The Pursuit Special. The V8 Interceptor. One of the most recognizably classic movie cars of all time, one that made an appearance in three movies across 36 years: Mad Max, The Road Warrior, and Fury Road. The car is a product of dystopian times, that goes on to become a product of post-apocalyptic times. Mel Gibson’s character Max Rockatansky is initially given the car as an inducement to remain with the Main Force Police, and ultimately the car is destroyed in Road Warrior only to be resurrected in Fury Road to be wrecked restored and demolished again. Other than Max Himself, the Pursuit Special is the only character to be in three movies of the series.

The Pursuit Special began life as a 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT, which were only produced by Ford Australia from 1973-1976. It featured a 351 cu in V8, and was the last GT built by Ford Australia until 1992. For the movie the Falcon was modified with 8 individual exhaust stacks mounted behind the lower rear edge of the door, a dummy supercharger which protruded through the hood, and for Road Warriors…two large fuel tanks were installed in place of the trunk. Of course if you remember the movies, the “supercharger” was activated by the red switch Max flips at exactly the right moment, as well as the car being rigged with a series of booby traps to prevent the fuel being stolen.

After production wrapped on the original Mad Max in 1979, the car was sold off to help pay bills incurred from the film’s production. It was reacquired for Road Warriors and then sold off again. It was in the Cars of the Stars Museum in England for many years before being purchased in 2011 by the Dezer Collection Car Museum in Miami, FL. So, if you’d like to see if the dust is still covering the Interceptor, if a dingo is sitting in the passenger seat, and wether or not the booby traps are still installed, then a trip to Florida is a must!

Well folks it’s summertime here in Texas, the April Showers which seem to have started in February and lingered until June seem to have finally wandered off somewhere, school is out, and families are hitting the road. So I thought today we could discuss that 1983 classic educational film on “How Not To Vacation”…National Lampoon’s Vacation.

The poor Griswolds. How they suffer. From being saddled with unexpected family, to Wally World being closed for repairs when they finally arrive, to dragging that poor lil pooch a couple miles, the Griswolds stumble their way through a typical swing-and-a-miss style family vacation that more than likely every single one of us has been on at some point in our lives. Like Spinal Tap was to professional musicians, so is Vacation to the art of family travel.

BUT, the star of Vacation is of course the fictional, awful, hideous, piece-of-crap Wagon Queen Family Truckster. “You think you hate it now? Wait til you drive it.” snarky, greasy, crooked-as-a-left-handed-football-bat salesman Eugene Levy mutters under his breath. You see, the day before the family is supposed to leave for California, Clark Griswold arrives at the car lot to pick up his Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon with the CB and the optional Rally Package, but is tricked and extorted into driving off in the Metallic Pea Wagon Queen Family Truckster…which of course is the largest lemon vehicle in the history of lemons. And vehicles.

The Wagon Queen Family Truckster started out life as a Ford LTD Country Squire that was modified to be a sarcastic, cynical comment on all those huge, hideous, “tricked out with options” lemons being foisted on the American public in the late 70’s. This thing has EIGHT headlights, and is absolutely covered in fake wood paneling. The grill hardly even exists, and has two tiny lil slits in it, so you know the engine runs nice and warm…all the way across the American Southwest. In the summertime. Needless to say, failures ensue!