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What was thought to be lost is now found...

337K views 389 replies 107 participants last post by  BlakeTX 
#1 ·
And to think this almost got made in to an Eleanor.... Im very lucky I got to sit in it, I hope it gets restored properly.... wheres Jerry Heasly when you need him the most...:grin2:





 
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#33 ·
Amazing - looking forward to progress updates and as Paul Harvey says - "The Rest Of The Story" - Thanks for sharing this Federico
 
#37 ·
I'm not buying. If there was a list of long-lost movie cars that if "found" to still exist, after years of reports of being beyond salvage and crushed, that would be of Lord-only-knows-how-much-value, this would be a car near the top of that list. Maybe the very top. Imagine. The temptation to pull an elaborate hoax for the huge potential monetary gain would be irresistible to some people. Someone skilled and determined enough, and with the wherewithal, could fake all that, including the Data Plate/vins and the mods. By all accounts the movie car in question was damaged beyond repair from the extreme stunts it performed. Does the damage in these pics look like it was a totaled car to you? Paper trail? No need for a scammer to worry about that, the car is not supposed to exist so there wouldn't be one. How convenient.

How much would it cost to do a convincing fake? Go ahead and pick a number, but whatever it is would be a pittance compared to the value of it on the collector car market. A spanking huge profit to reap if you can pull it off. HUGE.

What's more, would not the owner of such a car release it's existence and entertain ginormous offers for it, rather than turn it over to some shop likely to actually devalue it from it's original as-found condition?

Call me skeptical but I'm not buying this story.
 
#74 ·
I can picture one of the reality car shows paying to have it restored. The owner would probably make more from them than sending it to auction considering the possibility of it being faked.
 
#38 ·
You bring up some good points 4ocious, and the "sending it off to restore it" has been bothering me too. "As found" would bring the money, restoring this car would all but ruin it.

OP, if this is real, strongly advise your friend NOT to have this car "restored", I think that will devalue it, if its THE car, its supposed to be banged up.
 
#44 ·
The rivets seem unmolested, when I go back to see it, I will snap more pics, suposedly "somebody" from the states is coming to inspect and validate it, I will gladly keep everyone posted on the outcome and inform who did te inspection.
 
#47 ·
I agree....so I say let's see the dash vin. That's harder to fake..especially the black decorative border...I can understand having a new data tag and scuffing it to remove the newness.
I have seen many a VINs on mustangs in 40 years and this....is interesting.
 
#62 ·
Man, you guys. Why are folks assuming the car today is in the same condition as when the movie was finished filming? In the first pic of the apron vin, body filler is visible, above the numbers and below the paint (picture wise, not layers) indicating body repairs have been done. When were they done, who knows? If the car underwent repairs after the movie was finished, that redo is of no historical value.

There's a whole lot of guys getting exercise here jumping to conclusions.

Very cool car and story.
 
#64 ·
While it's possible it's fake, "destroyed" is not always actually destroyed so I'm inclined to believe it's real until proven otherwise.

I mostly say this because I've ridden in a prototype/promo/whatever you want to call it Cobra R... convertible. If this thing exists, then I'm sure a lot of other crazy stuff does as well. Interesting stuff always seems to end up in Mexico anyways.
 
#67 ·
I think the word "destroyed" needs to be defined in this case. Did someone say it was destroyed because it suffered a lot of damage during filming? Or was it destroyed in terms of being crushed at a junkyard and being formed in a cube or shredded? IMO until that can be answered it leaves the possibility that this could be the car, not saying it is just that it could.

Back in the day the damage it sustained would have been totaled or destroyed. It wasn't a rare car just a disposable movie prop. It would be interesting to see more photos not to prove or disprove but just to see more features out of curiosity.
 
#68 ·
I'm sure the studio didn't destroy any of the cars it used in the film, they simply sold it off to a salvage yard and assumed that it would be cut up. When I lived on the Left coast I knew of a JY that had rows of ex movie cars, lots of them painted up to look like cop cars, all with fake bullet holes and some had the wiring for the squibs that they would set off to look like bullets hitting them. Some had the canon thing that when they set off a charge it would cause the car flip over. Some had roll bars, but they were all pretty well hidden from view so they wouldn't show in the filming. Any car in that JY was for sale and I'm inclined to believe that's probably what happened to the "Destroyed" Mustang.
 
#71 ·
A few concerns. First apparently the car has been painted several times. But the hole for what is presumed a generator exhaust was never repaired? Second if the car was as damaged as you see in the movie there should be repair signs on the shock towers and other places in the unibody. Not sure the welds would have survived so well. Having said that if this is the stunt car any restoration would presumably devalue the car. Has anyone seen who is handling the restoration?
 
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