For those of us who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s, the movie Vanishing Point will always be memorable. And especially for car guys like me. It featured Barry Newman as a mysterious figure who was hired to deliver a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T from Denver, Colorado, to San Francisco, California, over a weekend. That’s about 1,250 miles. Naturally, a lot of car chases are featured, and we won’t give away the ending for those who haven’t seen it. The seller offers what may be a rare Revell model in 1/25 scale of the movie car, plus the driver, simply named Kowalski. Located in Temple, Georgia, this memory jogger is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $100 OBO.
Though Newman was the technical star of the 1971 movie (not the later remake), the real hero was the 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. We understand that five of the cars used in the movie had engines ranging from 383 to 440 cubic inches. The 440s had a 4-speed, the 383 an automatic. Alpine White was the color of choice. Supposedly, they were rented to Chrysler for $1 a day each (think of the promotional value) and were returned after filming was completed. But they were all beat to hell and destroyed, so none of them survived their ordeal. Here’s an action shot from the movie courtesy of IDMb.
If you search eBay, you’ll find several Revell model kits of the car, but few are fully assembled and include the Kowalski figurine. The car and figure are still in the original box, a must for collectors. And it all seems to be in good factory condition. We don’t know the production dates for the builds or kits, but not likely back when the movie was out 55 years ago. If you make the seller a fair offer, he’ll meet you in public for the exchange.
When movies were real action with stars and cars we could associate with, Vanishing Point was one of those movies. Not zombies disemboweling cyborgs, or computer generated disasters, or whatever is playing today. Toy makers were quick to respond to the latest Hollywood hack.. I’ve never seen this particular toy, but a nice tribute to the movie.
It should be noted, Kowalski was whacked out on white cross, and the car that hit the dozers, 2 D6 Cats, was not a Challenger, but a late 60s(?) Camaro. I think Chrysler didn’t want one of their cars destroyed like that. Dukes of Hazzard,,,different story. Model names came and went, but I think Revell was the most popular models. They had everything, including Kowalskis Challenger. Very cool post!
Oops, I think I gave away the ending,,oh well, did you know Darth Vader was Lukes father?
Next, I suppose you’ll tell us the boat sinks?
Type Nick’s Garage Kowalski in your favourite search engine. People are still fascinated by this movie.
Just a walk in the park Kowalski…
These were from 2002, besides Revell, ERTL made die casts of these, which are probably more detailed. Large scale die casts used to be pretty popular, I’m not sure if that’s the case anymore.
Steve R
Freedom, baby! Great artifact of a vanishing point-in history!