THE 55 CHEVY
There were three black 55 Chevys used in the film, two of which were also used in the 1971 movie Two Lane Blacktop.  The one used for exterior shots for both movies and driven by Harrison Ford in American Graffiti had a fiberglass shell that covered a 427 motor coupled to an M-22 Muncie transmission and 4.88 Olds rear-end. We had so much trouble getting that damn Chevy started each time, said Henry. Initially, I thought it might be a problem with the starter motor so one time I told one of the owners of another 55 to drive two wheels up on the curb. With a couple of wrenches, I crawled under it and removed the starter motor and put in the movie car. As it turned out, the guy who built the car had put the battery in the trunk and apparently because so much of the car was fiberglass, somehow it wasnt getting full power to the starter. So I went out and bought heavy duty battery cable and ran it directly to the starter motor.

The stunt car for both movies, which was used in American Graffitis drag race scenes, had a 454 motor, TH 400 automatic and unknown Olds rear-end. The third car, used for the explosion after the drag race rollover, was a non-running salvage yard 55 Bel Air 2-door hardtop with a wood post installed in the "B" post area by Henry.

Henry drove both the deuce and the 55 Chevy in many scenes. Having grayish colored hair, he recalls having the make-up department spray his hair black each time he drove in a scene. I raced that 55 down Petaluma Boulevard in the first drag race scene where Falfa and Milner go off at the traffic light, recounts Henry. I also drove the coupe in the final drag race on Paradise Road. The 55 wouldnt roll over as part of the grand finale crash and had to be physically rolled on its side by the film crew.

After the movie, George Lucas gave both Chevys to Henry Travers as a thank you. (Henry was also in charge of selling the Deuce and Impala.) The 55 stunt double ended up in a wrecking yard and was crushed. Despite the fact that his father warned him to keep all of the cars, Henry parted out the stunt car and eventually sold the remaining 55 to Sam Crawford who later sold it to Steve Fitch of Wichita, Kansas. Fitch ended up selling the Chevy to its current owner, Wayne Newsome in Maryland where it is today.

The 56 T-Bird
Clay and May Daily purchased their '56 Thunderbird convertible in 1964 from a San Bernardino, California Ford dealers used car lot. It was red and had 55,000 miles on the odometer. Several years later they moved to Petaluma and had it painted white. Ironically, they lived on Joan Drive, only about four houses away from Cruisin The Boulevard President John Furrer who at the time, of course, wasnt acquainted with them.

In 1972, May was downtown Petaluma doing some shopping and when she returned to the car there was a piece of a brown paper bag under one of the wiper blades. Written on it was an invitation to have the car be included in the filming of a movie. They thought it was just someone playing a prank, but called the listed phone anyway. Of course, it turned out to be Lucas Films and the rest is history. Since most of the filming was done at night, they were able to watch the action.

In 1999, the Dailys and the T-Bird were invited to appear on the the Leeza television show, hosted by Leeza Gibbons. It was a surprise reunion for Suzanne Somers who was appearing as a guest celebrity. At the appropriate time, Leeza had Clay and May, who were seated in the audience stand up and then asked Suzanne if she recognized them. Of course, after almost 30 years she didnt, yet when Leeza told Suzanne that they knew her she was befuddled. For the surprise, everyone went outside into the studio parking lot where Suzanne's husband drove up in the T-Bird!