A TV and film Jag list! Plus Odds and Sods.

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Jaguar in Films

Films

Stormy Monday

(Melanie Griffiths, Sting, Sean Bean) - bad guys drove an XJ-S; was blown up at the end of the film [jb]

A Fish Called Wanda

(John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis)

Cleese has an XJ saloon [jb]

The Italian Job

(Michael Caine etc.)

Caine drove an E-type till it got scrunched by the Mafia. Now *there's* a film that celebrates hairy little British motors. [jb]

Prior to the Minis and the E-types, Michael Caine drove a drop head Aston Martin ... DB4 (?). [wz]

I read in Jaguar World about the restoration of [... the E-type...] The restoration is being done by Feline Motors in England, a well reputed company run by master Jag-restorer Andrew Tart (..according to Jaguar World..) [nj]

[rr..
I watched this flick over the weekend. I can well understand why the Mini fans love it. Jaguar, Lamborghini, and Aston-Martin lovers, however, are in for a shock. For those who haven't seen it, here's a brief synopsis.

In the beginning of the film, a Lamborghini Miura cruises through the mountains until it hits a Caterpillar tractor, which then dumps the car over the edge of the road and it tumbles down the mountain into a stream. They didn't actually show the car hitting the tractor. Through the magic of stop frame VCR, I could see the crashing Lambo was not a real car; it had no engine and it broke up too easily and completely. I suspect it was an old Miura body buck they got from Lambo's styling department.

About 2/3 into the movie, the Aston and two Jaguar E-types meet another Caterpillar on a mountain road. The Cat crushes the tops of the Jags with its bucket. The Jags are Series 1's, a coupe and a roadster, probably 3.8 liters, 7 or 8 years old at the time, maybe not worth a lot on the used car market in '69.

What they did to the Aston, however, was the real crime. It was a 1961 or '62 DB4 with a convertible body by Touring, one of only 215 made. The Cat dumps it over the edge and down the mountainside. It looked to me like it was not a fake like the Lambo. The bonnet opened on the second flip and you can see the engine. And unlike the Miura, it stayed relatively together.

Oh, well. I wonder what ever happened to that car, or if its still down at the bottom of some ravine in Italy. If anyone wants to fund me, I'll form an expedition to find it. ;-) ..rr]

[dm..

The two Jaguars used were

848 CRY was raced prior to its appearence in 'The Italian Job'. Readers of Jaguar Driver (February 1993) will know that 848 CRY was acquired by Philip Porter, and has been restored. It has since returned to the mountain side on which it was 'destoyed', whilst taking part in an NSPCC charity run.

Incidentally, so the story goes, they actally filmed two separate Astons going over the cliff, as the footage of the first car wasn't good enough. Apparently, one of the Astons survives to this day.

Some even more obscure connections - Daimler wise...

Michael Caine was picked up outside the Jail in a Daimler majestic NAN 404D, and Noel Coward was at 'Aunt Nellie's funeral' in Daimler Majestic major. ..dm]

Re..the jag in the Italian Job. There were two e-types. One was restored just recently by Therobred and Classic Cars inthe UK I believe. What really made me cry was the bucker loader picking up an Aston Martin DB5or 6 conv. and throwing it over a cliff. They made.. what 200 of these cars.....The mini's going up and down the stairs is cute too.[js]

Actually if you watch the Italian Job on video and freeze frame the film, you will notice that the Aston and the Lamborghini both have no mechanicals at the point of destruction.[py]

You might be interested to know that the red OTS in "The Italian Job" was a very famous E-Type. (About the 2nd one built). It was restored and is owned by non other that Phillip Porter!...[gc]

Blue Ice

(Michael Caine, Sean Young)

Sean Young runs her Merc into the back of Caine's ?XK140 FHC early in the film. Damage minor I'm glad to say...

Harold and Maude

A BIGGIE! .. Not only features an XKE, but a thoroughly entertaining movie as well. Great Cat Stevens soundtrack. [kp]

Harold converted the XKE into a hearse. It looks like a Volvo P-1800 "wagon".[lw]



How to Steal A Million (1966)

(Peter O'Toole, Audrey Hepburn)

Another film ("How to Steal A Million" [dm])) - O'Toole and Hepburn speed away at the close of the film in a canary yellow series I roadster. Now THAT is living! [wz]

Vanishing Point

Barry Newman forces ratty E-Type dhc into stream [caw]

You can forget [..this film..]. The plot has an ex-stock car driver delivering a '70 Dodge Challenger from Denver to LA. Early on is some high speed dicing between the Challanger and a S-1 XKE roadster on a twisty desert road. This ends in a battle for who gets the road and who gets to fly at a 1 lane bridge. Since the star of the movie is the Challenger, the XKE flies. The film reeks of the early '70's film style found in Billy Jack and Kung Fu. The only good part is watching the Challenger get raced. [lb]

Look at it this way: they were trying to get accross the idea that this Challenger was REALLY souped up, and the best way they could come up with was that it could hold its own with a dead stock 6-cyl XKE it happens accross on a lonely highway. [kp]

The XKE driver had a helmet on, came up on Kowalski from behind, and was very aggressive, verbally and physically (e.g., bumping into the Challen- ger), in trying to pick a race. Yeah, he was just puttering his "dead stock" XKE around the desert looking for somewhere to get some groceries when Kowalski "happened across" him. Obviously this guy wasn't about any- thing *but* racing, and probably spent all his spare time doing nothing but souping up his car in order to have fun with passersby on the highway.

