You can have a "Movie" car without spending 100 grand....

In the same vein as the last post I had some people lamenting that buying or building a "Movie" car is so expensive that the "Average Joe" could never afford it. I think this came from someone advertising one of the "Eleanor" Mustangs from "Gone in 60 Seconds" ( To quote Tracie Thoms from "Death Proof-"That Nic Cage / Angelina Jolie bullshit, not the original" ) for $150,000. Anyway this person's "doom and gloom" attitude is unfounded. If you want a black and gold '77-78 T/A-ala' "Smokey and the Bandit"-I see nice ones on the internet all the time for around 20k. Or you could just buy a "regular" '77-78 T/A for about 12-15K and paint it!!  I'll admit that if you want a '70-71 'Cuda Convertible ( "Nash Bridges" ) or a '68-70 Charger ( "Bullitt", "Dukes of Hazzard", "Blade", "Drive Angry" and the "F&F" series ) then your going to have to step up and just pay the price.  However,there's quite a few other Iconic cars that you can build surprisingly cheap. Here's some of my personal favorites. # 1. "The California Kid". Pete Chapouris built this black and flamed '34 Ford for the 1974 TV movie of this name. It was set in 1958 and starred a young Martin Sheen as a Korean War vet who comes to town to investigate his brother's murder. Sheen thinks correctly that the crooked sheriff who runs the town with an iron fist may have run his brother off the road deliberately. The sheriff was played with wicked glee by Vic Morrow, and Michelle Phillips was a smokin' hot but lonely waitress who befriends Sheen. The final duel on a country road between the "Kid" and a '58 Fury Hemi Cop Car is still thrilling today. I'm not suggesting that anyone try to find and build a '34 Ford. However Factory Five Racing sells complete '33 Ford hot rod kits that start as low as $12,000. The "Turn Key" kit that comes with everything but an engine and tranny is $19,995. The suspension is from '79-2004 Mustangs so that's easy to find-and you can have the frame and motor mounts set up for a small-block Chevy,a small-block Ford, or a 4.6 liter Ford Mod Motor. For 25 grand you could have a badass "California Kid" replica. These cars only weigh about 2,200 lbs, so even with a stock 302 out of a "5.0" Mustang you'd have a 12 second ride. # 2. "Bullitt" Mustang. If you want to be really anal and absolutely have to have a 390 / 4-speed model, then your going to have to pony up the big bucks. Otherwise 15 or 20 grand will buy you a decent '67-68 289 fastback, and adding Torq-Thrust mags and Dark Highland Green paint is pretty easy. If you want more oomph there's more speed equipment for a small-block Ford than anything on the planet except a small-block Chevy. You could pump up the 289, or invest in a 347 or 363 inch stroker motor. Bottom line for about 25 grand you could have a pretty cool "Bullitt" clone. If you "gotta have" a 390-the price is going to go up substantially. # 3. "Rockford Files" Firebird. James Garner had a hit TV show about an L.A. Private Eye that ran from 1974-1980 and is still popular in syndication to this day. The first car was a Gold '74 Formula 400. Through the series run they went through later '75-78 models, all gold with Rally II wheels. Some were Formulas, some were Esprits. It's said that James Garner hated the restyled front end of the '79-81 Firebirds, so producers bought extra '78 models and used those through the series finale in 1980. This one is pretty easy. Find any '74-78 base model, Esprit or Formula Firebird and paint it gold. If it doesn't already have Rally II wheels their easy to find. # 4. "Death Proof" Nova. The sinister Nova that Kurt Russel's psychotic stuntman drove in this Quentin Tarantino homage to '70's "Grindhouse" action flicks is pretty easy to do. Get a '68-72 Nova ( you could use a '73-74 as well, but they have larger 5-mph bumpers. How anal are you? ) paint it primer black, get some Rally Wheels, jack up the rear end with air shocks or longer shackles and you've got the look. If you want to go further, you could put in the 8-point roll cage and fiberglass racing seats, and if want the sound and fury and performance their's more speed equipment for a small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet. # 5. "Mad Max" / "Road Warrior" Interceptor. Mel Gibson's Iconic ride was actually a tricked-out Australian 1973 Ford Falcon XB Sport Coupe. Although Ford made over 200,000 from '73-76-I'm not suggesting you go to Australia and have a 40 year old, right-hand drive Falcon shipped back!!  There's two ways you can do a "Mad Max" tribute. If you watch the movies the car sometimes looks like a '70-71 Torino and sometimes looks like a '71-73 Mustang. That's because the Australian Falcon took styling cues from both cars. I'd get a Torino or Mustang of the proper years and remove all the chrome trim and paint it monochromatic black. Some Black wheels and 50-series tires are easy to do, and there's a few companies that sell the upswept "Zoomie" chrome side-pipes. Or any competent muffler shop could make you some. Forget the fake blower that turns on and off-I'd use a real blower and have the power to back up the image!! Weiand, Magnussen, and Edelbrock and other companies sell Roots-type blower kits for small-block Fords. This one would certainly be unique and a head-turner if you did it right, and you wouldn't break the bank. # 6. "White Lightning" Ford LTD. Burt Reynold's "Whiskey Runner" was supposed to be a 429 with a 4-speed. If you've got the mechanical ability and the bank account to do that, more power to you. If you want to do it cheap, you buy a '71-72 Ford Galaxie / Custom / LTD 4-door sedan. Paint it Chesterfield Brown and put some black wheels with chrome lug nuts and white letter tires on it. Most will have 351C or 400C engines with a 2bbl carb and an automatic trans. An Edelbrock Performer intake and matching carb, and some dual exhausts with loud glasspacks will give you the sound, and the oomph to do smoky burnouts. A Hurst Auto / Stick 1 shifter will give you the look inside. It's that simple. If you want more power-Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer hi-performance aluminum heads for these engines and Crane, Lunati, etc offer cams. Or like I said you can go hog-wild and do a 429 /460 with a 4 or 5-speed if you can afford it.  The point is if you want to replicate some of your big-screen idols, it's not that hard or expensive. Mastermind