CHRISTINE!
The Killer Car from Hell!
By: Mike Marino
It was a night of fire, blood, fear. Carrie was about to be crowned Queen of the prom. The gym was alive, but surrounded with upcoming death as water surrounds an island. The red paint fell, the flames burst forth and the teen screams soon reached a crescendo, then the night fell quiet. The journey through the tunnel of terror was not over. It was just beginning. Blood poured from the elevators and filled the hallway of the Overlook Lodge. Danny had the "shine", but daddy had the axe. "Heeeere's Johnny!". Suddenly, Cujo jumps at his throat and lays him to rest, at peace, six feet under in the Pet Cemetary.
Stephen King, the undisputed master of the macabre, has given us a literary menagerie of offbeat thrill kills. Pet Cemetaries to whacked out writers. Who could forget Lassie's alter ego, Cujo, hoped up like a canine cocaine fiend and yes, actor Tim Curry as Pennywise the killer clown with his baddass balloons, but when it comes to murderous heavy metal Motor City muscle there is only one that can claim the dubious title of Wrench Wench and Killer Car from Junkyard Hell. The bitch on wheels, Christine!
Christine the machine had under the hood hots for super geek, Arnie Cunningham, and when Arnie first laid eyes on her, a sexy 1958 Plymouth Fury with a penchant for AM rock n' roll radio, it was auto-erotic love at first sight. Christine was, well...a car to die for. Christine is more than just a car, or a rusted relic, hell yes, she represents the primal love story of geek and gadget. Pumping pistons and V-8 powered teen hormones collide in frenzy, or in this case, a Fury, pardon the pun, and the more time Arnie spends with Christine, the more possesive "she" becomes. Arnie lovingly polishes her to perfecton, restores her regal looks, and salivates at her fine thrusting fins, her finely tuned 350 V-8 engine as he peeks under her hood, her body wet with wax and God help the fool who tries to interfere and come between Arnie and his gearbox girlfirend. "Arnies got a girlfriend, Arnies got a girlfriend"!
The film was more than an automotive classic, Christine was, and is still the Motor City bitch from asphalt hell. In addition to the film, it is also a must read for any fan of classic cars, and of course, any fan of Stephen King. Now a few minor discrepancies exist concerning the actual make and model of Plymouth Fury that is Christine.
In the book version, she's referred to as a 1958 red and white, four door Plymouth Fury, however, on the back jacket cover, King is sitting on the hood of a '57. The 1958 Plymouth Fury is used in the film, but like any movie star, she had automotive stand in's for various scenes, including Belvedere and Savoy models. The producers scoured the country to buy available 1958 Plymouths in sort of an American Automotive Idol search. A total of 23 1958 Plymouths were purchased and customized to look alike. Sixteen of them were used for filming The '58 Fury was not available in red but was more of a beige color, however for the movie, the Fury's and the Fury knockoffs were painted red and white.
In the book version it states that Christine was a four-door heavy metal babe, but the Fury was only available as a two-door model until 1959. The Plymouth Fury went through many changes over the years from it's inception in 1956 to the end of the line in 1978. There were numerous cars used in the filming, but there are only two surviving "Christines" who reside quietly, we hope, in California and Florida in the hands of two brave and apparently non-superstitious private owners, given Christines background!
So just how the hell did Christine give herself those Oprah makeovers after being smashed and crashed and bashed? Regenerating itself wasn't easy, except in Hollywood, all things are possible so hydraulic pumps were installed on the inside of some of the film's numerous Plymouth Fury "stunt doubles". The pumps were attached to the cars' bodywork, and when they compressed, they would "suck" the paneling inwards. Footage of the inward crumpling body was then reversed, and hence gave the appearance of the car spontaneously retaking form. Christine's fame lives on and she has appeared on "Southpark" and she even managed to sneak in a cameo appearance in the Pixar film "Cars"...now that's balls! All that aside, it doesn't really matter, Christine put V-8 fear into all of us and proved once and for all....Hell Hath No Fury Like A Plymouth Scorned!
1958 Plymouth Fury Christine Movie Car
Sold at $149,999
Classic Cars, Rock n' Roll, Elvis, Drivein Movies & Route 66! Kerouac, The Beats, Haight Ashbury, Easy Rider & Vietnam!
The Roadhead Chronicles goes from the Cold War Fifties Pop Culture of classic cars and rock n' roll to the spaced out Spare Change Sixties of Vietnam and Hells Angels. Not the usual look at the era, instead It's written by someone who lived it and spent a life of being on the road from his beach bum days in Honolulu to the glitz and dangers of the Sunset Strip in LA, and his purple hazed and double dazed days in North Beach and the Haight Ashbury in San Francisco. The Roadhead Chronicles also looks at the history of Route 66, Roadside Neon Culture and old diners and dives!
Mike Marino writes in an offbeat and irreverant style with a beat and a cadence that is all his own. His writing style has been compared to John Dos Passos, John Steinbeck and Terry Southern and one reviewer likened him to Frederick Lewis Allen on acid! Readers and critics call the book "wickedly wonderful", "delightfully weird" and "automotively sexy."!!
