent movies and TV shows,
but base models of the popular musclecar cousins (e.g. Malibu, Cutlass,
LeMans, and Skylark) have been featured more on screen, alongside their
REAL musclecar counterparts.
Note: Most of the trivia that I have posted have not been shared by
other sites (e.g. the Chevrolet Nova Internet
Source) that have a trivia section, and most of the trivia that I have
listed came from various movies and TV shows that might have been forgotten
or overlooked. Keep in mind that what is seen in movies and TV are immortalized
for life.
A 1966 Pontiac LeMans hardtop is driven by Fred Ward, and
the LeMans is a total beater. During the scene after Alec Baldwin
is left hangin', he pulls out his piece, and the back glass of the LeMans
is shattered.
A 1972 Cutlass Supreme convertible is seen briefly, where
Charlie Sheen jumps from a bridge.
Laura Dern is seen driving a 1965 Pontiac Tempest convertible,
where she picks up Nicolas
Cage at a train station.
A brief scene outside a Jamaican nightclub (dancehall) had
a 1966 Chevelle 4-door (with a British Unoin Jack painted on the rear deck)
in the background.
One of the gang-bangers vehicles used is a 1968-72 Oldsmobile
Vista Cruiser.
This movie, with a pre-SPEED Keanu Reeves, is an undercover
FBI agent that investigates bank robberys that have been held up by surfers
that wear masks of the Presidents of the United States, like Nixon, Ford,
Carter, and Reagan. The scene where the bank robbers use a 1980-84 Lincoln
Town Car is a scene that is unforgettable, in which the Lincoln is shot
up, and burned when Patrick Swayze (a native Houstonian resident) takes
a cigarette lighter, pulls out a gas pump nozzle, squeezes the lever, and
lights up the gasoline like a flame thrower, and barbecues the Lincoln.
His partners carjack a gas station patron who has a yellow 1969 Chevelle
hardtop, and Keanu Reeves' (as the FBI agent) uses deadly force, and blasts
out the rear window of the Chevelle!
In the second Terminator movie, there is a scene in which
the T-800 (the reprogrammed Terminator from the first movie) and John Connor
(Edward Furlong, in his screen debut) pull up to a phone booth, and a 1967
Chevelle hardtop with a missing right front fender is seen. The front bumper
is crooked. An earlier scene where an LAPD squad car calls in an
electrical disturbance, there is a thrashed out 1973-77 Monte Carlo and
a Volare station wagon seen in the background. A 1965 El Camino is
seen, parked on a street corner, when John Connor and his friend are on
a dirt bike, after hitting an ATM machine.
Note: watch for a goof during the phone booth scene,
in which the window of the Chevelle is either up or down.
There is a 1970-72 Oldsmobile Cutlass hardtop seen, parked
on the street, in the background shot. This particular scene is filmed
when Furious (Laurence
Fishburne III) is introduced on screen. In another scene, when
the kids walk past a crime scene, a 1976 or 1977 Malibu Classic is seen
in a garage.
Joey (William Petersen) drives a mint condition 1969
Buick Special sedan, and when he arrives in town, after spotting his ex-wife
(Sissy Spacek), the Buick ends up with a fragged starter.
Filmed on location in Austin, Texas.
-
There is a scene where Dolph Lundgren and Tia Carrere are
fleeing from a mansion, and a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 is seen. Unfortunately,
the roof is stomped, rolled on its side, and blown up. (Note: the stunt
car used is a FAKE 442, which is a Cutlass hardtop with emblems attached.)
The first movie about Chicano prison gangs in California
from 1957-74 (the Mexican Mafia) had a scene where a 1970 El Camino is
driven by J.D. (played by William Forsythe), who is one of the prison gang
members of the Mexican Mafia that is paroled after 9 years, along with
his partner, played by Edward James Olmos (as Santana).
Cybill Shepherd (Moonlighting) drives a 1967 Chevelle SS
396. (Submitted by Andreas Carlsson)
Note: this is another of Robert Beltran's early
films, pre-Star Trek: Voyager.
