50s Fords Haul Moonshine To Quench The Devil's Thirst: Thunder Road [Movie Cars]

Full story: Jalopnik

Robert Mitchum outrunnin' revenoors in a triple-carbed '50 Ford sedan full of white liquor- now that's what we call a car movie! Thunder Road still holds up well after 50 years; thanks to this YouTuber , we can ...

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Mike AOL	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #1 Nov 13, 2008 What engine did the 50 ford used in the movie Thunder Road have in it. It was not a flat head Ford v-8.
dave Romulus, MI	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #2 Mar 16, 2009 Just where was the movie chase scenes filmed. I have talked to several people who say different areas. One lady who was a young teenager, told me it was done on the "old harlen road" in Harlen Ky. Any info. Thanks much, and God bless.
bill Duluth, GA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #4 Jul 21, 2009 Judged: 1 1 1 dave wrote: Just where was the movie chase scenes filmed. I have talked to several people who say different areas. One lady who was a young teenager, told me it was done on the "old harlen road" in Harlen Ky. Any info. Thanks much, and God bless. According to local info, part of the movie was shot on US 129 North of Robbinsville, now know as "The Tail Of The Dragon" and one of the most famous motorcycle and sports car roads in the Eastern U.S. Hard to tell since it's B&W and low light, but probably is.
bill Duluth, GA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #5 Jul 21, 2009 That's Robbinsville,N.C.
racer Arden, NC	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #6 Sep 29, 2009 the fifties use flat head v8's built by toey jones of bent creek nc the best flat header ever!
ThunderRoadFan Hanoi, Vietnam	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #7 Nov 14, 2009 Thank you. I'm a fan of Thunder Road and made a blog of this movie here : http://thunderroadmovie.blogspot.com/
Denny from Tulsa Tulsa, OK	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #8 Feb 26, 2010 Mike wrote: What engine did the 50 ford used in the movie Thunder Road have in it. It was not a flat head Ford v-8. I've heard two different answers: a T-Bird 312 w/ 3x2s, or an oldsmobile Rocket w/ J-2 option (3x2s)
a pro mike United States	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #9 Mar 16, 2010 Mike wrote: What engine did the 50 ford used in the movie Thunder Road have in it. It was not a flat head Ford v-8. i am pretty dadburn shure it was a "y" block ford (272,292,312) and i seem to remember it was a 312 balanced and blueprinted with 3 2-barrel carburetors and of course solid lifter cams. as robert called the cam in the movie! but dont touch those carburetors!

