[Hal Copple]

Mr. Elkins, the driver of the Charger, died about a year ago. Apparantly he drove lots of cars in movies. I too think the click of the seatbelt is about the most sublime movie moment i ever saw.

Soon after i saw the movie, i went out and bought my first new car, as i was graduating from the University of Nebraska in ROTC, and about to be a 2nd Lieutenant of Infantry, first being posted to Germany in '69-70, thence to the Mekong Delta in sept of '71.

The '69 Dodge Charger R/T with the 440 cost me $3275, with a Torqueflight, and i was there to help take it off the transporter with .3 miles on it. Sold my MBG for the Dodge. The 426 Hemi was a $770 option. About a forth of the cost of the car!! My base pay was only $330 a month.

That 440 R/T was a fabulous car in Europe, army gas at 18 cents a gallon, drove it all over. Hated the French because they had just pulled out of NATO, so i carried Jerry cans of gas to get across France to Spain, just so i would not put one cent into their economy. The Charger would cruise all day at about 90 mph, but much over a hundred on the Autobahn, it just felt light, and since it had the three inch Imperial drum brakes on it, it would not make one complete stop from that speed.

Coming back from Spain, returning thru France, i was stopped at the Spanish exit border by a guard with a SMG over his shoulder, who did not like my army leave papers, and refused me to proceed to the French entrance about a hundred yards away. The Spanish guard kept motioning me to Go Back into Spain.

I looked at his slung 9mm submachine gun, across to the French Boarder, smiled at the guard, and nailed the throttle, leaving rubber out away from the Spanish Guard, as i raced across to safety in France.

You gotta have torque to out run a Border Guard!

Saw Vanishing Point, with Barry Neuman, in Vietnam, running a 16mm projector off our 1.5KW generator, projected onto a sheet. The Vietnamese villagers loved it!!

Another good car movie, about 12 words in the whole movie.

hal