Another movie about prison gangs, there were a few scenes
where one of the "esses" had a GTO, but the 1967 Pontiac used was actually
a LeMans. The car was used in two scenes. The earlier scene is where Cruz
is with a woman in the back seat, where they are knockin' the boots. The
scene where Miklo, played by Damian Chapa, is shot (after taking out a
rival gang-banger) and bleeding in the back seat of the Lemans, everyone
will know that the car did not survive, as it rams a late 50s Chrysler
sedan head on (at El Pino). Another scene was shot in front of a dope house,
in which a 1968 GTO ragtop is parked in front of the house, in which a
PCP lab was raided by narcs. A scene where an armored car is robbed, is
where the cop, Paco "El Gallo Negro" Aguilar (played by Benjamin
Bratt) walks past a 1969 Chevelle hardtop with his pistol drawn. This
is where he shoots off Miklo's left leg. I believe that the yellow Chevelle
hardtop is a movie car, and was used in a couple of movies that I have
seen, like Point Break and Poetic Justice.
A comedy with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson about two
street basketball players, in which Woody's character drives a beat-up
1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme ragtop. One of the best scenes is where
one of the basketball players goes to his car, which was a yellow 1969
Chevelle hardtop, gets a .357 Smith and Wesson out of the glove box, and
sells the six-shooter when he needs some money for placing bets on a basketball
game, after a botched robbery attempt.
A 1971 Pontiac GTO convertible (with Wyoming plates) is seen
as the picture car, and the GTO breaks down on the road (overheated radiator).
When Christine Lahti and Meg Tilly return with a jug of water, the GTO
is vandalized and stripped (the doors, rims, interior, and front clip were
missing).
A 1969 Chevelle hardtop (the same picture car seen in several
movies) is seen, parked (at the Mesa Verde construction site), when Jack
Travis kills a construction worker by pouring cement over him.
Bryan Brown is a NYC detective driving a 1971 Chevelle SS
hardtop, but the car is later blown up, after some hoods fire at the fuel
tank. The scene in which he is married (at the end), his car is a 1969
Camaro SS ragtop.
Rob Lowe drives a red 1966 GTO ragtop, and the car is used
in several scenes.
A red and white 1972 Pontiac LeMans hardtop is used as a
getaway car, where Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth make their getaway.
The driver (a woman), who is carjacked at gunpoint, pulls a gun, and Tim
Roth is shot, and subsequently, the driver is killed. Tim Roth is
bleeding in the back seat of the LeMans, in the beginning of the film,
and after he is shot.
Trivial note: Quentin
Tarantino's film and directoral debut. The woman that Tim
Roth kills on screen is his dialogue coach, Suzanne
Celeste. She might have been "too hard" on him, and as remuneration,
he insisted that she take the part of the driver being carjacked and shot.
A 1969 Chevelle 300 Deluxe pillared coupe is seen in the
background, where Burt Reynolds drops off the kid.
There is a scene in which one scene of the movie takes place
at a race track, and a 1969 Chevelle hardtop is seen as a race car (a 1973-77
Chevelle is seen as one of the race cars, when the car is referred to as
having a Pinto motor. In an earlier part of the movie, Traci
Lords (well known as a former kiddie porn star) and her accomplice
use a 1975 Malibu Classic.
There is a scene where a couple of Mexican gang-bangers with
Uzis spray Jeff Speakman's repair garage, and a 1970 Monte Carlo is seen.
A 1976 or 1977 Monte Carlo is also seen, and both cars are lowriders.
Aidan Quinn drives a 1970 El Camino SS in this film.
(Submitted by Galaxie S. Starliner). (4/11/00 update) The El Camino
has a blacked out grille, without any emblems, and one thing noticeable
are the amber parking lenses, which reveals that the Elky isn't a
real SS. One of the colors optioned in 1970 was forest green, which
is correct for both the Custom and SS.
There is a scene in which Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) is
in a parking lot, late at night, and a 1970 Chevelle hardtop is scene in
the parking lot. This is where her estranged husband stalks her, and returns
the favor in slammin' the door on Ike Turner's Rolls-Royce, in which the
passenger door window is chattered!
