Tarantino wanted a ’30s roadster for the trendy European director, but Butcher decided to find a more contemporary car that looked like a ’30s roadster. Then there’s the hero car driven by Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate, a 1950s MG TD. He added that the car was outfitted with a modern Subaru engine and was also duplicated with an automatic transmission in the event that Brad Pitt could not drive stick shift, though Butcher says Pitt can. Butcher said the reference is to a car Tarantino remembers from his childhood as opposed to that particular film. the one that resulted in Thurman getting into a crash. You might also recognize Cliff Booth’s blue, 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia as the same make and model of car driven by Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill,” i.e. So the Cadillac DeVille was not only a more cost effective choice, it made more narrative sense to the character.Īlso Read: 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood:' What Real Movies Inspired Rick Dalton's Fake Films?ġ966 Cadillac DeVille and 1964 VW Karmann Ghia – Sony PicturesĪnd the DeVille wasn’t even the only car that had a callback to a previous Tarantino film.
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But it also made less sense for Dalton to be driving a 10-year old Cadillac when his character is still a working TV actor with some money saved up. Madsen owns the car and had it in storage, and Butcher says his team pulled it out of the garage, gave it a fresh coat of paint and upholstery and even duplicated it.īutcher said Tarantino originally wanted DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton to drive a 1959 Cadillac convertible. That’s because the DeVille is the same one seen driven by Michael Madsen in “Reservoir Dogs,” fully restored for “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.” It’s not just the same make and model either. Tarantino however naturally had a clear vision of exactly what he wanted before cameras started rolling.įor one, the 1966 Cadillac DeVille driven by Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in the film already has a rich Hollywood history. in Hollywood' Turned Back the Clock on L.A.'s Streetsīutcher’s job usually involves suggesting three or four different options for each of the “hero cars” driven by the protagonists in a film. “So this was a real fit for me.”Īlso Read: How 'Once Upon a Time. I’m passionate about cars,” Butcher said. Butcher was 11-years-old growing up in LA in 1969 and has been working on cars on films for 30 years, and he says the average film that uses somewhere between 300-500 films doesn’t come close to the challenge he faced on Tarantino’s latest, but Butcher was still up to the challenge. Beyond the theater marquees, Hollywood landmarks and throwback fashion, Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” is loaded with “an absurd amount of cars” all meant to capture the period feel of Los Angeles in 1969, according to the film’s picture car coordinator Steven Butcher.īutcher said he located over 2,000 classic, vintage cars for the production, filling up city streets and parking lots in order to get the look just right.