Official "Sugarland Express" Movie thread

Pimp

Member
May 16, 2010
1,872
Louisiana
If any vintage light enthusiast has NOT seen this movie... I suggest you do so immediately.





For those that have seen the movie... Discuss!
 
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Pimp

Member
May 16, 2010
1,872
Louisiana
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Fast LT1

Member
May 24, 2010
2,018
Sedgwick County, KS
Im not that big into vintage lights, but the movie looks cool! Anyone know where to get a copy?
 

03crownvic

Member
May 8, 2010
1,033
Louisiana
It sucks to see that Mars beacon blown to bits....


I haven't seen the movie in awhile, but seem to recall both of the Sabine River cars end up with damaged/destroyed Aurora Borealis lights. Can anybody confirm this?
 
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CFD125

Member
May 21, 2010
487
Carver, Mass.
Those Sabine River interceptors or the best looking ugly cop cars I have ever seen.


Just about the coolest light bars too... Chrome speaker, Aurora Borealis, & 888.


I almost bought an ex-Massachusetts state police 1971 LTD with a 429-4bbl when I was younger. Just one of those cars that I still think of 30 years later, and wish I had bought.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
What's the beacon on the left in the first picture?
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
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SurfCityCar2

Member
May 20, 2010
156
Jacksonville, NC
A good movie, nontheless. I remember seeing this in my younger years. All of the lights and beacons shown in the movie are what got me hooked. I had this movie on my DVR so I could burn it to DVD, but a lightning strike took it out.


I love the mix of lights in the movie. Twinsonics, Mars bars, and all of the others. I even liked the unmarked patrol cars.


My favorite scene, without lights involved, is the scene where the wrecker drivers are fighting over who will tow the car, and the drunk Slide is taking to jail. "Hey Officer, don't you know you cant turn in the middle of the highway? You broke the law!"
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Anyone have any pics of what Texas DPS cars actually looked like during this time period?
 

toon80

Member
May 24, 2010
2,487
Laval, Canada
Just finished the movie. It was good :)


I can understand from there the drooling of everybody here as of why they want Twinsonics and Mars bars that much!
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
It's been a while since I saw the movie, was there a plot or was it just a 110 minute advertisement for Mars, Federal Signal, GE, Ford, and Chrysler/Dodge? :lol:
 

NHFD104

Member
May 25, 2010
297
Raleigh, NC
I remember watching it for the first time as a kid. It's hard to find movies like that these days. You know, ones that rely on things like dialog, plot, and acting versus cgi, green screens, and special effects. Back in those days if a car crashed through a wall at 130 mph it meant that a real live person drove a car through a wall at 130 mph!
 
Aug 20, 2010
112
Texas USA
JohnMarcson said:
Anyone have any pics of what Texas DPS cars actually looked like during this time period?

Mr. Marcson, I have some pics taken off the web on a disc somewhere. TX DPS Holds a very special place in my heart since childhood for personal reasons (having a color vision issue gets you DQ'd from working with them and I'll leave it at that)


I can describe to you what DPS had during the era of that movie. The color and graphics have not changed since the mid 1960's. However, DPS roof lights were red Federal Twins....never saw an exposed siren until later. Many still used mechanicals until the late 1970's. Many were slick tops and had no lights that I ever saw...since they operated in rural areas, they just usually used high-beam headlights/sirens although some had red Unity lights ala CHP.


Mars lights, except for 888's, were NOT common in Texas and were NEVER used by DPS. Big light bars on DPS units did not come along almost until the mid/late 1980s.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
It's disappointing that I'm actually impressed that they used the same cars for the entire movie - too many films I've


seen where the car crashes, and later on it's good as new again.

CrownVic97 said:
ai93.photobucket.com_albums_l41_Pimpala03_SugarlandExpress_PDVD_055.jpg

Tripp-Lite MV2, single rotator beacon. Tri-Lite Mars still makes them...


[Broken External Image]:http://www.triliteinc.com/products/assets/mv2-110pa-L.jpg

Thanks. But why is the bulb mounted from the top?
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
They are basically a belt drive vitalite

federalvitas.jpg

trilite1.jpg
 

2ADAM46

Member
May 30, 2010
15
Cut-n-Shoot
Most of it was filmed out near San Antonio evident by Highway signs..but after 36 years, the scenery hasn't changed much.


Oh and the wrecker drivers "chipping" for the tow? It still goes on today, same monkey business and all, rather funny and yet disturbing.
 

CrownVic97

Member
May 21, 2010
3,350
Hazen, ND
nerdly_dood said:
\Thanks. But why is the bulb mounted from the top?


The rotator unit is directly mounted to the motor's shaft, so the hanging bulb assembly is required for proper light reflection. Federal Signal Smart Vision pods uses the hanging bulb concept too, and it works pretty good for incandescent/halogen applications:


140.jpg
 

2ADAM46

Member
May 30, 2010
15
Cut-n-Shoot
TheLightFromMars said:
Mr. Marcson, I have some pics taken off the web on a disc somewhere. TX DPS Holds a very special place in my heart since childhood for personal reasons (having a color vision issue gets you DQ'd from working with them and I'll leave it at that)

I can describe to you what DPS had during the era of that movie. The color and graphics have not changed since the mid 1960's. However, DPS roof lights were red Federal Twins....never saw an exposed siren until later. Many still used mechanicals until the late 1970's. Many were slick tops and had no lights that I ever saw...since they operated in rural areas, they just usually used high-beam headlights/sirens although some had red Unity lights ala CHP.


Mars lights, except for 888's, were NOT common in Texas and were NEVER used by DPS. Big light bars on DPS units did not come along almost until the mid/late 1980s.

