THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE WHITE DODGE CHALLENGER FROM VANISHING POINT:

Cuban writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante created the script for Vanishing Point in the late 1960s. Infante had read a news article depicting a high-speed police chase, where the suspect refused to stop and crashed into a police barrier, ultimately killing him. This served as the main inspiration behind his screenplay, which eventually found is way into the hands of director Richard C. Sarafian, who became highly interested in the project. Sarafian then pitched the film to an executive at 20th Century Fox, but strangely, was given the green-light on the condition that the main character, Kowalski, must die at the end of the film.

The filming of Vanishing Point started in the summer of 1970. Although the shoot was originally scheduled for 60 days, budget concerns caused this timeframe to be shortened to only 22 days. The nature of the plot necessitated a wide range of filming locations, spanning across four states. Altogether, Vanishing Point was filmed on location throughout Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. Famed stunt driver Carey Loftin was hired to perform the majority of the film’s intense chase scenes, and his prowess is quite evident in the movie. In addition to Vanishing Point, Loftin also coordinated stunts and drove for some of the greatest cinematic car chases of all time, including Bullitt, The French Connection, Smokey and the Bandit, Duel, and Christine, just to name a few.

Great car chases, and a great cast (Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Charlotte Rampling, and Dean Jagger), despite the stereotypical ’70s bummer ending, à la Easy Rider: