Saturday 18 July 2015

Interceptor


The Interceptor at Broken Hill 2010
Photo: Cameron Manwell



The first appearance of the Interceptor since The Road Warrior at a 2009 news announcement ( see below story )

Type: Max's pursuit vehicle
Faction: ex MFP
Donor Vehicle: 1973 Ford XB GT - 3 units produced
Fate: 2 units destroyed in Namibia , 1 unit shipped to Australia now in storage this car toured Europe with a Nux car for the world premier in 2015

Fury Road mechanic Cameron Manwell talks about the Interceptor and Razor Cola :
I myself was asked to work on the film as I was known to have had a lot to do with falcon hardtops and mad max replicas and muscle cars in general. So I got the job of handling the "muscle cars" inc the 5 falcon coupes, 2 valiant chargers and the U.S. Charger (plus a couple of others).
I took an active roll in helping choose which cars were bought where possible.
Of the falcon hardtops I personally supplied two of my own (both were built as the bare metal version of the interceptor). One was my drag car which had been substantially modified many years earlier and was unlikely to ever see the road again. The other car was quite rusty and needed extensive repairs to be restored (both 1/4s were dented badly and it had a huge aftermarket sunroof). I won't waffle on about every car here but similar story for many of them.
Plus every possible unused part from the Falcons was removed and taken home to help restore other cars. I can assure you there was almost no savable parts left.
3 of the 5 Falcons survived and returned to Australia. The other 2 were completely destroyed during filming so there was nothing left to come home (though did offer to buy the wrecks).
Virtually any car bought were possible was a rough example to start with, there was several reasons for that. 1)no point wasting money on a prime example just to wreck it 2)the cars needed to look weathered and worn so buying cars that were already rough saved time and looked more authentic. 3)we were conscious that people would be up in arms about destroying class

 

There was a TV commercial promoting the Commonwealth bank in Australia. The advert featured cars influenced by the Mad Max Movies. One in particular was a black XB coupe fitted with two rear tanks. Shortly after filming the ad, the XB coupe was retained at a local storage facility, whilst the remaining vehicles were destroyed. It was George Miller's intent to use the XB coupe for Fury Road. Additional coupes were needed at the time but the Commonwealth ad coupe remained as the FR hero car. 
This is the car we saw in the news story announcing the start of filming on the new Mad Max movie in 2009 , note the honeycomb grille.
But it also has more history ..........



The car seen at the 2009 press release is the same car pictured above from the first trip to Namibia in 2003, it amazingly was saved and shipped back, then used in a Commonwealth bank ad a few years back before going back into storage at Canal Rd. The car has been quickly mocked up in Namibia. When the movie was postponed it was shipped back with some of the other equipment and parts. 2 other hardtops were sold off over there. Once back at the Villawood workshop it was stripped back down and redone. That is the same car that is now touring the UK for the release of Fury Road. One seriously well travelled Falcon"

Standard Australian 1973 XB GT Ford falcon Coupe Hardtop


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