George Miller is not your average Hollywood director. He was born and brought up in Queensland, Australia. He grew up in a rough neighbourhood where car accidents were frequent, and often, bloody. Most of us would have hated cars for the rest of our lives seeing the things he has, but not George. For him, these experiences only helped with his craft. And it's evident in the sequences in the popular film series directed by him — Mad Max.
The Mad Max series is set in the distant apocalyptic future, centred around the action-packed life of a ruthless lawman called Max Rockatansky. The first three films featured Mel Gibson as the protagonist, and he'll be replaced by Tom Hardy in the just-released Fury Road. In this film, Max has to take on an entire legion of armed raiders called the War Boys.
As always, what excites us most about a Mad Max movie is the cars. In Mad Max Fury Road, a total of 18 vehicles have been used. Here's a look at the deadly wheels you'll catch on screen.
The Interceptor
The Interceptor, by the way, is the car our hero, Max Rockatansky, uses to raise hell in the Wasteland.This beast is a highly modified 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT. Also called the “Pursuit Special”, the stock car was a limited edition hardtop. The menacing black paint scheme that adorns the roof, boot spoilers, wheel arch flares, front nose cone and the air dam are all custom-made, but were later marketed as the 'Concorde' style. The rear wheels and side-pipes have been changed. The back window and boot lid were removed to accommodate two cylindrical fuel tanks, to add to the overall cosmetic effect. The car also has a non-functioning supercharger that is run off an electric motor.
The Gigahorse
The Gigahorse, driven by the main antagonist, