Automobile Enthusiasts
Related: About this forumCriminally Infamous Cars on Display at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum
In crime movies and lore, the getaway cars are almost as famous as the law-breaking, anti-heroes who drive them. Now you can see a few of these famous cars at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where six cars once owned by high-profile, historic criminals of the last century are on display.
"So many people love cars of all types, and when they are featured in an historical event it makes them even more interesting to our visitors," explains Rachael Penman, director of artifacts and exhibits at Alcatraz East Crime Museum. "Guests immediately start sharing their own connections to the cars' stories and it's special to be able to make these artifacts available to the public.
Of the six cars, two are parked outside for free viewing and the other four are located in the museum's Getaway Cars Gallery. The vehicles include:
1933 Essex Terraplane
This was the car owned by the infamous bank-robber John Dillinger. The car was used to escape the FBI agent pursuing him and girlfriend Evelyn Frechette. The car was signed to his brother after it was crashed in a field. A bullet from the shootout is still in the car today.
1934 Ford V8
The cult-classic film Bonnie and Clyde starring Warren Beatty and Fay Dunaway also starred a 1934 Ford, which the two characters end up dying in at the end of the movie (spoiler alert). The car is riddled with bullet holes made by local police prior to filming.
More (Includes photos): https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/criminally-infamous-cars-on-display-at-the-alcatraz-east-crime-museum/ar-BBOCvlh?li=BBnb4R5&ocid=Login
rampartc
(5,835 posts)actually, i lied in the title. the car in gibbsland is another stand in. i guess they sold the movie car to alcatraz east ........
Rhiannon12866
(221,385 posts)But it sounds like they sold it:
A fake Bonnie and Clyde Death Car -- a 1934 V-8 Ford riddled with bullet holes -- acts as a stand-in for the Museum's former automotive exhibit: the bullet-ridden car from the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde movie (We actually like the new car better because it includes bloody Bonnie and Clyde dummies). The movie car was here until 2008, when it was moved to the Crime Museum in Washington, DC, and then to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 2016.
rampartc
(5,835 posts)and i thought that was the real car that barrow was shot in. i guess i should have read the fine print. the article also says that the museum has a "bar just like the one clyde used."
so what next? are they going to say that ufo in roswell is not the real thing?
Rhiannon12866
(221,385 posts)The article says it was sold in 2008. And I don't know which one would be creepier, the actual car in which they died or the replica which "includes bloody Bonnie and Clyde dummies."
And a belated welcome to DU!
Dennis Donovan
(25,051 posts)...we went on vacation to FL and, in one of those run-down, "roadside museums of the absurd", they had the "Real Bonnie & Clyde Death Car", a 1934 Ford chock full of what appeared to be bullet holes. I have no idea if it was the actual car (timeframe/location; 1976/somewhere just outside of Orlando), but it sparked an interest in famous and infamous automobiles.
IIRC, the year after (1977), we were vacationing at Niagara Falls and we saw "the original Batmobile" at Skylon. Except, instead of paint, it was covered in a felt-like finish(?). It made skeptical that it was the "original" Batmobile since I clearly recalled the one in the TV series being quite shiny.
P.S. Dillinger had vanity plates? No wonder it was easy to track him down at the theatre. I guess the Woman in Red wasn't needed...
On edit: In the 1970's they sent the original Batmobile on tour and repainted it with a velvet-like finish to cover stress cracks in the fiberglass? https://www.cgccomics.com/boards/topic/302826-batmobile-covered-in-velvet/ - why not just use Bondo and repaint it?
Rhiannon12866
(221,385 posts)Looks like it started out in Louisiana:
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10864
A fake Bonnie and Clyde Death Car -- a 1934 V-8 Ford riddled with bullet holes -- acts as a stand-in for the Museum's former automotive exhibit: the bullet-ridden car from the 1967 Bonnie and Clyde movie (We actually like the new car better because it includes bloody Bonnie and Clyde dummies). The movie car was here until 2008, when it was moved to the Crime Museum in Washington, DC, and then to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 2016.
I never got a chance to visit Charley Wood's Cavalcade of Cars, makes me wonder how many of those were authentic!