He Named His $250 Hot Rod After A Movie | Then Never Let It Go
Retro Reel Rides Original
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One car became a legend. The other vanished without a trace.
On September 25th, 1974, ABC aired The California Kid — a made-for-television film built around two vehicles that couldn't have been more different. A black flamed 1934 Ford three-window coupe, handbuilt by Pete Chapouris for $250, found on a magazine cover four days before cameras rolled. And a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, painted in police colors, fitted with push bars, and turned into the most visually arresting villain's car on American television that year.
Hal Needham coordinated the stunts. Jerry Summers drove. Martin Sheen broke a mirror getting out of the car on the first test run. The Plymouth sheared a telephone pole during the final chase sequence, then had to be pushed the rest of the way off a cliff by a crew on foot.
When filming ended, both cars went back into the world. One of them never left.
Pete Chapouris took the '34 Ford home, opened Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts in Temple City with his partner Jim Jacobs, and spent the next five decades putting miles on a car that had already changed what traditional hot rodding meant to an entire generation of builders. It's still in Missouri. Quarter million miles. Still driving.
The Plymouth went back into Universal's production system and then out of documented history entirely. No auction record. No registry entry. No collector with a photograph and a provenance story. The IMCDb community has looked. The trail goes cold before it begins.
This video covers the full production history of both cars — the build, the shoot, the stunt work, the off-screen details most people never heard, and what happened to each of them after the cameras stopped. Including what was actually under the hood of the California Kid when it was on screen. The answer is not what most people assume.
If you want to go further — the full parts breakdown, what a traditional build like this actually costs, and where the surviving cars are today — that conversation is happening in the community. Link in the pinned comment.
Pete Chapouris died January 6th, 2017. He was 76. The car outlasted him. The Plymouth is still out there somewhere, or it isn't. Fifty years on, there is no way to know which.
Retro Reel Rides documents the production histories and real-world fates of iconic vehicles from film and television. New videos every week.
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He Named His $250 Hot Rod After A Movie | Then Never Let It Go
Retro Reel Rides Original
1,117 views
Get Your Copy Of The Hollywood Car Vault Vol.1: https://retroreelrides.media/sp/holly...
Visit Our Website To Read The Stories: https://retroreelrides.media/
One car became a legend. The other vanished without a trace.
On September 25th, 1974, ABC aired The California Kid — a made-for-television film built around two vehicles that couldn't have been more different. A black flamed 1934 Ford three-window coupe, handbuilt by Pete Chapouris for $250, found on a magazine cover four days before cameras rolled. And a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, painted in police colors, fitted with push bars, and turned into the most visually arresting villain's car on American television that year.
Hal Needham coordinated the stunts. Jerry Summers drove. Martin Sheen broke a mirror getting out of the car on the first test run. The Plymouth sheared a telephone pole during the final chase sequence, then had to be pushed the rest of the way off a cliff by a crew on foot.
When filming ended, both cars went back into the world. One of them never left.
Pete Chapouris took the '34 Ford home, opened Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts in Temple City with his partner Jim Jacobs, and spent the next five decades putting miles on a car that had already changed what traditional hot rodding meant to an entire generation of builders. It's still in Missouri. Quarter million miles. Still driving.
The Plymouth went back into Universal's production system and then out of documented history entirely. No auction record. No registry entry. No collector with a photograph and a provenance story. The IMCDb community has looked. The trail goes cold before it begins.
This video covers the full production history of both cars — the build, the shoot, the stunt work, the off-screen details most people never heard, and what happened to each of them after the cameras stopped. Including what was actually under the hood of the California Kid when it was on screen. The answer is not what most people assume.
If you want to go further — the full parts breakdown, what a traditional build like this actually costs, and where the surviving cars are today — that conversation is happening in the community. Link in the pinned comment.
Pete Chapouris died January 6th, 2017. He was 76. The car outlasted him. The Plymouth is still out there somewhere, or it isn't. Fifty years on, there is no way to know which.
Retro Reel Rides documents the production histories and real-world fates of iconic vehicles from film and television. New videos every week.