THE INTERCEPTOR: MAD MAX

ORIGINS
	The 1970s era Ford Falcon range is today as synonymous with the Mad Max films as the Dodge Challenger is to Vanishing Point (1971) or the DeLorean sports car to the Back to the Future (1985-1990) movies. One car in particular used in Mad Max, a Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop in the role of a black futuristic police car, has become so instantly recognisable to audiences worldwide that it would easily be one of the top ten most popular movie cars of all time. Australian filmmakers, producer Byron Kennedy and director George Miller acquired a number of Ford XA / XB Falcon cars for their high-speed story of a decaying urban society menaced by roaming motorcycle gangs. Their vision of a future police force - the Main Force Patrol (MFP) - featured yellow 4-doors designated to Pursuit and Interceptor roles for chasing down fleeing criminals. There were also the black 2-door 'Specials', one being a Pursuit Special stolen by the Nightrider in the film's opening chase. The other was scripted as the Black-on-Black Interceptor which takes a leading role in the movie's climatic revenge sequences. The limited film budget meant only one Falcon car was able to be converted - this one car was used in all scenes from static parked shots right up to the high-speed stunts.

PRE-INTERCEPTOR CONFIGURATION
The pre-conversion car was a genuine Ford XB Falcon GT Coupe which was delivered to Rural Motors in Orange, New South Wales (NSW) at the end of 1973 and registered with NSW plates as: IFE509. It had the GT required V8 engine, dashboard and steering wheel plus all the standard GT RPO fittings such as the limited slip diff, super duty shock absorbers, sports handling suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes. It also had the GT Tutone Black Hood which stood out well against the polar white body colour. This coupe was one of 75 GT two-doors built during the month of November, 1973 and one of only six of those delivered in the polar white paint livery. Air conditioning was fitted, not at factory, but after delivery by either the dealer or one of the early owners. The a/c unit is an after-market attachment that goes under the dashboard and the heater fascia in the car shows it was not factory fitted with a/c. When the film started pre-production in 1977, the car was acquired second-hand from the Dandenong area of Melbourne by custom car company Graf-X International.
	JG66ND 43660 K
	Type:	1973 Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop
	Model No.:	18318
	Body Type:	65H
	VIN Number:	JG66ND 43660 K
	Country Built:	J	Australia
	Plant:	G	Broadmeadows, Melbourne
	Model Code:	66	Falcon GT Hardtop
	Year Built:	N	1973
	Month Built:	D	November
	Engine:	T	HP 300hp 351ci (5.8L) V8 / 4V carb / HC
	Transmission:	L	Manual 4-spd Floor Shift
	Trim:	B	Black Vinyl
	Paint:	3	Polar White
	Optioned RPOs:	03 11 55 71	Seatbelts (Mandatory). Laminated Windscreen Tinted Band. Colour Keyed Tutone Hood. Super Fringe Deluxe P.B. Radio (11-Transister).
	SIDO No.:	680757	Rural Motors, Orange, NSW.
	The black trimmed interior of an XB Falcon GT coupe with 4-spd manual gearbox formed the basic interior for the movie's futuristic police pursuit vehicle. (NOTE: Image is an illustrative example from a Ford brochure and not the actual car).
	A blurry but actual photo of the original GT coupe during conversion to the Mad Max Interceptor in mid-1977. It appears the fake Weiand supercharger and zoomies was the first part of the job. Photo: via Chris Munday.
aaaaaaaaaa	aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa	aaaaaaaaaaaaaa	aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa	aaaaaaaaaa

