Major movie in MA needs to rent a 1971 Buick Estate

Hopefully if they use it they treat it good.
I remember working security at a site in 1983 in Toronto, they came to town to film Police Academy, the guy that was working with me rented his dad's wagon to them to be used in the scenes with the crazy wife hanging onto the hood of the car, it was to be driven and stopped hard so the stunt person could go flying off the hood, problem is they ran it into a parking curb and did some good damage under the front of the car.
Needless to say daddy was not impressed.

 

My brothers friends had their trailers used in a Robin Williams film about a motorhome adventure. The rigs were in a make believe campground. They wanted them to look used so in many cases they dirtied them up after the owners had done super clean ups in anticipation of them being a movie

But after the shoot the trailers were all cleaned up very nicely and everyone was happy. They got to watch the filming, eat great food, and see how things are done. Good entertainment for a bunch of retired guys with too much time on their hands and a chance to make some bucks for a week or so.

 

Interesting....Joel, if they use your wagon, keep us informed. Welcome to the madness by the way. That's a great looking 71, how is it optioned?

 

If it were to be any type of nice car, antique/classic or not, I would be doing all the driving or at least check out what I was getting into first.

 

About the closest thing I ever was involved in was the front clip of a '68 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible. As I understand it, they wrecked the front clip of the car either while filming or rehearsing and they needed another. I have all Chevy parts, but just so happened to have a Pontiac front clip available. The movie was "Forces of Nature" with Sandra Bullock. When I finally saw the movie, sure enough there was the '68 Bonneville, but all dirtied up to look pretty horrible. They were filming it in Savannah GA.

Bill

 

I only know one person with a '71 on your side of the Pond; he's in central IN and moderator on the v8buick board. Don't know what the actual condition of the wagon is though. Will PM him this link through the v8buick board.

 

That brings back good memories

 

Hey Mike! Who knew my humble '71 EW would be in the middle of this flurry of activity? She's a 9-passenger with a recently rebuilt 455. Green everywhere. Has most options but no power door locks or cruise (lame!). I've had lots of advice on whether to allow the car to be used for the film. "NO! It'll get damaged!" "YES! It's one chance in 100 lifetimes they'd need this specific car! It'll be famous!" Guess it plays a major role. I'm in Colorado so the first hurdle will be getting it to Boston. Movie lady likes the car and will talk to me this week. We'll see. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

If you do the rental (if it were me I'd do it but to each their own) you do need to be very clear what you don't want to happen to your car, take photos of everything in advance (dated) so there's no question just in case something does come up, and make sure either your insurance or their insurance covers off anything that could possibly happen. It wouldn't hurt to spring for an appraisal done before it goes, we all need current ones anyway.

 

Excellent advice........

Movie company would probably adverse to paying for shipping, but if they want it that bad............so far nothing closer apparently.

Based on the original request, my guess is that the wagon plays a rather prominent role in the movie. All the more reason to do it!

 

So it's been a couple of weeks since I've heard from the movie lady inquiring about using my car. Sounded like they were interested in shipping it from CO to MA for use as a prominent prop. Sent her interior pix, including the forward-facing third seat. She replied she thought the script was calling for a rear-facing third seat. They specifically wanted a '71 Estate Wagon but were apparently unaware all 9-pass clamshell wagons have a forward facing third seat. Hmm. Guess they weren't wagon experts afterall. I've heard nothing since, so I presume I'm out of the running. The car and I are simultaneously disappointed and relieved. I'll let you guys know if I ever receive a follow-up message from her!

 

That's hilarious.

 

They will probably use something else that matches the script. Most movie makers don't pay much attention to detail when it comes to the cars in the movie. I have seen movies that used cars that hadn't been built during the time frame of the movie, and no one cares.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I'm assuming this movie was The Way Way Back. It's been a couple years but if I remember correctly it was about a 69 or 70 Buick. I remember it standing out because it was obviously very well restored with woodgrain and was a seafoam green. It had the rear facing seat. I may not be remembering this correctly but I think they had someone sit on it or jump on it. I've had experience with films in the past and I know how they rent cars from people and I was thinking as I watched it that I bet the owner wasn't happy about what was being done to the car.

 

Yup...
Now we know 'The Rest of the Story', as Mr. Harvey would say.
It was funny in the ads for the movie, they used a clamshell, but in the actual movie, they had to use a '70 due to the necessity for a rear-facing third seat.

If we had a bit more detail from the media person who first posted here, we could have straightened out the confusion right away.