Vanishing Point: Argo's Car Delivery Service, Denver

[SteveSS]

I always tell everyone about this thread. If anyone wants to go on this trek I'm willing. It helps that i'm already in Colorado.
Steve 719-393 2900.

 

[831 HQT]

Hello Steve,
thanks for spreading the word - and I wish I could join you for that Kowalski-Run from Colorado to California!

And stay tuned, as I heard rumors that 'Last Highway' has arrived on that dry lake west of Tonopah.

 

[340challconvert]

Old write up in Hemmings regarding tracking VP venues; https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2012/08/27/challenger-road-trip-revisits-vanishing-point-locations/

 

[340challconvert]

Some Great Vanishing Point Articles; courtesy of "Mr. Wiggly" from Hemmings web site;

VP stuff you might not have seen
this was a good article too – this has the full stoy but only 1 pic
Dodge Challenger - Vanishing Point(tm)2001 - Mopar Muscle Magazine
and another, story is shorter but more pics
Featured Archives - Hot Rod Network
and ted’s VP collection
Ted Stephens' Vanishing Point Movie Memorabilia Collection - Mopar Muscle Magazine
a car article
DON'T BOTHER WITH THIS ONE; TERRIBLE http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Video/Search-Results/Video/cars-in-movies/Dodge-Challenger-RT—Vanishing-Point/
movie mistakes
Vanishing Point (1971) movie mistakes, goofs and bloopers
behind the scenes
Behind the scenes of the movie Vanishing Point
more behind the scenes
http://users.wowway.com/~tjasiewicz/VanishingPoint/vpbehind.htm
carlwalski
the best for last
https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php...g-point-with-the-kowalski-edition-challenger/

 

[Speet]

That's a nice collection of documents. I did get a good laugh, though, from Car Magazine UK's plot overview of the film which describes the characters and events of Goldfinger.

 

[340challconvert]

That's a nice collection of documents. I did get a good laugh, though, from Car Magazine UK's plot overview of the film which describes the characters and events of Goldfinger.

Wow, that UK review was pretty bad. Inaccurate information and a synopsis of the wrong movie!
Definitely not something to subscribe to.

 

[Speet]

Has anyone ever pointed this location out yet? The dirt road at dusk where Angel flies away.

This is Blackburn Draw Road about three miles north of Hanksville, Utah, a short distance east of SR 24. The Hanksville airport control building is visible in both images.
When I visited in 2015 I did not drive far enough up the road to reach the right spot.

The preceding scene of running the highway Patrol blockade at the California State Line was also on SR 24 a few miles up the road.
This even makes sense geographically for a change. Angel's shack was some miles further north at the turnoff for Goblin Valley.

 

[831 HQT]

Hello Speet,

I knew about the filming locations in the Hanksville area because of the apparent airport building way in the background. But I didn't know the location of the fake Nevada/California border. Another great find!


And I can add some updates on K's midnight ride through Denver:

Here he is on South Colorado Boulevard in the Cherry Creek neighborhood, with Burns Park on his left. 'Columbia Savings' billboard and 'Ramada Inn' neon sign ahead.

Google Street View

The former Ramada Inn is now the: Holiday Inn Denver - Cherry Creek / 455 South Colorado Boulevard




This is about the barely two seconds long blurry camera sweep where three buildings can be seen:

Key to the discovery of this location was the Googie-Style (Flying Nun Roof) architecture of the restaurant, which pointed to Denver's 'White Spot' restaurant chain. They operated several restaurants, all in Googie-Style (aka Space-Age architecture) buildings.
'White Spot' ceased operations long ago; this restaurant later became a Hooters franchise:
White Spot (Hooters)

This is how it looks today (Google Street View)


And finally; a great ad from Colorado Dodge (also visible in the movie):

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e9/0e/8b/e90e8b36176b34103cf299d20736e7a6.jpg

 

[Speet]

In trying to identify every shot in the film, we can include the stock footage as well. As Kowalski speeds on I-70 near Palisade, Colorado, we are shown a flashback of a stock car race. Thanks to the wealth of information available at our fingertips today it is not difficult to identify the sources used:

February 14, 1965: Rod Eulenfeld driving #71 spectacularly collides with and flips over car #63 at Daytona International Speedway, initiating a crash involving 12 cars.

February 26, 1966: Allen Rankin driving #3 rolls over at Daytona. Unlike Kowalski, he was unhurt in the mishap.

 

[MrLocation]

Outstanding sleuthing for Daytona Speet!