Central Valley Corvettes of Fresno - March 2024

2. Milner’s ’32 Ford chopped-top Deuce coupe had a ’66 Chevy 327-cu.in. V-8 with four
Rochester 2GC two-barrel carbs. The engine was mated to a Super T-10 four-speed gearbox,
and a ’57 Chevy rear end with 4:11 gears. The car was originally red but was repainted yellow
for filming, and the red-and-white interior was dyed black. The rear fenders were bobbed, front
cycle fenders added, and the dropped front axle chrome-plated. When the movie was done,
the car was advertised for $1,500 but failed to sell for more than a year. It eventually ended
up with a collector in Kansas and has since gone to an owner in San Francisco, both of whom
preserved it.
3. The character Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford), who drives a '55 Chevy, comes to town to challenge
reigning drag racer Milner. Three black ’55 Chevys were used, including a junkyard find for the crash
scene and two others. The two principle cars had previously appeared in the film Two Lane Blacktop.
One had a 454-cu.in. V-8 and a Turbo Hydra-Matic 400, while the other was powered by a 427 cu.in.
V-8 paired with a Muncie M-22 transmission. During the race scene, the car’s axle broke. In a second
take, the replacement axle broke. Only one of the ’55 Chevys remains, and for a time was owned by
the same Kansas collector who had the ’32 Deuce coupe. It later went to an owner in Maryland, who
restored the car to show condition, but extensively changed from its appearance in the film.