The movie already had established that the Challenger is somewhat souped up. The mere fact that the XKE gave the Challenger any trouble at all proves that it was anything but "dead stock". The '70 Challenger with a dead stock 440 was rated conservatively at 375 hp @ 4400 RPM; built for performance, normally aspirated, the figure easily could reach 500, and if it were supercharged as the police dispatcher surmised the figure would be quite a bit higher still. Stock vs. stock, the Challenger probably weighed 1,000 lbs. more and had 110 more hp, so it would be a close contest. I don't know what you would assume the Jag driver did to his car, but the weight difference would be more than made up for by a built & blown 440.

Straight-line acceleration would be no contest, as portrayed in the movie when Kowalski shifts into 3rd and passes the Jag on the straightaway. As for top speed, my 340 (not 440) Challenger will go 135 mph without the front spoilers before the front end started trying to lift. The added weight of the 440 would help keep the nose down, and the power certainly would be there to break 150 or even 160 with a well-tuned suspension, so I'd say the cars were well-matched. The movie portrayed the Jag as keep- ing right up with the Challenger after Kowalski out-maneuvered the other driver, and it was his driving skills that kept him in front and in the correct lane as they approached the bridge.

Bottom line: there was nothing "dead stock" about either car, the machines would perform similarly in either case, and the better *driver* won....[dh]

Actually if you watch the movie close enough.. the car is a brand new, totally stock car, not some "souped up" car. Barry Newman, aka Kowalski, is the car delivery guy, taking the car to its new owner....[cc]

I remember Paris

(Van Johnson, Liz Taylor)

Johnson drove an olde englishe white XK120. Hmmm. Me and Audrey or me and Liz... [wz]

To catch a thief - NOT

(Cary Grant, Grace Kelly)

Q: Here is a quiz: In the movie what was the blue roadster she drove up into the hills above Monaco in on the picnic with Grant? I can't get a bead on the thing. At first I thought it was an XK but I am not so sure. [wz]

A: 1953 Sunbeam Alpine: white upholstery, whitewall tires, white steering wheel, and Grace wore white gloves. This body style is similar to a Jowett Javelin, and predates the more familiar tailfinned body of the Maxwell Smart era. Grant's housekeeper drove a Delage, and naturally the French police drove a Traction Avant Citroen. [rr]

Scandal

(Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, John Hurt)

And of course in SCANDAL the movie about the Profumo scandal. A white XK120? Rather lovely I thought. Quite a good film too. [hr]

The Greatest Show on Earth (1950)

Cornel Wilde drives an XK120 and Charleton Heston calls it "that heap". [rr]

Viva Las Vegas (1961?)

Elvis leaves some XK's in the dust in the "big race", and one of the XK120's does a few flips. [rr]

State Fair (1961)

Pat Boone leaves some XK's and C-types in the dust in his "big race". [rr]

Mrs. Miniver (1941

SS Jaguar saloon in the London street scene. Nice looking Lagonda DHC later on, BTW. [rr]

A Damsel in Distress (1935)

SS Jaguar saloon in the background. [rr]

stock footage shot in the early 70's

A Series 1 E-type roadster tumbling down a mountainside, used in many cops-and-robbers TV shows whenever they put the bad guy in an E and the good guy chases him through the hills of California. [rr]

The Gay Divorcee (1933)

Erik Rhoads drives a Swallow-bodied Austin Seven. BTW, Fred Astaire drives an MGPA and Ginger Rogers drives a Duesenberg. [rr]

Silver Streak

(Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor)

A really beautiful sighting was in "Silver Streak". Though not a dhc (and just a 2+2 at that) the series II that Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor stole was a red beauty. One particularly fetching scene showed them rounding a turn in some flatland in Kansas I think. Plus, you have to give Richard Pryor's character credit. Towards the end of the movie he's asked by the feds if they can take him anywhere. To which he replies, "Well, I left my Jag in Kansas, City." [caw]

On the Silver streak, Gene Wilder complains to Richard Pryor about stealing the JAG. Richard's response is a classic, which I can't reprint.[lm]

Fun with Dick and Jane

George Segal as yuppie bankrobber, Series II E-Type drop head coupe [caw]

Bob & Carol and Ted & Alice

E-Type (no further detail) [caw]

The End

Burt Reynolds as dying man in a Series I (?) E-Type dhc [caw]

Terms of Endearment

E-Type dhc (no details as I haven't seen the movie and the sighting was reported to me by a friend) [caw]

48 Hours

Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy with XJ-6 in background several times [caw]

Brannigan

John Wayne menaced by bad guy in Series I E-Type 2+2 [caw]

Convoy

Kris Kristofferson and Ali McGraw with Ali driving Series III dhc [caw]