THE 1955 CHEVY
Richard Ruth built three 55 Chevys for the movie
Two-Lane Blacktop. (He can be seen as the Needles gas station mechanic wearing
the "Glendale Speedshop" t-shirt.) One was the "camera car". This car was used for all the interior shots.
The other two were filmed driving or racing. The Chevy was based on a 1956 Chevy that
Richard Ruth had been street racing at the time. The 55 in Two-Lane
had a big block 454 with aluminum heads, a tunnel ram intake and dual 4bbl Holley carbs.
The transmission was a Munci M-22 "rockcrusher' feeding the power back to an Oldsmobile
rear axle with 4.88-1 gears. Ruth fitted the car with a straight axle and four wheel disc brakes. The tilt
front end was fiberglass as were the doors and deck lid. Ruth also used plexiglass
for the side windows that slid back to front instead of rolling up and down. The wheels were
American mags 200-s, 15x6 front and 15x10 rear. They used M&H Racemaster drag slicks for racing
and Firestone grand prix rain tires for street use. In the movie the car is said to run "well into
the 12's. However later in the movie he beats "Mr. Bardahl". I heard the 55 was capable of low
10's at over 130mph! Rumor has it they actually filmed the famed rollover for the end of the movie
then cut it out in favor of the movie burnimg up. |
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP / AMERICAN GRAFFITI CONNECTION
Gary Kurtz was involved with both movies. He took the 55
from Two-Lane and made it into the black 55 used in Graffiti! They replaced the "Grump-Lump hood
scoop with a smaller one. The American mags gave way to chromed steel wheels. If you look close
enough you can see when they mounted the front bumper it had to be raised a few
inches to bolt up to the frame rails Richard Ruth installed for the straight front axle. |