Great American Graffiti display at the "Rod Run to the end of the world"!

[goose69]

Ok guys, we went to the "Rod Run to the end of the world" up in Long beach/Oceanside Washington this past weekend. As usual the 3 day show and events were great. This is a top notch show and is a must go if its on your consider list. The entire community supports this show and contributes. We've been attending this particular show now for 24 years and its still fun to go to.
As I mentioned the show was a good one and much to my surprise there was a bonus! They had a great display of the American Graffiti cars there along with Candy Clark signing pictures. Now when I say they had all the cars, I mean they had ALL the main cars there. I have attached a few pics of them here. I've never been to a show where they have assembled them all together and it was great. We also had the fortunate luck of standing there while a gentleman was chatting with some other gear heads about the filming of the movie. He said he was there working on the set during the filming and had a lot of interesting info. It's cool to talk to people like that. I have to give Kudos to the hosting car club the Beach Barons, this was a real treat! Now this car club isn't a run of the mill either, they put on a good show and a HUGE one too! Heck, the club even bought a huge plot of property to host the show and do events on which includes a big club house and several acres.
Anyways, I'm not sure if any of you guys made it to the show, would like to hear what you thought of all of it.

 

[Clay Dots]

One word comes to mine, Bitchin, thanks for posting these.

 

[tallhair]

Where is the pic of you and Candy Clark and why is there no one over there talking to her in the last pic?

Thanks for sharing !

 

[goose69]

It was set up time on the last day. I have to say, it was nice to be able to take pics without anyone in the way.

 

[Budnicks]

I love that movie, all those cars are movie icons now, Modesto Ca. were it was filmed, isn't very far from here & I use to go to American Graffiti days all the time...
are those the actual cars from the movie ??, maybe copies of the originals... cool stuff either way, thanks for sharing

 

[goose69]

Yes budnicks, these are actual cars used in the movie. Some of you may nofice that the 55 is set up a different than what you might remember in the movie. This one has bucket seats in it while the one shown mostly in the movie has a bench. The man we were talking to at the show said there was actually 3 55's used during filming. He said they ran the living crap out of them and actually blew one up on accident, if you can say that. Anyways, I can't remember if he said 1 or 2 of them was used to film two lane black top but that this one was definatly used.

 

[razreddobie]

That's Kool as Hell!!!!! Wish I didn't live on the other side of the country or I would definetly go to that show!!!!!!!! Very Kool pics and thanks for the info too. Bruce

 

[tallhair]

It was set up time on the last day. I have to say, it was nice to be able to take pics without anyone in the way.

Thanks goose. Did you get a chance to talk to her?

 

[goose69]

Thanks goose. Did you get a chance to talk to her?

Only briefly, seemed very nice and cordial.

 

[64BEL]

The '55 also appeared in Two Lane Blacktop.





Then, in '72, it was in an episode of Adam-12.

 

[Basket case]

that's great, thanks for sharing. Last I had heard the Merc was rotting away in some guys back yard.

 

[goose69]

that's great, thanks for sharing. Last I had heard the Merc was rotting away in some guys back yard.

I was surprised to see it too but I have to say, they should have changed the roller at least once during the paint job!

 

[rp23g7]

The 58 is a Spokane Washington car, I sold y boat to Rick Blackstock, one of the guys that worked on the car. I don't remember the 55 having a gasser look to it in the movie though. I forgot my 58 Impala Eartle car for her to sign in, dang. My wife is from Modesto, it was actually filmed in Petaluma, but George Lucas is from Modesto, been to Back to Graffiti in Modesto though, great show.

First time I was there, I looked for all the places, found Paradise Road, but it looked nothing like the road from the movie, met Paul LeMat at a roadster show in Seattle, and he said Modesto was to built up even in 72-73, so they used Petaluma instead.

 

[Budnicks]

The 58 is a Spokane Washington car, I sold y boat to Rick Blackstock, one of the guys that worked on the car. I don't remember the 55 having a gasser look to it in the movie though. I forgot my 58 Impala Eartle car for her to sign in, dang. My wife is from Modesto, it was actually filmed in Petaluma, but George Lucas is from Modesto, been to Back to Graffiti in Modesto though, great show.

First time I was there, I looked for all the places, found Paradise Road, but it looked nothing like the road from the movie, met Paul LeMat at a roadster show in Seattle, and he said Modesto was to built up even in 72-73, so they used Petaluma instead.

It was filmed in both towns & several other Calif. valley, north & south bay area towns too, from what I've read & heard... The original Mel's Drive In is {or at-least was} in Modesto... The original Paradise Rd. that GL portrays in the movie, it's not the name of the "real race scene road of his youth either", directors/writers dramatic license, but it was supposedly out by the old Hwy108, out the main drag & cruise McHenry rd. toward the town of Oakdale in the Riverbank area, just outside of town, they were still street racing there in ill spent my youth, when we would go to Modesto to cruise & find street races, in the late 70's & early 80's, before all the mini-trucks & low-riders took it over... It's all just George Lucas's loose interpretation, of what the town of Modesto Ca. was like in his HS days of his youth, Class of 1962, it's not factual, but loosely base on facts as he remembered them... It's a movie, not a documentary, he was more like the Richard Dreyfus's "Kurt" character, but didn't go back East to school or move to Canada, he went to USC & still lives in Southern Calif. {I think}...

 

[coloradodave]

From melsdrive-in.com

History

Tourists are generally unaware that along with the Golden Gate Bridge and its trolleys, San Francisco is famous for drive-ins. Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs started it all back in 1947 when they built their first carhop eatery, inspired by similar restaurants serving motorists in Los Angeles. With a staff of fourteen carhops covering a 30,000 square foot parking lot, they lured the hungry with a local radio personality broadcasting a live remote. As music reverberated through car radios in the drive-ups, the curb-stepping gals of 140 South Van Ness became a new paradigm for service.

At all hours of the day and night, crowds of patrons that fancied dining-in-your-car came early and often. It didn't take long for the first unit to multiply into eleven! Six Mels became landmarks in the Bay Area with an additional cluster achieving their own notoriety in Stockton and Sacramento. They reigned for almost twenty years, until a parade of franchised fast food outlets finally outpaced their service. As the new philosophy of "serve yourself" began to reprogram attitudes about dining, Mels began its gradual decline.

Mel's Drive-ins are, of course, still around in various cities in the Bay Area and Central Valley. We eat there now and then and they have all kinds of American Graffiti memorabilia.

 

[64BEL]

I don't remember the 55 having a gasser look to it in the movie though.

I don't think it did, either. In AG, it seems like the front end sat lower than in the car show pics that goose69 posted.

 

[goose69]

I don't think it did, either. In AG, it seems like the front end sat lower than in the car show pics that goose69 posted.

It did look a bit lower in the movie but who knows what's been done to the car since the filming especially since it was a set car, but then this was one of 3 used too. Heck, I'm not even sure there was a motor in it being it was never fired up when we were there, then it would be higher in the front than normal.