35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

I watched the film “Chinatown “ last night starring a very young Jack Nicholson.
I was sad to see a very tidy 35 convertible sedan shot at and smashed into a tree. I guess in 1974 they would have paid very little for the car.

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

Convertible Sedan, not a hot ticket then or today either. My 36 Phaeton is even more useless without any door locks or roll up windows. Maybe someone would think it is cool enough one day. Doesn't appear to be too bent up?!? On second glance the horn and bumper must be mashed in. Hoping that beautiful 35 grille is undamaged, pro'ly not.

I do believe that car should have had running board chrome trim though.

Curved mirror mounts are '36 and it's missing the front bumper guards in the pre-crash snap. They are on it in the shot up against the tree.

Those things always catch my head when I'm crawling underneath anyway.

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

In the 70's there was still lots of NOS parts to make repairs.

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

Hello, if I remember correctly the V8 times in that era around 1974 had an article about the making of the movie,with many of the then current members Cars being used.The 35 Ford was actually wrecked but was going to be rebuild by the owner.

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

Nice to know. Hopefully it was restored again. Compared to what we’re trying to restore today it shouldn’t have been too much trouble

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...7&d=1562887249


Made me want to puke when I saw this crash in the movie for the first time....https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...8&d=1562887249

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

In about 1973-74 I had a chance to buy a near perfect '36 Ford Roadster, it was black with a wine red leather interior. The owner had just moved here from Arizona and needed some bucks.. I could not get the man to come down below $900.
Just a few months before, I had turned down a '35 Roadster for $150. It was a running car, pretty rough, had been an orchard truck for most of it's life..
Of course we all know that hindsight is 20-20.. I paid $225. for my '36 coupe in 1952, original owner car with 51K on the odometer, a high price at the time, most '35-36 Fords at the time could be bought for under $100.

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

blucar: Those, indeed,were the days. What was hourly wage back then in 1952?

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

Interesting, my first car was purchased in late 1951 (while still in High school) for $100 (and it was a '36 Ford Cab. Convertible )
In my first full time job as an auto body shop helper in 1953 I grossed $2,844.67 for the full year :eek:

Do the math. Less than $1.50 per hour.
As I recall the Body men were making about $2.50 per hour.

Re: 35 convertible in the film “Chinatown “
 

I bought an original 39,000 mile tudor in very nice shape for $100 in the fall of 1959. The guy that had it was going to remove the rear floor and make an "ice fishing car" out of it. He had gotten it from his proverbial "maiden aunt" who only drove it to church on Sunday, and if you had seen the car, you would have believed it. I went to school with his daughter, so I went and talked to him about the car. When I pointed out that it had a hot air heater and the attending problems with exhaust fumes, he sold it to me. I remember thinking I got that car cheap. Even then, I was expecting to pay $300-$500 for a car in that shape.