ford man United States	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #10 Sep 14, 2011 Mike wrote: What engine did the 50 ford used in the movie Thunder Road have in it. It was not a flat head Ford v-8. It was a overhead valve motor, I think it was an olds 303 but not 100% sure. It was a popular swap back in the early to mid 1950's. The distributor was in the back of the engine and turned up water neck off the manifold. Can't make out the valve covers?
ford man United States	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #11 Sep 14, 2011 racer wrote: the fifties use flat head v8's built by toey jo nes of bent creek nc the best flat header ever! Engine was not a flathead. It was overhead valve. Olds or Cad?
ford man United States	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #12 Sep 14, 2011 Denny from Tulsa wrote: <quoted text> I've heard two different answers: a T-Bird 312 w/ 3x2s, or an oldsmobile Rocket w/ J-2 option (3x2s) Possible but I don't think so, remember movie was made in 1957 year. The J-2 (also wrong carbs) and Ford 312 in new cars only.
ford man United States	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #13 Sep 14, 2011 a pro mike wrote: <quoted text> i am pretty dadburn shure it was a "y" block ford (272,292,312) and i seem to remember it was a 312 balanced and blueprinted with 3 2-barrel carburetors and of course solid lifter cams. as robert called the cam in the movie! but dont touch those carburetors! Possible Y block but 1954 to 1956 engines would not make any power, not a good swap. This is in 1957 you would not find a used 1957 motor in 57. He was up grading to 1957 Ford T-Bird Sp. 312 engine in his new car. Swap was likely done in early 50's in his 1950. All Y-blocks are solid lifters 239 to 312's. I wish I knew for sure.
Ryan Mountain Home, ID	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #14 Nov 27, 2011 Icould find out for you if wanted, my uncle is the owner of the car from the movie. ford man wrote: <quoted text> Possible Y block but 1954 to 1956 engines would not make any power, not a good swap. This is in 1957 you would not find a used 1957 motor in 57. He was up grading to 1957 Ford T-Bird Sp. 312 engine in his new car. Swap was likely done in early 50's in his 1950. All Y-blocks are solid lifters 239 to 312's. I wish I knew for sure.
Michael Smalley Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #15 Dec 4, 2011 Mike wrote: What engine did the 50 ford used in the movie Thunder Road have in it. It was not a flat head Ford v-8. It's definitely a Ford Y-Block. I went to Asheville, TN and talked to a guy who claimed to work on the cars for the movie. He said it was an Olds so I studied high quality still photos and researched the Olds engines of the period. They do look very similar, but the engine shown in the movie as the engine for the 50 Ford was definitely a Y-Block Ford.
Michael Smalley Los Angeles, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #16 Dec 4, 2011 dave wrote: Just where was the movie chase scenes filmed. I have talked to several people who say different areas. One lady who was a young teenager, told me it was done on the "old harlen road" in Harlen Ky. Any info. Thanks much, and God bless. It's possible, but extremely unlikely that any of the movie Thunder Road was filmed in Robbinsville, NC or Harlan, KY. I have researched, visited and confirmed that the movie was primarily filmed in and around Asheville, NC and it is unlikely that the production crew would travel very far from there for filming. I've also confirmed that the scene where Mitchum's character sends a car "over the falls" was filmed at Toxaway Falls in Hogback, Transylvania, NC.
Bruce Coraopolis, PA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #17 Dec 31, 2011 Ryan wrote: Icould find out for you if wanted, my uncle is the owner of the car from the movie. <quoted text> Ryan , Dose your uncle have the 1951 Ford that Robert Mitchum drove in Thunder Road ? Did they use more than one 1951 Ford in the movie ? Thanks, Bruce
BARRY Chico, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #18 Jan 15, 2012 HI I BOUGHT THE CAR AFTER IT WAS USED IN THE MOVIE.IT WAS A 1951 MADE TO LOOK LIKE A 1950 0R 1949 IT HAD A FORD 312 CI THUNDERBIRD WITH TRI POWER 3 SPEED TRANC.THE CAR HAD A FULL SET OF ROLLBARS IN IT.YOU COULD SEE WHERE THE OIL SPRAY WAS HOOKED UP.I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN I SAW IT FOR SALE IN THE L.A. TIMES. AFTER I GOT IT I CUT THE FENDER WELLS OUT AND PUT SLICKS ON .I ALSO PUT A SUPERCHARGER ON IT.I HAD IT FOR A FEW YEARS.THIS WAS ABOUT 1960 OR 1961 WHEN I GOT IT.I FOUND ROBERT MITCHUMS SONS WORK PERMIT UNDER THE FRONT SEAT.THE CAR WAS LAST IN L.A.I'AM GOING TO LOOK AT SOME OF OLD PICTURES AND FIND THE PLATE NUM. AND RUN IT TO FIND THE CAR.
Mark Castleton, Canada	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #19 Jan 21, 2012 I thought the '51 Ford in Thunder Road was blown up at the garage station.
Ben Rockingham, NC	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #21 Apr 12, 2012 Barry, i've been a huge Thunder Road fan for most of my life and have researched and collected alot of information and memorabilia from the movie. The one thing that i was unable to track down is the actual '51 that Mitchum drove. According to his son Jim, they took this car back to Cali after filming and Jim actually drove the car for a short time. This explains the work permit under the seat. Can you please email me. I'm very interested in talking with you about the car. benman3@carolina.rr.com Thanks!
BARRY Chico, CA	Reply » \| Report Abuse \| Judge it! \| #25 Sep 1, 2012 I have been trying to find some of our home movies that have the car in so i can see the lic.plate number and try to run it to find the car.
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