Chrysler by Chrysler CH Hardtop 1971

Front — Chrysler by Chrysler CH Hardtop 1971

Green vehicle with the dart gun and a bat painted on the bonnet that crashes into a pile of wrecked cars is a Chrysler by Chrysler CH Hardtop 1971.^[1]

Technical spec.

Also known as simply The Chrysler the CH Chrysler series was introduced in 1971 and was based on the VH series Chrysler Valiant utilizing the floorpan of the two-door Hardtop version. Produced from 1971 to 1976 by Chrysler Australia, The Chrysler was marketed as the luxury variant of the Valiant with a four headlight grille encircled by a chrome surround and a unique wrap-around horizontal tail-light assembly. A 4.3l Hemi six-cylinder engine was fitted as standard equipment, with an American designed, Australian built 5.9l V8 available as an option. An imported "TorqueFlite" three-speed automatic transmission was used in all variants.^[2] The vehicle used in the movie was a V8 variant.

Movie modification

For the movie, the Chrysler was fitted with a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville bonnet and front grille. The rear window was removed along with the boot. At the very end of the boot a narrow panel was installed for the gunner to sit on. The section separating the cabin from the boot was removed as well. Four truck style exhaust pipes were installed in the newly formed 'utility' area, right behind the cabin. Inside the cabin there is only the driver's seat and a variety of animal skulls on the dashboard. A net is visible hanging from the passenger doors. The cabin is also reinforced with a rollcage. A four barrel dart gun was installed in the back and four truck style roof lights were installed on the cabin. A green skull with blue bat wings is painted on the bonnet.

Appearances on screen

The vehicle makes its first, albeit brief appearance during Lord Humungus' negotiations with the people of the Compound. It makes its memorable appearance, however during the chase after the Mack truck on its way to the Compound. The vehicle manages to pull up to the right side of the Mack and shoots out out the rear right set of tires. The Bad Cop gunner signals the driver to attack the truck from the left side as The Gyrocaptain flies above him. As the gunner aims his guns at the left side of the truck, the Gyrocaptain throws a venomous snake onto the gunner. The gunner panics while holding the gun and accidentally pulls the trigger, promptly killing the driver. The car loses control and steers away from the truck straight onto a stack of wrecked cars. The car jumps into the air, clips the highest vehicle of the pile, crashes into yet another car wreck and rolls into a ditch.

The Jump Stunt

The stunt seen in the movie was performed by stuntman Max Aspin and it consisted of two stunts that were later edited together.^[3] The first stunt was a fairly low impact landing sequence with The Chrysler crashing into the side of a wreck and rolling into the ditch. For this stunt the vehicle was fully dressed as seen in previous driving scenes, but the impact destroyed the custom Pontiac front end.

For the second stunt, the vehicle was required to jump over a stack of vehicles at a high speed. Due to the damages done to the vehicle in the previous stunt, the custom grille and the bottom spoiler was missing from the car as it's briefly visible in the movie. The stunt, however did not go exactly as planned. The weight and speed of the car were miscalculated and the car clipped the highest wreckage of the stack. The vehicle crashed along with Max Aspin inside, who sustained injuries from this stunt. He was transported to the nearest hospital and did not perform any stuntwork for the remainder of the production.^[4]^[5]