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Auction find: Duel Peterbilt for beating up on Valiants
One of the most sinister automotive movie characters ever, the tanker-hauling Peterbilt from the seminal Spielberg picture, Duel, is up for auction. Perhaps only a little less evil than the '58 Plymouth in John Carpenter's adaptation of Christine, nearly 40 years have done little to dull this truck's malevolent countenance. The MotoExotica and Manheim event in St. Louis started on Friday, and finishes up today, October 17th.
The 1960 Pete has an overhauled engine, and air and electrical lines on the chassis have been replaced, too, according to the seller. It appears that this truck is the second of three used in the filming of the movie. It's a 1960 Peterbilt 281 made up to look like the 1956 model that was used for most of the scenes. Since that '56 was on its last legs, this truck was its double, and has also appeared in other productions, like a David Lee Roth video. We can't find out if there's a reserve, but it did just come out of a restoration, so it'll likely be well above the $20,000 range that normal 281s seem to trade for. Add in its matching vintage trailer and the movie provenance, which is purportedly documented, and this truck could well go for more money.
For a work vehicle, it's likely pulled its last real load a long time ago. Movie appearances tend to make people all kooky about a vehicle having some sort of added value just because it exists on a few million frames of release print somewhere. Either way, we've found both the movie's trailer and the full feature (they're embedded after the jump), where you can see the Peterbilt in action. Thanks for the tip, Greg.
[Source: MotoeXotica]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Benfolio 11:54AM (10/17/2009)
Hrm, picture #3 looks strangely appropriate.
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bh 11:54AM (10/17/2009)
Wikipedia says only one truck was used in the original filming, and that it went off a cliff. The duplicates were used in promotional material and some scenes added later.
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Benfolio 12:18PM (10/17/2009)
imcdb.org agrees.
imoore 12:06PM (10/17/2009)
I love this movie.
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LoneWolf 12:18PM (10/17/2009)
Cool truck
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zapperdude60 12:19PM (10/17/2009)
featured in European Car
http://www.europeancarweb.com/longtermers/epcp_0901_2007_bmw_z4_m_coupe/index.html
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ozyran440 9:11PM (10/17/2009)
Yeah, but the ending would have been more fitting if the truck had caught up to the guy in the Z and chased him until the truck could no longer keep up and flew off the road.
Stumpy 12:38PM (10/17/2009)
Need that to run "Non-Blinker, Texting, Jerks" off the road.
..
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Shadow26 2:06PM (10/17/2009)
+1
I'd vote for a remake, just for that purpose.
dukeisduke 12:49PM (10/17/2009)
I watched that movie when it first aired on "The ABC Movie Of The Week" back in '71, and it still gives me chills whenever I catch it on cable. I wouldn't have guessed any of the trucks still existed. I mean, it's not like you can just stick it in a garage - it's huge.
I'd like to see that thing in person, sit up in the cab, and imagine bearing down on Dennis Weaver. Cool.
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Thunderbuck 1:21PM (10/17/2009)
Yeah, I remember it as a "Movie of the Week" too, and it scared the crap out of me. Mind you, I was 7, so that wasn't hard.
I'm surprised there was a theatrical trailer. Did it receive an actual release?
Anyway, it was actually a fantastic little movie. Speilberg's first feature-length film, and you can see a little of the style he used later in "Jaws".
imoore 4:31PM (10/17/2009)
@Thunderbuck:
ABC first broadcast it on TV in1971, and Universal released it to theaters around the world in 1972,with added footage (Car leaving the garage, the railroad crossing scene, and the stranded bus scene). They later rereleased it in the US theaters with the changes. If you haven't seen it yet, then get it.
I'd also recommend the 2003 movie "Lost," with Dean Cain as a crooked banker chased across the desert by a madman.
Thunderbuck 11:13PM (10/17/2009)
@imoore
Thanks for the tip! Hadn't realized it had gone into release internationally. I'll definitely have to look it up.
ugg.tryptophan 11:53PM (10/18/2009)
the first automobile i ever feared, still not found of old peterbilts on the road; would totally buy this to instill that fear in more children
Chris 12:59PM (10/17/2009)
After watching that movie trailer... I'm kinda glad I grew up in the 90s.
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junk-o 1:27PM (10/19/2009)
Right... because the movies then were SOOOO much better!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-vUpXEWpUs
Tang 1:21PM (10/17/2009)
We watched this movie for a film class in high school, and it's probably one of the first movies I'd list to forget.
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jpm100 2:30PM (10/17/2009)
Spielberg has said that Jaws was prettymuch a remake of this.
Imho, that shark was prettymuch the template for the unstoppable mysterious mindless killer who is mostly offscreen that was used for the late 70's slasher films and later Alien.
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Greg 2:32PM (10/17/2009)
This is the movie that put Spielberg on the map and earned him the right to direct "Jaws".
I must say, as menacing as the tractor looks, I always have liked the look of those "old school" tanker trailers.
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Thunderbuck 11:18PM (10/17/2009)
Well, no. Spielberg's first US theatrical film was "Sugarland Express", made just after "Duel", but that was a fair hit, too.
THAT'S what got him "Jaws".