For those folks that love stock car racing, the 1990 action film “Days of Thunder” is a bonafide classic, bringing the raw speed and roaring thrills of NASCAR to the big screen. Naturally, any car used in the film would be a major find for a “Days of Thunder” fan, and as luck would have it, two of the stunt cars were recently unearthed. Unfortunately, both look to be in pretty poor shape.
In the film, Tom Cruise plays Cole Trickle, a young and talented hot-shoe who enters the high-speed world of NASCAR in pursuit of his dream of becoming a successful racing driver. The plot follows Trickle as he navigates various challenges both on and off the track, with Nicole Kidman playing Dr. Claire Lewicki, a neurosurgeon and Trickle’s love interest. Directed by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film also stars Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge, Trickle’s crew chief and mentor.
Now, the Coors Bandit YouTube channel has published a new video about the recovery of two “Days of Thunder” movie cars, specifically the No. 18 Hardee’s Chevy Lumina and the No. 51 Mello Yello Chevy Lumina. According to the video, both were used as stunt cars in the movie, but now, they’ve nearly rotted away in the overgrowth of Florida’s forests.
Indeed, both vehicles are in pretty rough shape. The video host first gives us a look at the No. 51 Mello Yello Chevy Lumina. The whole thing is covered in rust and a thick layer of vegetation, but the video host decides to yank it out of the forest anyway.
“Man, the dumb stuff we do for old cars,” the video host states as the No. 51 Chevy is pulled out. “I swear to Dale himself.”
The No. 18 Hardee’s Chevy Lumina looks like it’s in better shape, but frankly, that’s not really saying too much. It too eventually gets hauled away. While both cars are too far gone to restore, the crew does eventually clean up both rides and slaps on some wheels, putting the race cars up on display.
Check out the full video below:
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Comments
Very cool story/video! Let’s see more like this!
Does anyone know where these two cars plus the ones wrecked in the mover were built for the movie?
I was always under the impression that all were built at Hendricks Motorsports, or older Hendricks ones were doctored and used in the movie as the stunt cars. I’m curious how they wound up in Florida?
Really enjoyed this video and appreciate the passion of the gentleman that saved these two cars. I agree with his assessment of keeping the cars as they sit. Just brought a smile to my face. You gotta love the story of “Cole Trickle”.
As interesting as the story is, as a collision reconstructionist, I have to say that it pains me to watch this fella driving without a seatbelt on. I hope he doesn’t learn the hard way the benefits of wearing one.