The prologue of the movie begins in a drive-in theater, and
the homeboy played by Q-Tip (a rapper from the rap group A Tribe Called
Quest) drives a 1969 Chevelle SS. There is a scene where he and Janet Jackson
are about to "do it" in the car, and he (Q-Tip) is killed in the car. Too
bad that the passenger window was blasted. One scene where Lucky, played
by the late Tupac Shakur, goes to his homeboy's apartment, and a 1967 GTO
passes by, with his homies in the car.
There is a scene where two rival street gangs are poppin'
off rounds between each other and the cops, and one of the cars in the
gang shootout is a 1970 Chevelle hardtop. The Chevelle was hit with
several bullet holes.
A Tuxedo Black 1970 Chevelle SS454 LS6, with white stripes,
is a "movie car" used in several scenes. (Submitted by D72Cheyss@***.com)
A red 1970 Oldsmobile 442 is seen as the picture car.
Note: three 1970 Cutlass hardtops were used for
the stunt 442s. Numerous GM concept vehicles are seen in this film.
A 1970 El Camino SS is used as the picture car. The
Elky has a column shifter.
Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill drives a 1969 Chevelle SS hardtop,
and he wrecks the Chevelle into a tree, after he loses control of the car
after reaching for a cassette.
Factual note: the scene depicted in the film in
which Mark Hamill reaches for a cassette should NEVER be done when a vehicle
is moving. This is why holding a cell phone and operating a motor
vehicle is a high risk for increased insurance premiums, and why good drivers
end up in the high risk pool after an auto accident. Invest in a
CD changer, or better yet, have a cell phone that allows for hands-free
operation. A lot of cops have cited numerous individuals for FTCS,
just because of someone blatantly not looking ahead when a motor vehicle
is moving. This has occured to yours truly, and have spent 3 years
paying off high insurance rates. This is what insurance companies
look when applying for auto insurance, even if one's policy was cancelled.
Ace's car is a 1972 Monte Carlo, which is beaten and rolled
over. In the earlier scene, in which Ace poses as a UPS delivery man, Tex
Cobb bashes the windshield and backlite of the Monte Carlo, and in a later
scene, in which Dan Marino is kidnapped by two "impostor" Dolphins (in
a 1991 Blazer 4 x 4), Ace is in hot pursuit, but the car rolls over in
a park.
Michael Madsen (who used to own a Chevelle in real life)
is a detective in this movie, and he drives a blue 1972 Chevelle hardtop.
There is a chase scene in which he is in hot pursuit of a Mustang 5.0,
and the Mustang is sideswiped. (The Chevelle has a totaled front nose).
Before Woody Harrelson crashes a mid-1980s Chevrolet C10
Custom Deluxe pickup into a nightclub, a 1972 Skylark is seen in the parking
lot.
A red 1970 Oldsmobile 442 is seen as the picture car, but
is later vandalized and totaled. (Submitted by Raj)
Ed Harris
(Apollo 13, Absolute Power, Stepmom) drives a 1972 Cutlass Supreme convertible,
and before the end of the film, the Cutlass is totaled (blown up).
The character played by John
Travolta drives a red 1964 Chevelle ragtop (where he goes to a friend's
house when Uma Thurman ODs on cocaine), and there is a scene with a 1974
Nova
2-door, in which a young African-American is killed in the rear seat.
Samuel
L. Jackson (with a Jeri Curl) is the driver. (Submitted by Randall
Johnson)
Trivial note: the Chevelle ragtop (seen as the picture
car) belongs to Quentin Tarantino, and he keeps the Chevelle in storage.
More can be found in the Sightings
section. The same car is mentioned in Four Rooms (1995), in the final
segment. This is where Paul Calderon's pinky is chopped, and
where Tim Roth becomes $700 richer.
The
60s
Disco-era
Movies
1980s-era
Movies
A-Car
Sightings (new location)
*Listed in WhoWhere
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