Gumball Rally Porsche

[cellison]

I was looking at a 69 911 targa in the FS section. It made me (actually I always have) wonder what ever happened to the 69 911 E targa which was in the classic flick The Gumball Rally from 1976.

[fisher22]

Crazy movie, but that targa was the star.
https://youtu.be/tKF390MNM7k

[Cobalt]

Funny I just watched that movie again the other day. Silly movie but so iconic and the beat the crap out of those cars. The Cobra and Daytona and SL300 are worth a small fortune today.

The wing, CB antenna and fog lights are so perfect and period correct.

It really was the unsung star of that movie.

[Cornerlot]

Bling! Spot that MFI and tach redlined at 6300. 911E I'd say.

[Cornerlot]

[cellison]

I wonder if it is still in the wild and if so does the owner know about the history or not.

[GothingNC]

There was a thread about it a few years ago.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/318519-gumball-rally.html

[fisher22]

Being in LA, with filming going on literally all over this city - Typically, when 1 car is featured in a movie there are 2-3, maybe 4 versions of it for various scenes, angles and uses. But in this case where many cars were in the movie, I have to think there was only the one of each. We may never know.

[cellison]

Here is blurb from the Cobra-Authority.com:

- The Gumball Rally is a 1976 film about a coast-to-coast road race. The Cobras used in the filming (main car and a backup) were serial numbers CSX3255 and CSX3243

The movie was inspired by the actual Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash run held by Brock Yates that inspired several other movies, like Cannonball with David Carradine, also from 1976.

Two Ferrari Daytonas were used (main car and a backup) The serial numbers were 14829 and 16467. Chassis 14829 is currently at the Peterson Automotive Museum and was once owned by 'Mel Blanc.'Chassis 16467 also appeared in 'A Star in Born' (1976)"

[Cobalt]

Originally Posted by cellison

Here is blurb from the Cobra-Authority.com:

- The Gumball Rally is a 1976 film about a coast-to-coast road race. The Cobras used in the filming (main car and a backup) were serial numbers CSX3255 and CSX3243

The movie was inspired by the actual Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash run held by Brock Yates that inspired several other movies, like Cannonball with David Carradine, also from 1976.

Two Ferrari Daytonas were used (main car and a backup) The serial numbers were 14829 and 16467. Chassis 14829 is currently at the Peterson Automotive Museum and was once owned by 'Mel Blanc.'Chassis 16467 also appeared in 'A Star in Born' (1976)"

Very interesting info. Thx. I saw it in the theaters and it started my interest in cars. Can only imagine what those are worth today irrespective of the movie.

[cellison]

Originally Posted by Cobalt

Very interesting info. Thx. I saw it in the theaters and it started my interest in cars. Can only imagine what those are worth today irrespective of the movie.

I was 16 when the movie came out and some of my car buddies and I saw the moive together. When we got out of the movie, we drove like hell leaving the theater. A bunch of us ende up buying CIBIEs for our cars..paying homage to the CIBIEs on pretty much all of the cars in the movie. At tht time i was driving a semi modified 74 Dodge/Mitsubishi Colt.

I have googled specifcially "1969 Porsche 911E Targa" to see if there was any info out there. I saw some previous sales back to 2006, but nothing none noted the movie. I suspect the 911(s?) was not orginally black, but was painted black to "highlight" the chicks better, and no othe car in the movie black. Maybe it eneded up at Beverly Hills Car Club at some point and they didn't know it.

[cellison]

I was 16 when the movie came out and some of my car buddies and I saw the movie together. When we got out of the movie, we drove like hell leaving the theater. A bunch of us ended up buying CIBIEs for our cars..paying homage to the CIBIEs on pretty much all of the cars in the movie. At that time i was driving a semi modified 74 Dodge/Mitsubishi Colt.

I have googled specifcially "1969 Porsche 911E Targa" to see if there was any info out there. I saw some previous sales back to 2006, but none noted the movie. I suspect the 911(s?) was not orginally black, but was painted black to "highlight" the chicks better, and no othe car in the movie was black. Maybe it eneded up at Beverly Hills Car Club at some point and they didn't know it.

[fisher22]

Originally Posted by cellison

... Maybe it eneded up at Beverly Hills Car Club at some point and they didn't know it.

😀😀 Indeed they wouldn’t know it.

[Cobalt]

LOL I agree they wouldn't. I was roughly the same age and my best friend and I started undertaking the restoration of 71E coupe shortly after. It was a complete rust bucket by then. It was under $1000 IIRC which was a lot of $$ and sold a few years later for $6500 and was a hard sell. That would have been one to keep. The E's were a blast to drive. We drove from NJ to San Diego flat out in just under 35 hours before we sold the car. It nearly killed us both. We also had CIBIE's and H1's.

I guess the movie influenced us more than we realized

[cellison]

Originally Posted by Cobalt

I guess the movie influenced us more than we realized

To me its the best of all time and definately had a big influence on us now older guys.

[GatedF355GTB]

Saw it in the theater when I was 7.

Sounds odd, but it's my all time favorite movie. In addition to the cars - the Daytona my favorite (what a glorious sound) - the dialogue is hilarious. And they actually drove the cars. Fantastic.

[fisher22]

People somehow try to compare ‘The Gumball Rally’ to ‘Cannonball’. I guess because they came out the same year.

Here’s Roger Ebert’s comparison:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-gumball-rally-1976

[cellison]

I forgot about Cannonball..maybe there is reason. Roger Ebert was not a car guy so of course he doesn't like Gumball Rally. The Gumbally Rally was "the best Jerry the best!"

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by fisher22

People somehow try to compare ‘The Gumball Rally’ to ‘Cannonball’. I guess because they came out the same year.

Here’s Roger Ebert’s comparison:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-gumball-rally-1976

One of my all time favorite movies as well

Actually, they didn't come out in the same year and Brock Yates also compared it to his movie and wasn't happy.

[Racerbvd]