Mustangs in the Movies: The Real ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’
Full disclosure: I was born in 1974, the year the original “Gone in 60 Seconds” came out. So when I hear the title, I’m of the age that I automatically think of a pre-cheesy Nicolas Cage, a pre-7-kids Angelina Jolie, and a hot as Georgia asphalt ’67 Shelby GT500 named Eleanor. But I stand before you today as a cinephile and a mustang-aphile, begging for forgiveness.
The original version, literally starring a heavily fortified 1973 Mustang Sportsroof nicknamed Eleanor, is about as revved up as a movie gets. Not to say the 2000 remake isn’t the definition of rubber burning awesome, but if you don’t start at the source, you miss the real meat. It’s like saying you’re a Stones fan without listening to Muddy Waters. And aren’t the Stones a bit like the rock n’ roll version of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie?
Like the remake, the original is about a team of Jedi car thieves who get involved with the wrong buyer, steal a saucy Mustang, and end up being chased the way a saucy Mustang likes to be chased: hard and fast. The real difference, ultimately, is budget. Bruckenheimer spent $90 million to make one of the slickest car flicks ever. Director/star/writer/producer/stuntman H.B. Halicki spent $150,000 to make one of the grittiest. And he made $40 Million at the box office for his effort.
No special effects here. Just pure adrenalin filled driving from a guy who loved cars. Halicki, an auto wrecker and mechanic, start his movie career when he heard about a local train derailment and decided it would be a good place to begin a movie. He scraped together a crew, a bunch of beater cars, and a tough-as-nails Mustang, complete with full roll cage and dual emergency brakes.
Eleanor takes a beating in the film, so much so that it’s almost tough to watch, but in doing so, Halicki and crew created one of the greatest car chases in film history, spanning 40 minutes of screen time, racing through five cities, and busting up 93 cars. Not bad for a film that’s only 105 minutes.
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via [YouTube]