I also have some photos i need to find of a 79 Chrysler newport w/ Visibar set up. Very common in the era. But I can tell you Plymouths ruled the DPS fleet in the late sixties and early 70's. Many smaller towns went to the auctions and bought "retired" DPS vehicles and repainted them as many older lawmen have informed me.
 

SurfCityCar2

Member
May 20, 2010
156
Jacksonville, NC
NHFD104 said:
I remember watching it for the first time as a kid. It's hard to find movies like that these days. You know, ones that rely on things like dialog, plot, and acting versus cgi, green screens, and special effects. Back in those days if a car crashed through a wall at 130 mph it meant that a real live person drove a car through a wall at 130 mph!

Excellent points, all of them. Special effects were truly special in movies like this.

nerdly_dood said:
It's disappointing that I'm actually impressed that they used the same cars for the entire movie - too many films I've
seen where the car crashes, and later on it's good as new again.

Exactly. I loved the scenes in the movie when all of the troopers are stagin at the stadium and you see the guys welding and grinding on the car bodies. That's back when cars were made of steel. not recycled beer cans, fiberglass and plastic.
 

Wailer

Member
May 24, 2010
2,290
Canada
TheLightFromMars said:
Mr. Marcson, I have some pics taken off the web on a disc somewhere. TX DPS Holds a very special place in my heart since childhood for personal reasons (having a color vision issue gets you DQ'd from working with them and I'll leave it at that)

I can describe to you what DPS had during the era of that movie. The color and graphics have not changed since the mid 1960's. However, DPS roof lights were red Federal Twins....never saw an exposed siren until later. Many still used mechanicals until the late 1970's. Many were slick tops and had no lights that I ever saw...since they operated in rural areas, they just usually used high-beam headlights/sirens although some had red Unity lights ala CHP.


Mars lights, except for 888's, were NOT common in Texas and were NEVER used by DPS. Big light bars on DPS units did not come along almost until the mid/late 1980s.

So the Texas DPS tanks had the Twin Beacon Ray roof rack with two red beacons and no speaker in 1974?


I kind of thought something was fishy with the movie props when I saw tanks in the same paint scheme but with different coloured lights. The blue and white tanks with the Twin Sonics have at least three different variations: red / red, red & blue / red & blue, and red & white / red & white. It looks like the film crew just scrounged up a bunch of light bars and beacons and slapped them on the cars randomly.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Wailer said:
So the Texas DPS tanks had the Twin Beacon Ray roof rack with two red beacons and no speaker in 1974?

I kind of thought something was fishy with the movie props when I saw tanks in the same paint scheme but with different coloured lights. The blue and white tanks with the Twin Sonics have at least three different variations: red / red, red & blue / red & blue, and red & white / red & white. It looks like the film crew just scrounged up a bunch of light bars and beacons and slapped them on the cars randomly.


Slapping random lights on movie cars is a tradition that cointinues today
 
Aug 20, 2010
112
Texas USA
Hopefully these will turn out as this is my first time uploading any kind of photos. They were gotten from the net many years ago (Like I said, TX DPS holds a special place in my heart)


These are pics of DPS units with lightbars on them from 1967 thorugh the late 1970's. The Unity lights on the 1960's units are red.

TxDPS1967.jpg

TxDPS1970's.jpg

TxDPSlate1960's.jpg
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
TheLightFromMars said:
Hopefully these will turn out as this is my first time uploading any kind of photos. They were gotten from the net many years ago (Like I said, TX DPS holds a special place in my heart)

These are pics of DPS units with lightbars on them from 1967 thorugh the late 1970's. The Unity lights on the 1960's units are red.

Very nice. I kinda assumed the lights in the movie were wrong. Thanks for posting these.
 

unlisted

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 20, 2010
7,333
NA
Of all the movies I can "locate" online- this is one that is not on demonoid.. :(


(someone upload it!) ;)
 

jtf027

Member
May 21, 2010
199
Memphis, TN
Can anyone tell me the model numbers of the MARS 2 sided lights on the main car in this movie? I am just assuming they are MARS because the rest of the bar is......


I have 2 different one sided flashers built by MARS, and would like to look for a 20sided one.


thanks

PDVD_023.jpg
 

toon80

Member
May 24, 2010
2,487
Laval, Canada
Speaking of that Mars bar, ^^(post just above)^^ is it just me or in that particular scene where they take the trooper hostage and when the husbands asks: "Shut those lights!", the lense pattern of the Mars beacons are doing what closely ressembles a cascade mirror effect? Kind of a trailing cascade flash... Maybe that was the whole purpose of the vertical groves inside the lens (besides the color inserts) but I have never seen that effect before on other movies with the same beacon...
 

MPD 818

Member
May 25, 2010
1,317
Murfreesboro TN
jtf027 said:
Can anyone tell me the model numbers of the MARS 2 sided lights on the main car in this movie? I am just assuming they are MARS because the rest of the bar is......

I have 2 different one sided flashers built by MARS, and would like to look for a 20sided one.


thanks


I noticed that too. Looked almost like the bulbs were still spinning without being on. Thanks for whoever posted this movie. Just got done watching it and it was awesome see all those old lights. Make you wonder where the lights ended up at once the movie was all said and done...
 

litsnsirn

Member
May 22, 2010
68
NE Illinois
From what I heard the 70 Furies in the movie were retired DPS cars. They appear to have the correct front bumper helper and the "Power Bulge" hoods with the big block call outs, doesn't prove anything but they always felt like real cars to me. I am assuming that they bars were from the movie company. There is a scene were you can see Maxwell's speedometer, in his 73 and it does not appear to be certified.
 

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