INTERCEPTOR MODIFICATIONS
During 1977, Mad Max production art director John Dowding hired Melbourne custom car company Graf-X International as the prime contractor for the fictional police car modifications. General Manager Ray Beckerley, the film's principal vehicle designer, began working on the Black-on-Black Interceptor as soon as he acquired the XB GT hardtop base car. Mechanic Murray Smith also worked on the Falcon conversion and kept it roadworthy during production. The following modifications were undertaken:
EXTERIOR MODIFICATIONS
	Arcadipane Concorde Nose
	The distinctive, prominent Interceptor nose cone was subcontracted to Peter Arcadipane and his specialist Melbourne design company Arcadipane Products who built customised fibreglass add-on parts for 1970s cars. The nose modification was not designed specifically for the movie, instead it was selected from a pre-existing design Peter created for Falcon vans and coupes. The nose involved an angled front section (hence the product name Concorde), with a lower air-dam and new rectangular headlights. The particular air-dam used for the Interceptor featured left-right turning indicator lamps. The headlights are a squared design that simply use the XC Fairmont units. The Concorde nose comes with a variety of gold striped headlight covers to complete the customised look, the ones used in the film had thick gold borders.
	The now famous custom built Arcadipane Concorde nose as featured on an XC Falcon panel van displayed at the 1977 Melbourne Motor Show in Australia. Photo Source: Facebook - Concorde Show Van.
	A Moffat Ford Dealer Team concept Falcon with a Concorde nose. In contrast to the van image above, the coupe front has a narrower mid-section lip ending flush with the front wheel arches. Photo Source: Facebook - Concorde Show Van.
	The Arcadipane Concorde nose received a number of movie screen close ups! Note the left and right indicator lamps fitted to the lower air-dam.
	Wheel Flares / Boot Spoiler / Roof Spoiler
	The wheel flares are fibreglass custom builds designed to fit the wheel arches of the Falcon. The front flares mould into the ends of the Concorde front grille. The rear flares are quite prominent to match the wide tyres. The boot spoiler was one of Arcadipane Products pre-existing designs for Falcon coupes and was fitted by them when they did the Concorde nose. The roof spoiler was taken from a mould used by prominent Australian race car driver Bob Jane on his sports car sedans. The same mould was also used for the three yellow 4-door MFP Falcons.
	The roof and boot spoilers on the finished Interceptor. The silver wheel studs, white labelled tyres and MFP badges finished off the whole look of the futuristic pursuit vehicle.
	Paint
	Described by the film's producers as a "Black-on-Black" pursuit car, the overall paint colour was a deep gloss black with a satin black trimmed rear and lower body contouring the wheel arches. A satin black pin stripe line softened the contrast between the gloss and satin finishes. A satin black bonnet matched the Falcon GT "Colour Keyed Tutone Hood" option. The Ford colour code for the gloss black colour is: B / Y426.
	This shot from the film really shows off the deep gloss black paint and satin black trim which covered the rear of the car. Note the serious 'paint-roller' 265 rubber on the rear wheels.
	A late 1977 photo of the Interceptor parked outside the Kennedy-Miller production office in Kew, Melbourne. Note the satin black bonnet trim that follows the traditional GT Tutone styling except here it curves around and across at the front bonnet lip. Photo Source: Facebook - Mad Max Garage Inc.
	Wheels & Tyres
	All four wheels are steel-centred, 8-spoke Sunraysia styled van wheels painted satin black. The Sunraysia branding goes back to the 1950s and is named after the Sunraysia region in the north-western state of Victoria. The styling has never gone out of fashion and they remain a common sight today on 4x4 vehicles and many trailer units. The tyres used were the B.F. Goodrich T/A Radial type with the lettering in a bold white around the sides of the tyre.
	Wheel Sizes: Front: 14" x 8" Rear: 15" x 10" Tyre Sizes: Front: P245/50R14 Rear: P265/50R15
	Weiand Supercharger (non-functional)
	The Interceptor's most famous modification and a major part of Mad Max lore. Although real supercharger components and parts were used, the entire setup was a non-functional movie- prop and was NEVER operational. The supercharger base was in reality mounted on the top of the V8 engine via a welded steel frame. The original Falcon GT 4-barrel carburettor remained underneath and inside the blower casing but without an air-filter fitted. The supercharger base was a Weiand Rotor Casing with a 6-71 Scott Injector Hat featuring the now famous air-scoop housing mounted on top. The drive pulley wheel was made to spin via a simple v-belt and pulley system hidden under the bonnet that came off an extra pulley attached to the air conditioning compressor.
	Weiand advert from the 1960s showing dragster and speedboat supercharger applications plus a parts schematic for the rotor case gearbox and drive pulley.
	Scott Injector Hat parts list from a period magazine advert featuring the classic air scoop design made famous by the Mad Max films.
	The iconic "revenge-fuelled" Weiand Supercharger from Mad Max (1979).
	A labelled still from the movie showing the fake supercharger's belt system linked to the vehicle's air conditioning unit. The belt could be easily installed and removed depending on whether the script called for the supercharger to be operating or not. Photo courtesy: Douglas Mcq via Facebook.
	Zoomie Exhaust Pipes
	These are a 4-pipe each left and right side, upturned exhaust system known as "zoomie pipes." There are chromed cuff extensions welded to the ends to extend the length but some appear, from viewing the film, to be slightly misaligned in their fitting.
	The zoomies and wheel flares are seen to good effect in this high speed scene from the movie.
	MFP Badges
	Two MFP 'Bronze Star' badges were created as magnetic stick on items for the left and right side panels behind the front wheel arches.
INTERIOR MODIFICATIONS
	Steering Wheel
	This custom addition is a MAXROB three-spoke, soft-feel sports steering wheel. In the movie, a small photo was placed in the centre of the wheel of Max's wife and child.
	Supercharger Switch (non-functional)
	The gear-stick mounted red blower switch is a genuine truck differential switch and like the supercharger unit is just a film prop with no actual functional capability.
	The red supercharger switch was mounted on the front of the gear-stick in Mad Max (1979) but on the rear side in the 1981 sequel which also featured a different gear-stick knob.
	Dashboard Police Light
	This is a genuine Peterson police light powered via the cigarette lighter plug.
	Police Radio (non-functional)
	The roof mounted police radio box is a non-functional prop created by the film's art department. A single unit was built by the film's third assistant director Des Sheridan who had help from his father - Raymond Victor Sheridan. As a tribute, Des put his father's initials (RVS) on the finished unit giving it some real-life authenticity.
	Production Camera Switch
	A small switch labelled "ON" was mounted under the dashboard, near the bonnet toggle, which actor Mel Gibson used to activate an exterior, car-mounted film camera used for some shots where the character was required to be seen driving the Interceptor at speed.
	One of the car-mounted camera views activated by a switch located under the right-side dashboard. Most shots were actually captured with a 35mm film camera fixed to an extending crane from the back of a small utility truck driving either behind or in front of the movie car.
aaaaaaaaaa			aaaaaaaaaa

Home - ABCFalcons