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Honoring David Lynch with the Cars of Twin Peaks
Happy Friday, everyone. If you didn’t catch this week’s illuminating column by Jamie Kitman, part of his Picture Car Confidential series that shines a spotlight on the undercarriage of the TV and film industry’s sourcing of cars, I highly recommend checking it out. Knowing everything that can go wrong, it’s a small miracle that any memorable car from the big or small screen works out for production. For my money, one of the all-time best car-casting efforts for TV belongs to Twin Peaks, the surrealist murder mystery sensation that director David Lynch gave us in the early 1990s. I’m a big fan of the show, and Lynch’s work in general. News of his death earlier this week, at the age of 78, makes Twin Peaks particularly top of mind.
Almost none of the cars that appear on screen in Twin Peaks are remarkable. But they are shockingly well matched to their characters, as well as the down-on-its-luck Pacific Northwest logging town that serves as the show’s backdrop. The cars are mostly old and tired relics of a most prosperous civic past. But there is beauty in their resilience, particularly in the face of the town’s hard luck and seedy underbelly. The cars serve to project—both to us, the audience, and one another—certain status and personality traits behind which their owners hide. This is a common theme in Lynch’s work—a charming exterior that is a mask for the (often horrible) truth underneath.
Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department’s 1989 Ford Bronco XLT

If there is one car that screams Twin Peaks, it’s Sheriff Truman’s police-issue Bronco. Like the Sheriff, it’s rustic, honest, and all-American, but with a dash of style.
The engine most likely under the hood is Ford’s 351-cubic-inch V-8 with fuel injection, paired with a four-speed automatic and overdrive. The Bronco’s four-wheel-drive and high ground clearance were essential for dirt roads and forest trails, both of which police would have regularly encountered on the job. The XLT trim came with chrome trim for the bumpers, a bright grille, tinted glass, sport wheel covers, woodtone interior appliqué, cloth bucket seats, a flip-fold rear bench seat, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and color-keyed door cards.


I’ve actually seen a version of this Bronco in the metal, and so can you if you visit the DirtFish rally driving school in Snoqualmie, Washington. It’s parked right next to the school’s main building, whose exterior served as the setting for the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department. It looked pretty clean when I visited there a couple years ago, overlooking the rally course alongside WRXs, Fiesta STs, and the like. If you’re in the area and also a Twin Peaks fan, the real-life Salish Lodge hotel is what production used to represent the exterior of the Great Northern Hotel. The hotel overlooks a gorgeous waterfall that is prominently featured in every episode’s opening title sequence.
Bobby Briggs’ 1969 Plymouth Barracuda

Introduced early on as a trouble-prone high school jock, Bobby is the deeply unlikable boyfriend of the murdered Laura Palmer, whose death sets the series’ plot in motion. His car is a black ’69 Plymouth Barracuda, apparently a base model with the 318-cid V-8 and three-speed auto. Not exactly a barn-burner with just 230 hp, the Barracuda was almost certainly paid for by Bobby’s father, Major Briggs of the U.S. Air Force. It’s a conservative choice suitable for the straitlaced and composed Major Briggs, but with just enough attitude in the styling that Bobby must feel pretty rad driving it around Twin Peaks. Bobby drives an ’81 Trans Am later on in the series, but I think this Plymouth suits him better. Both probably have cigarette butts in the footwell.
Audrey Horne’s Mercedes-Benz 600

The W100-series ultra-luxury sedan is a fitting conveyance for the Horne family, the richest people in town. Teenage Audrey, a coquettish sociopath who surrepitiously meddles into pretty much everyone’s affairs, often hides behind her family’s wealth and exploits her status and privelige. And a grand heiress to a real-estate fortune needs to ride around in a Grand Mercedes, no?
Forget the silver spoon in her hand, Audrey was born into the steel embrace of the Mercedes-Benz 600, arguably the greatest luxury vehicle the brand ever built. Combining the effortlessness of a 6.3-liter V-8 with every imaginable creature comfort available at the time, the interior of the 600 is a smorgasboard of wood, leather, and metal. Each example, built between 1963 and 1981, was a custom piece of craftsmasnship. It weighed almost 6000 pounds, and, as described in the Hagerty Price Guide, “its self-leveling air suspension was powered by a 2200-psi hydraulic pump, which also operated the power disc brakes, opened the doors, and powered the seats, trunk, windows, and sunroof.” The Sindelfingen factory churned out 2190 sedans, along with 428 Pullman limos and 59 drop-top Laundaulets. If you were a dignitary of considerable wealth and influence, it was the vehicle of choice and almost certainly chauffeured at all times.
Special Agent Dale Cooper’s 1981 Dodge Diplomat

