Recently I watched Mad Max: Fury Road and I was reminded of a great Australian legacy, the Pursuit Special for the Mad Max series. Shown in the opening few minutes of the film, before being wrecked, it appears again near the end of the film, re-built and running for the enemy, before it gets wrecked again. Below is a photo a replica built from the original Mad Max sitting in ACMI in Melbourne:
Replica of the original Mad Max sitting in ACMI in Melbourne.
A little history…
Mad Max’s Pursuit Special also referred to as the V8 Interceptor started life outside the films as a 5.8L 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe, an exclusively and quintessentially Australian car. To make the car fit better with the needs of the film (a more futuristic feel), a Weiand supercharger was added, though it wasn’t connected to the engine, and additional exhausts were added from 1 to 4, though again, they weren’t connected to anything.
The supercharger was run using an electric motor to achieve the same effect of the intakes opening and closing, while the extra exhausts were vibrated enough from the one connected so as to appear that they were also functional.
A Concorde front end was added, which was a fairly new accessory for the period and the Mad Max films were noted for helping increase sales once it was released to the market.
After the film was finished, the car was sold to a junk yard to help cover the costs of production. Thankfully it wasn’t crushed into a cube, as it was bought back and re-used for the second Mad Max film.
The car needed a few additional changes to account for its time out in the desert. Significant rust was added to the car, and the back window removed to provide space for ‘survival materials’ such as large petrol tanks.
A duplicate of the car was created for the sole purpose of wrecking the vehicle at the end of the film. The original remained intact but was later sold to a metal dealer as it wasn’t needed anymore. The vehicle was bought by an avid fan of the films and survives to this day.
Information sourced from:
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