Picture Car Confidential: Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd. What’s That Make, Five?

It happens like this: Production calls and tells us they’re looking for a “star” or “hero” car for an upcoming movie or TV show. Said car will play frequently as the wheels of a or the lead character (the hero). Sometimes production knows what vehicle they want. Sometimes they don’t. Either way, once they decide on a vehicle, they’ll ask, often unexpectedly, if we can double it for them. That is, find another identical car (color, inside and out, same transmission, wheels, etc.) We never complain.

Why two star cars? Because it’s in the production’s financial interest to be able to shoot both of the “same” cars on the same day. For instance, one car is being used for interior shots on a New York City sound stage while another is being filmed from overhead by a drone on a farm lane 60 miles away. Time is money: Every extra day a production operates costs it more, whether it’s an art film from a starving indie outfit or a hideously expensive tentpole franchise installment from a juggernaut. How much savings a doubling achieves will vary widely, but rest assured, regardless of the production’s scale, it’s sufficiently meaningful to the people responsible for budgets and the ones cutting the checks.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an Amazon production, asked us at Octane Film Cars for two Model A Fords. First, we found one the producers liked: A 1928 Model A Tudor sedan we’d presented became our bogie, along with its grey interior. Our next task? Finding a second Model A that looked as close to the same as possible—exterior and interior colors, wheels, and tires, at a minimum.

Exact model years matter with many cars, as far as matching is concerned. With the proliferation of chrome in 1950s, yearly model changes grew ever more radical, and thus, noticeable. Condition counts, too. You can’t have an outdoor farm find doubling for a trailer queen. Or vice versa.

Our Model A was, in theory, then, easier to match. But as we set out to find a double, color wasn’t our big problem. Nor were the matching straw-colored wheels. It was the seats. The car we’d located, that otherwise matched best, badly needed its seats rebuilt and recovered. With four days until go-time, stat. And most won’t know professional desperation like those who’ve suddenly realized that the amber cowl lights on a Model A that’s been off at the upholsterers don’t match the translucent white ones on the Model A it’s meant to double in less than 48 hours. All in a day’s work, ma’am. (Well, actually two days.)

We’ve matched ‘90s English Ford Transit vans and right-hand-drive Fiat Cinquecento’s from the same decade for the chilling Dr. Death series and had to paint a perfect low-mileage Fiat 128 green for Steven Spielberg’s political thriller The Post to match another. At the end of the production, Spielberg gifted the 128 to cast member (and Fiat-head) Tom Hanks, who years later auctioned it for charity. (Since you didn’t ask, said 128 two-door stood in for a green 850 coupe that was actually owned IRL by Hank’s character, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, because there wasn’t enough room in the 850’s back seat for the camera crew. Query: would the Lord have helped us if we’d needed to locate matching 850 coupes that weren’t museums of rust and actually ran well? We never say die, but probably not. Until we learned of the 850’s insufficiency, we were looking for just such a pair of unicorns. It wasn’t going well.)

Still, nothing comes close to how we recently ended up owning five near-identical mid-‘80s Series III Jaguar XJ6 sedans for an upcoming, star-studded series which cannot be named until it is released.

We got the call for an older machine that a down-on-his-luck character might suppose was a truly valuable collectors’ piece, but that was probably not, and it had to be distressed-looking to boot. We submitted approximately three dozen options and, to my surprise and delight, they chose the Series III XJ (I’m a fan). We’d found a pretty nice one finished in the very handsome Solent Blue shade that struck the right tone; the production’s scenics went to work, reversibly distressing its exterior. Then they asked us to find a double.

In fairness, we’d been warned, but that’s where things started to get crazy. Mid-‘80s XJ6’s aren’t the most common cars (though more plentiful than you might suppose for how unreliable they are meant to be) and those with grey interiors matching that of ours proved even harder to find. But we did and sent our truck to Pennsylvania to get it. The Jaguar had been sitting for some while. Next up was curing it of a host of driving and stopping issues. Problem solved? Er, no. Production wanted yet another Jag. Oh, and seven rear windscreens and drivers’ side passenger door windows, because there were going to be some shots fired and glass broken. So that took a moment.

Also unexpectedly, the production had fallen in love with the Nardi wood steering wheel that had been in the first XJ6 we purchased on their behalf, along with the essential hub adapter kit, but which were not included in the deal to buy the car. So, we suddenly had to go and buy two steering wheels and hub adapters. Then, to make a long story short, the production’s demand for XJ6s exploded, so we ended up purchasing two more; one was outwardly decent in appearance but an epic rust-bucket, sourced just to get our hands on its excellent grey interior. Did I mention that one of the cars came from Montana with a grey interior, as promised, but was not painted Solent blue, as also promised? (Photos were unclear. Lesson learned: Next time, check paint code.) We had it resprayed. Another, purchased and trucked on super-short notice from Florida, also had to be resprayed. By now, we’d become good friends with our local body men, Dave Gensinger and his son, Dave, of Gensinger’s Auto Body in Orangeburg, New York, as well as the proud owners of four used Nardi wood wheels and adapters (about $375 each).

One of the Jags we had fitted with a foot-controlled emergency brake, which enabled stunt drivers to lock the rear wheels. Once shooting was over, we were able to reverse the cheap and cheerful e-brake conversion to restore the car and interior to original. But another got an even more invasive treatment and would never be original again. Transformed into a “pod car,” this stock XJ6 got set up so it could be driven from above, with steering, ignition, brakes, and throttle placed next to a driver’s seat, inside a cage welded to the roof. This expensive surgery frees actors to act while only pretending to drive.

Installed by an experienced fabrication house with, one can only presume, a hefty liability policy, it worked great for a few days and then they were through. At which point we were directed to junk the car, which was now illegal for road use. Or the network lawyers just wouldn’t stand for the potential liability hazard. I’m not sure. Some will mourn the loss of a pretty good XJ, and we teared up a bit ourselves, but the show must go on. Assuaging our conscience, we did preserve as many useful spares as possible. 

So, email us if you’re looking for a reasonably-priced Jaguar rear end, engine, and gearbox, pristine doors, hood, trunk lid, alloy wheels, or a Nardi rim, with adapter. Or perhaps you’d like a whole Series III XJ6? Looks, runs, and drives well. Celebrity provenance.

You never know when you might need it. 

(P.S.: If you have a car and its double, or know of such a pair, feel free to let us know at info@octanefilmcars.com. We both never know when we might need it.)

***

A man of many pursuits (rock band manager, automotive journalist, concours judge, purveyor of picture cars for film and TV), Jamie Kitman lives and breathes vintage machines. His curious taste for interesting, oddball, and under-appreciated classics—which traffic through his Nyack, New York warehouse—promises us an unending stream of delightful cars to discuss. For more Picture Car Confidential columns, click here. Follow Jamie Kitman on Instagram at @commodorehornblow; follow Octane Film Cars @octanefilmcars and at www.octanefilmcars.com.