Hi Guys
I haven't been on here in ages, but I'm currently on the crew of a short film set in the late 1950s and we're looking for two cars of any shape and size just as long as they were made before 1961 (preferably from the mid 1950s), unfortunately most dubs won't be suitable even if they are made in the 50s as they have a distinctive association with the 60s and might cause confusion. However, if anyone has any other kind of car we'd definitely be interested.

One car would be required for an evening shoot whereas the other would be required for only an hour or so during the day.

The shoot will take place between the 7th and 14th of September. Unfortunately we cannot offer financial compensation, however expenses and catering will be supplied along with a copy of the film.

It'll be good fun and a good opportunity for you to not only show off your car, but to put it back in it's own decade for a short while.

I'd also appreciate any information on other forums or individuals I could contact if I have no luck here.

Thanks as always

Nick

You could try the Rootes group car club. Mainly 60's vehicles but definitely some earlier stuff.

http://www.vic.rootesgroup.org.au/

I don't see how a 1950s oval-window Beetle could be 'unsuitable' for a 1950s film, simply because somebody 'thinks' they have an association with the 1960s. It was the Movietone newsreels of the oval-window Beetles winning the '55 Redex, and the '56, '57 and '58 Mobilgas Trials, that really showed Australians how good they were. Australian annual VW sales quadrupled between 1955 and 1959. All street-scape photos of Australian cities of the late 1950s show Beetles. They were there, whether today's confused audiences like it or not. Let's educate them, not pander to them.

If VWs are unsuitable, then maybe the early Holden, Chevy, Chrysler, Mercury, Buick or Oldsmobile clubs might a better place to try. They would at least give the 'Fonzie' or 'Grease' 1950s rock n roll look, which might not have existed in Australia, but will match movie preconceptions of the 1950s.

misconception, rather than preconceptions?

Yes, misconception is probably a better word!

I think people today get their ideas about what the 1950s were like from watching too much TV. They have visions of Richie Cunningham and Marilyn Monroe, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley, diners with rollerskate waitresses, glowing neon lights, drive-in movies and huge finned Chevys and Cadillacs with lots of chrome.

Australia wasn't like that. We were a conservative British country then. We were a deathly dull country that pined for our queen and the mother country. The Royal tour of 1954 was the biggest thing that ever hit our shores. We lost the Ashes to England in 1954 when Tyson's and Truman's bowling destroyed us. No shopping centres - you had to catch the train or tram into Anthony Hordern's or Mark Foys to do the shopping. We had no film industry, no TV until 1956 and the rest of the world didn't even know about us until the Melbourne Olympics came along that same year. The conservative Menzies government was settling in for 16 years in power, and our only worry was Reds under the bed. In 1954 our biggest selling car makers were, in order: Holden, Ford, Austin, Standard, Morris, Vauxhall, Hillman, Chrysler, Chevrolet, Humber, Dodge, Wolseley and Volkswagen. By 1959 these makers were also joined by Simca and Fiat. But Volkswagens were being made in Melbourne, in the most modern car plant in the southern hemisphere.

Nothing like American Graffiti at all.

I can pull out an awesome 50's comb ova if that helps!