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Vanishing Point: The Nameless Service Station, Denver

831 HQT

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Vanishing Point Filming Locations: The Nameless Service Station, Denver

There’s this beautiful photograph of Kowalski pulling his white Challenger into a service station.
Must be somewhere in Denver, must be rainy Friday night. Did he run a red light or did the
motorcycle cop just wanted to have a closer look at K and his car?

Vanishing Point TEXACO Service Station - Copy.jpg

(Kodak Ektachrome Slide)

Is this from another lost scene that didn’t make it into the final cut; did the crew just shoot some still images here for promotional purposes?

Now I don’t have an answer to any of these questions, and we will probably never know. But at least I wanted to know where this picture has been taken; means finding the name of the service station and its exact location. So after some serious ‘data mining’ here it is,

Vanishing Point’s ‘Nameless Service Station’:

Vanishing Point Downtown Texaco Station Denver - Copy.jpg

(Vintage Postcard)

Downtown Denver TEXACO Service Station | 1802 Glenarm Place, Denver

The facts:
The white triangular shaped – Art Deco style – Texaco Service Station occupied the space between Broadway, 18th Street and Glenarm Place. Its official address was 1802 Glenarm Place (now the site of a high rise building).
The 24 Hour Coffee Shop was located at 420 18th Street.
The billboard was on top of 1805 Broadway.
The Matador Bar / Cosmopolitan Hotel was at Broadway and E 18th Ave.

All these buildings have been demolished since.

Vanishing Point Denver Gas Station TEXACO - Copy.jpg


Vanishing Point Service Station Denver - Copy.jpg


Vanishing Point Matador Bar Denver - Copy.jpg


Vanishing Point Denver Cosmopolitan Hotel - Copy.jpg


In the film Kowalski passes the bar and the hotel on his way through the city.

And how does this place look like today? As with Argo’s, only the basic street pattern is still the same:

Vanishing Point Texaco Gas Station - Copy.jpg

(Google Streetview)

It was completely another place and another time back then...


The Denver Public Library has a great collection of historic photographs. In this one from 1960, everything is there (lower left quarter). If you enlarge it to maximum size, even the 24 Hour Coffee sign is recognizable:
Aerial view of Denver :: Western History
 
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wingcarenvy

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Man, I have never sat through Vanishing Point in its entirety, but its super neat to see the original locations.
 

TobiasM

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Big compliments for that investigative work!!!

I am very interested in where the original shooting-locations were of interesting car-movies (like 2-lane black top, Bullit, Gone in 60sec`s, Vanishing Point).

The 2LBT-DVD contents some very nice additional material on that location-topic. Unfortunately, many locations where changed during the decades (demolished buildings etc.), like is the case with "your" Texaco-station of Vanishing Point :-(((
 

831 HQT

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Big compliments for that investigative work!!!

I am very interested in where the original shooting-locations were of interesting car-movies (like 2-lane black top, Bullit, Gone in 60sec`s, Vanishing Point).

The 2LBT-DVD contents some very nice additional material on that location-topic. Unfortunately, many locations where changed during the decades (demolished buildings etc.), like is the case with "your" Texaco-station of Vanishing Point :-(((

Thanks Toby for your kind remarks :)

And you might have a look at these two websites; both very interesting!

The Definitive Page for Vanishing Point Fans:
The Definitive Page for Vanishing Point Fans | Facebook

Vanishing Point Filming Locations:
Vanishing Point (1971)
 

TobiasM

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Both links are also very interesting, thanks!

For me as a car-nut I wonder that K`s Challenger is a plain-Jane-R/T: no fliptop gas-cap, mirror on driverside without remote, on passengerside no mirror at all...the only options seems to be the rim-blow steering-wheel and the bumperguards.

Is there a snap-shot of the engine-call-outs on the hood: what engine was this Challenger? Rumours goes, that it was a 426-HEMI. Is that confiremd in any way?

If it was a HEMI-car, then theres a movie-fault at the desert-scene, where he gets the puncture on the left front wheel: 1970 HEMI-Challenger was to my knowledge euqipped with 15" steeel-rims by factory, with (15") rallye-wheels optional. But with 15" there was no full-spare-wheel, only the space-saver-tire. As K´s replacement tire is a full-wheel (not a space-saver), either it was not Hemi-Challenger or the movie-people just used incorrectly a full-wheel as spare-tire, so that "the chase" could continue with full speed (what would not have been possible with a space-saver-wheel).
 
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831 HQT

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If one thing is sure about the Challengers used for filming (5-8), it's that none of them was a Hemi-car. They were all 440 and 383 manual/automatic R/T's. A Hemi-Challenger was even in 1970 a rare and expensive bird; and Chrysler probably knew it would gonna be rough....

As with the plain-Jane configuration: I think this was completely Chrysler's choice; I can't imagine that the producers/the director had any requirements in this regard.
 

704406

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I remember going to Vanishing Point at the theatre on Yates St. In Victoria BC, and kitty corner from the theatre was National motors, the dodge dealer. So when you left the movie on a weekend night you were on a main "Car Cruise" street, and got to see all the muscle cars and hot rods go by putting on a show! I also went to the local drive in theatre to see Vanishing Point again in my 70 Cuda! Great detective work on your part congrats!
 

831 HQT

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Thank's a lot for sharing your very special memories, 704406: The 60's / early 70's must really have been a very special time!
I often think that back then, one could have watched VP one night and the next morning walking into a Plymouth dealership and order - let's say - a Hemi Cuda Convertible, up to your very own specifications, 'Brand New In Box' so to say. Those really were the days (and provided you were a 'Senator's Son')......
 

704406

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Yes it was a special time, cruising the car circuit, Challengers, Cuda's, Swingers the odd Hemi Charger and Super Bee. I had a friend from high school in the parts dept. at the Dodge dealer, got lots of good deals! I still own my 70 Cuda, it was bought at the local Plymouth dealer, and I got it in October 1972. Lots of memories of the cruising and street racing. I have VP on DVD, I watch it every few years for laughs at how they treated cars in those days!
 
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