Again it's a copy of a movie car.....It doesn't have to be right to the nth degree...

Had someone lamenting the other day that they wanted to build a car like Burt Reynolds' whiskey runner in "White Lightning", but they couldn't find the parts. I told him-it COULD be done-but it would be major league expensive. The reason being-the car-depending on the shot of the film-is a 4-door 1971-72 Ford Galaxie Custom or LTD that supposedly had a 429 with a 4-speed. The 1st problem is-as far as I know-Galaxies and LTDs had no manual transmission option in those years. So to convert one from automatic to stick would be problematic. You'd either have to adapt mid-size Mustang / Cougar / Torino pedals and linkage, or maybe use F100 or F150 truck linkage. Or fabricate an aftermarket hydraulic setup. None of these three choices is either easy or cost-effective. The other is the engine. A 429 was available both as a civilian option and a "Police Interceptor" package-but try to find one 43 years later. Most of these cars had 351 or 400C motivation under the hood. You could buy a high-performance 460 crate motor from Blueprint Engines or Ford SVT or Jon Kaase Racing-but that's 15 grand on up. My advice was to buy a 71-72 Galaxie / LTD, put black wheels with chrome lug nuts and white-letter tires on it and put an Edelbrock Performer intake and 4bbl carb ( the 351-400C's were all 2bbls ). on the engine and some loud exhaust with glasspack mufflers on it, paint it Chesterfield Brown, and call it good. I even suggested a old-style Hurst or Mr Gasket "Indy" floor shifter. It looks like a 4-speed stick but is actually an automatic shifter. At least you'd have the LOOK for low bucks, and if you powerbraked it a 400C has enough low-end torque to do smoky burnouts. People would get the drift and think it was cool. "But it wouldn't be RIGHT."  The guy said. "How do you try to restore a car that never really existed to it's exact condition 40+ years later?" I asked. "There's speculation that the shots of Burt shifting the Hurst 4-speed were cut into the film from a stuntman's Mustang." "Scenes in the film where he puts a column shifter in park in front of his mother's house, and where Jenneifer Billingsley slams a column shifter into drive when their escaping Big Bear and his henchman, lend weight to this claim." "So the stunt cars may have been all automatics anyway." "There may have NEVER been a 429 / 4-speed model!!"  "In the Fast&Furious movies-Vin Diesel's Charger has a small-block Chevy and a TH400 for power. The Blower is a fake." "There was never a blown Hemi version-until the 4th movie-and that was built for car shows and premieres." "The stunt cars were all Small-Block Chevy powered with fake blowers bolted onto the hood." "It pisses Mopar fans off-but it was published in Popular Hot Rodding and verified by the stunt coordinator of the film."  "The GTO that Diesel had in  "XXX" was Chevy Powered." "Strictly for parts availability and ease of repairs while filiming."  "Hollywood does that crap all the time."  "I wouldn't obsess over it."  The guy was crushed by the realization that if he wanted to build a 429 /4-speed '71 LTD that it would probably cost him 40 or 50 grand. He wouldn't take my advice and build a decent replica for probably 10 grand.  I had a similar conversation with another guy who wanted to do a "Bullitt" Mustang copy. He was mortally offended when I suggested that he buy a clean '67-68 289 fastback for like 10 grand and paint it Dark Highland Green and put American Racing Torq-Thrust Mags on it. He'd done research on the movie. "But the Bullitt cars were 390 / 4-speeds!" he wailed. "And a clean 390/'4-speed '67-68 Mustang fastback will cost you 25K easy, maybe more."  I said. "How bad do you want it to be "exactly" like the movie car?" "If I wanted a badass "Bullitt" replica I'd buy a 289 model and swap in a 347 stroker and a T5." "It would at least handle good then." I said. He looked at me like I was crazy and said-"But that's totally different from the movie." Here's your sign. Anyhow-the point I'm trying to make-if you want a "Vanishing Point" Challenger-as long as it's Alpine White with Rally wheels-even it's a '74 model with a 360-people will get the drift. It doesn't have to be a 440 / 4-speed 1970 R / T!!!!.  Your black 1982-83 Trans-Am doesn't have to have a talking computer-people will get the "Knight Rider" tie-in!!  And answer me this-"Mr Majestyk" had a badass chase in it. The footage was used in the "Built Ford Tough" ads for years. How come no one wants a Yellow '68-72 Ford Pickup with "Majestyk Brand Melons" stenciled on the doors?  Why doesn't anyone care if it was a stick or an automatic, or a 302,360 or 390??  Charles Bronson's Vince Majestyk had as much or more BAMF style and kicked more ass than Burt Reynold's Gator McLusky-so why does Burt's '72 Ford get demi-god status and Charlie's doesn't?  Michael Douglas was cool in "Basic Instinct" why aren't people obsessing over '91 "5.0" Mustang Convertibles?  Any ideas? Mastermind