Speaking into his tape recorder to the faraway Diane, Special Agent Dale Cooper dictates the following upon his entry to Twin Peaks: “Mileage is 79,345, gauge is on reserve, riding on fumes here, I’ve got to tank up when I get into town.” With that kind of mileage under its belt, you can almost guarantee this Diplomat is an FBI-issued specimen. Diplomats were popular police cars in the 1980s and could be had most often with a slant-six or 318 V-8, the latter packing a two- or four-barrel carburetor. I’d wager this unmarked Diplomat nevertheless has the A38 general squad package, along with the E48 318/4-bbl and heavy-duty A727 three-speed TorqueFlite auto.
All that would explain Cooper running on fumes; these squad cars got about 15 mpg on a good day. I’d wager the front seat has a few coffee stains.
1955 Buick Special Riviera Coupe at Big Ed’s

The big, friendly lug known as Big Ed is Twin Peaks’ local gas and service station owner. Soft-spoken and reliable, he’s the kind of guy you want taking care of your car. We see him working on all kinds of machines throughout the series, but I always liked this ’55 Buick. It tells us that Twin Peaks is the kind of place where ordinary people keep older things alive, rather than discard them for new.
Big Ed’s 1973 Chevrolet C10 Wrecker

Who doesn’t love a good wrecker? Ed’s red C10, a first-year square-body with the “Big Ed’s Gas Farm” logo on the side, is a handsome truck. Properly equipped, C10s like this could tow up to 8000 pounds.
In addition to his Gas Farm job, Ed was a member of the Bookhouse Boys—a secret society that battled evil and darkness when it bubbled up in Twin Peaks. Like his truck, Ed is a simple guy with a love for dignified hard work. And based on how long he sticks it out married to kooky Nadine, despite his true love with the lovely Norma, we know that Ed can take a lot of punishment.
Jacques Renault’s 1982 Chevrolet El Camino

French-Canadian drug runner and casino worker Jacques Renault, perennially up to no-good, demands utility in his vehicle. In this case its not a Renault but a Chevy—the El Camino, whose pickup-like bed was surely used for frequent misdeeds criss-crossing the U.S.-Canada border. This one makes sense, on its face, but I’m a bit surprised ol’ Jacques wouldn’t lean toward something with an enclosed bed or cap. Out of sight is out of mind, oui?
James Hurley’s 1978 Harley-Davidson FLH-80 Electra Glide

Later generations would probably have called James Hurley “emo,” but I think he was just a guy with big feelings who craved freedom. Hurley’s huge heart connects him deeply to several young ladies, as well as his boss at the Gas Farm, Big Ed, which has the effect of tying him to Twin Peaks. This, despite the fact that his soul craves the open road.
I’m as much of a motorcycle expert as I am a starting center for the Boston Celtics, so I’ll leave it to Cycle World to describe the FLH-80 Electra:
“There have of course been modifications great and small over the years, most of them admirable and directed towards endless miles of trouble-free motoring, so that the FLH of today sports such features as hydraulic tappets, a proper clutch, and a wear index that put other manufacturers in the shade. By concentrating on the traditional aspect of these bikes, however, Harley-Davidson has built itself a very specialized machine indeed, one which amounts to an open-air car for long-distance touring … With a Harley you are in another mode of life from ‘normal’ motorcycling and, to be honest, a very pleasant and relaxed one.”
Whenever Hurley gets the sensation of being trapped, he hops on his Harley for long distances to access that alternate mode of life. (Or he plays the electric guitar.)
Leo Johnson’s 1990 Chevrolet Corvette

This should have been a red flag for local law enforcement from the get-go. Could a semi-truck driver with Leo Johnson’s checkered past really have bought a brand-new Corvette with exclusively clean money? Well, you don’t need to decode a riddle from the Log Lady or throw baseballs at glass bottles to figure this one out.
Of course, after his run of drug smuggling, domestic abuse, alcoholism, attempted human murder, and successful bird murder, Leo’s karma finally catches up with him. He’s shot in the back by fellow criminal Hank Jennings, leaving him severely mentally disabled and confined to a wheelchair. He won’t ever be driving the Vette again, but hopefully his sweet wife, Shelley, gets some enjoyment from Chevy’s C4-generation sports car. Or maybe she sells it and buys a whole bunch of new shoes.
Never saw the show. To me, “the cars of Twin Peaks” are what’s parked there when my brother and I go to lunch at his favorite place…😜
I see the “breastaurant” of choice for Car Shows?
Were both Broncos used on the show? I believe two different-year vehicles are pictured above. Perhaps the one that you can see today at DirtFish is a wanna-be and not the actual show vehicle?
It appears to be an homage, rather than the genuine article.