The cool cars from the film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino’s latest cinematic masterpiece Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is loaded with a crazy amount of classic and vintage American and European cars.Any keen car observers (which we know you certainly are) are treated to an array of mint condition American and European classics peppered throughout the Quentin Tarantino film. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood is set in 1969 Los Angeles, sees TV star Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore as Hollywood’s golden age comes to an end.
Steven Butcher was the film’s Picture Car Coordinator and was tasked with finding the plethora of cars to bring the right look and feel to the film.
In an interview with film news website
, Butcher says that over 2000 vintage cars were sourced for the film, from the ones driven by the leading characters to the ones parked on the side of the road. The average film uses between 300-500 cars so this Tarantino creation really pushed the boundaries.
Cool cars which featured in the film include Rick Dalton’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) 1966 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, Cliff Booth’s (Brad Pitt) 1962 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, Roman Polanski’s (Rafal Zawierucha) 1952 MG TD, Abigail Folger’s (Samantha Robinson) 1969 Pontiac Firebird, Tex Watson’s (Austin Butler) 1959 Ford Galaxie and Bruce Lee’s (Mike Moh) 1969 Lincoln Continental. And that is only scraping at the surface.
Here are some fun facts about the cars in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood as disclosed by Steven Butcher.
The 1966 Cadillac DeVille driven by Brad Pitt, but owned by Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the film happens to be the same one Michael Madsen drove in Reservoir Dogs. Butcher says that Madsen actually owns the car and had it in storage and his team restored it and gave it a fresh coat of paint and upholstery for the film.
The blue 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia driven by Brad Pitt’s character Cliff Booth is the same car driven by Uma Thurman in Tarantino’s iconic two-parter, Kill Bill. Butcher said the reference is to a car that Tarantino remembers from his childhood rather than being a call back or Easter egg to Kill Bill. A cool coincidence nevertheless. The car’s engine was replaced with a Subaru engine and fitted with an automatic transmission just in case Brad Pitt couldn’t drive manual. Turns out, Brad Pitt can.
When it came to selecting the car driven by Roman Polanski, a 1930s roadster for the trendy European director was on the wish list. Butcher said he toyed with the idea of other British makes like Morgan or Triumph, but decided to choose the MG TD for the part. Tarantino and the design team were inspired by the 1969 film Model Shop which was set in Los Angeles in 1969 and happened to feature an MG TD. The rest is history.
There is also an appearance by a Ford Galaxie in the film which is driven by Manson family follower Tex Watson. It turns out is a replica of the real car used in the actual murders. Butcher goes on to say "I found the real car in a guy’s private collection. The guy wanted to rent it to us to use in the film. But I had a meeting with Quentin, and we talked about it and thought that would be creepy to have the real car on set." A very creepy thing to have on set indeed!
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is in cinemas now.
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