Cow Car

Cow Car, also known as the Moo Car in the original script, is a heavily modified vehicle driven by Max in the final chase sequence of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Technical spec.[]

Very little is known about the technical specification of this vehicle. The only recognizable elements of this car are the rear bumper and wheels. The rear bumper appears to be from 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix. The bumper is cut in the middle and narrowed to fit the vehicle.

The rest of the vehicle appears to entirely custom made. The vehicle is covered in cow hide and has a streamlined look. It is a center single seater with what appears to be a V8 engine with all 8 exhaust pipes protruding sideways through the center of the bonnet. The rear of the vehicle holds a variety of piping, presumably for its methane system.

Appearance on screen[]

The vehicle makes its first appearances in the background of a couple of shots in Bartertown. It is most extensively used on screen, however in the final chase scene. Max falls onto the car with an Imperial Guard and fights him off of it. After that, Max knocks out and pulls out the driver (appropriately dressed in Cow-themed attire) and takes over the car. He then uses the car to ram the Harpoon vehicle with Ironbar Bassey and push him straight onto the oncoming train-truck. Shortly after the Cow Car is pushed off the road by the Big Foot (the Andamooka Buggy). After a while Max catches up with the chase and drives up the car to the train-truck. He then runs on top of the car and onto the train-truck.

Failed Cow Car stunt[]

The vehicle was scheduled to perform a minor stunt involving jumping over the train tracks. In the original script this would occur shortly before coming up and ramming the Harpoon car with Ironbar Bassey in it. In order to do that Max would have to cross the tracks by jumping over them and landing behind the Harpoon vehicle. The stunt was filmed, but unfortunately the stuntmen overestimated the speed necessary for the car to jump over the railroad tracks. In effect, the car launched way too far into the air and destroyed the car on impact. Fortunately this stunt was performed after all the crucial Cow Car scenes were already filmed, so the vehicle did not have to appear on screen again. The stunt was cut from the movie but it can be seen in the making of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome TV featurette.^[1]

Appearances off screen[]

After the filming of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, the vehicle was repaired and was displayed at the Melbourne Motor Show in 1985, along with a few other vehicles from the movie.^[2] After that it was kept in storage for 9 more years until it was destroyed at Simsmetal's St Marys facility in western Sydney along with all the remaining vehicles from the movie.^[3]