Ok first I did not come to this conclusion on my own, someone on the IMCD suggested that Max's vehicle in Beyond Thunderdome was based on a 1975 ford LTD P5. Many have despuited that the vehicle was a F 100 or even a Toyota pick up. Since I always wonderd what Max's car was in Thunderdome (I always hoped as a kid in love with Max's Black V8, he somehow managed to "FIX" his original Ford XB Coupe into this one) I did for some reason see a hint of ford XB in there somewhere, however I became much more interested to find out if in fact the car was based on the LTD because my dad had one and I always loved that car. After looking for as much photos as possible I can confirm the vehicle base used for the Thunderdome car is/was a 1975 Ford LTD P5. You can dispute this claim if you want, I'd love to see actual photos of the vehicle being built for the film to be proved wrong. Here are some photos of the car used and the end product.
Note the Screws on the side of the dash, note the steering colum and the position of the ignition switch and missing indicator shift.
Max Dash 2.jpg (23.26 KiB) Viewed 6684 times
Same screws and positioning and placing of the ignition switch and indicator shift
Dash Screws.jpg (68.99 KiB) Viewed 6684 times
An interesting Behind the scenes photo of Max in the Vehicle, the grove or bum line on the roof of the base car is something not common in cars in general. However this bumb is covered by a Vinyl cover made for the roof and helps keep the Vinyl in place.
Max roof.jpg (36.58 KiB) Viewed 6684 times
The LTD with Vinyl Roof. Although the image is faint you can just make out the line that runs along the under grove/bump.
Ford Roof.jpg (58.28 KiB) Viewed 6684 times
From a wide shot of Max's crashed vehicle the unique curved dash can be seen. These dashes were used in (XA's, XB's, Landau's, early 70s Fairlanes, and the LTD P5 (the P6 had a flat dash, much like the XC. This is another reason why Max's black V8 was not an XC as some still want to claim).
I ran out of room. Here are some of the Dash's mentioned.
The Dash of an XA
XA_dash44.jpg (27.11 KiB) Viewed 6681 times
XB Dash
XB_dash_heater_late.jpg (28.32 KiB) Viewed 6681 times
ZG Fairlane
a-ZG-dash.jpg (29.27 KiB) Viewed 6681 times
The LTD P5
5147an9_20.jpg (68.78 KiB) Viewed 6681 times
I hope this info I have posted help solve the question of what Max chose for his ride in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. I'm glad he kept it in the early 70s Ford V8 5.8 351 family. Cheers
Attachments
The 'Flat' XC Dash
1978-ford-xc-fairmont-gxl-v8-sedan.jpg (25.32 KiB) Viewed 6681 times
This was dicussed many years ago....
(so not really new subject sorry).
I dont why youd think its an LTD specifically when the XA/XB came with vinal roofs as well.
The side pieces you circled on the dash are the same in Fairmonts (covered in vinal). The side filler piece was plain metal on Falcon 500s.
We had come to the conclusion it was an XA/XB front section quite a few yrs back.
As for the comment about people claiming maxs black coupe was an XC, umm... sorry its never been claimed its an XC. (non madmax fans will assume its an XC because of the rectangular headlights).
It was an XB GT (white in colour) and we have the VIN number and know where the orginal car lives.
Fair enough, I did not know this was resolved years ago. The one thing that made me sure it was an LTD P5 was the line/bump on the roof. I havent seen it on any of the other cars you mentioned that also had vinyl roofs, which those cars (maybe with the exception of the fairlane, not sure) came out with the option both with and without vinyl lining on the roof. The LTD P5 never had that option, it always came out with vinyl. The XA/XB body never had that lining/bump on their roofs, even when they did come out with vinyl the body was standard XA XB production line bodies, reguardless of type (Falcon, GT, 500, Fairmont, ect) So for that reason, only in my opinion, I dont think it is an XA or an XB. It might still be a ZG Fairlane and I could be wrong. As for the whole XC/XB V8 debate, you are right, True Mad Max fans know that it is an XB not an XC. But I still see comments on youtube and so forth that some people still think its an XC. Plus true die hard fans know that in the first Mad Max it is refered to as a Pursuit Special and not an Interceptor. But I'm putting out there a debate as to what the car in MMBT was based on, if you can please prove me wrong.
nice detective work, lonewolf. it's a pity they disguised it so much that you can't even tell what it is without major effort. one more reason i like Thunderdome less than RW.
Fair enough, I did not know this was resolved years ago. The one thing that made me sure it was an LTD P5 was the line/bump on the roof. I havent seen it on any of the other cars you mentioned that also had vinyl roofs, which those cars (maybe with the exception of the fairlane, not sure) came out with the option both with and without vinyl lining on the roof.
Its factory standard to have a three piece vinal roof (central part sewn onto two side parts).... my XB had (until i turned it into a replica) it.
This was a common cause of rust in these vehicles, that water would seep in where it was sewn together.
Its factory standard to have a three piece vinal roof (central part sewn onto two side parts).... my XB had (until i turned it into a replica) it.
This was a common cause of rust in these vehicles, that water would seep in where it was sewn together.
No I meant the roof of the car itself. The metal lining under the vinyl that is part of the base of the car. Once the vinyl was stripped off the base metal on the XB-XA had no groove/line. The MMBT car has no vinyl on it, but has that bare metal groove/line.
Its factory standard to have a three piece vinal roof (central part sewn onto two side parts).... my XB had (until i turned it into a replica) it.
This was a common cause of rust in these vehicles, that water would seep in where it was sewn together.
No I meant the roof of the car itself. The metal lining under the vinyl that is part of the base of the car. Once the vinyl was stripped off the base metal on the XB-XA had no groove/line. The MMBT car has no vinyl on it, but has that bare metal groove/line.
Ah no.. all the roofs are one piece, no falcon was ever fitted with a 3 piece roof.
That car still has the vinal fitted, you can see it running around the edge of the window frame.
I daresay its been rubbed back/ or had a fine application of bog and sanded smooth.
