Thursday, March 17, 2011
A Toda Maquina
As a rule, Crosleys don't fare well in movies. There's the derelict pickup truck that Bluto smashes bottles on in Animal House, and then there's Porky's 3, the less said about which, the better - the fact that the filmmakers were even aware that there is such a thing as a Crosley diminishes the brand.
A more typical indignity is enshrined in A Toda Maquina, a 1951 Mexican flick about two rival motorcycle cops who are sorta like the Mexican Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. The movie has a long sequence involving an old lady driver and her HotShot.
It's really neat seeing the car in context- on streets jam-packed with normal sized forties and fifties cars it really underscores how damn small they were at the time. Also of note is the car itself- it's clearly a HotShot, but it doesn't have the rubber grommet around the cockpit- it's upholstered. That seems odd given that the car would have been no more than 2 years old when the movie was made.
It's a fun sequence- the whole movie is on YouTube (the Crosley only shows up once) and here's the right section. Crosleying starts at 1 hour, 18 minute mark.
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5 comments:
Some folks liked to tart up their Crosleys with add-ons, and odds are that the A Toda Maquina Hot Shot's cockpit grommet was damaged or the owner didn't like it.
FWIW, I recall that the Crosley pickup Bluto smashed bottles on in "Animal House", or at least a dead ringer, was in either Scott & Sons, Harrisburg Truck & Auto, Economy or Barnes' wrecking yards (those old-school, self-service, dirt lot junkyards are all the same to me) in the Eugene, OR area in the late 80s/very early 90s and was presumably crushed shortly thereafter.
It is a 1950 Supersports (Super Hot Shot) to go with the other Super models released in 1950. They didn't go with the full doors till 1951.
Jim...
I wondered if it might be a Super Hot Shot- I've never seen one in person, and evey one I've seen in pics had the little clip on doors.
@ darrell- I'd bet it had to be a different pickup- Hollywood to Eugene is a long way for a battered crosley to go in only 8 or 10 years. But you never know!
@Ol' Man Foster:
At least part of Animal House was filmed in Eugene, but the part with the Crosley may have been filmed in Hollywood. This pickup I saw supposedly had a CoBra block and was supposedly drivable for short distances despite advanced rust, but I recall that the guy I asked about it spoke in a nearly unintelligible New England accent and wouldn't answer many questions. For all I know, the "CoBra" block was a Ford small-block with Shelby valve covers, not a tin-block Crosley mill.
The A Toda Maquina car could very well be a Super Hot Shot, I'm pretty sure they all got hacked up into early kit cars or H-Mods, crashed on race tracks, junked or restored as standard Hot Shots.
I had no idea Animal House was partially filmed in Eugene- maybe it WAS the same Crosley!
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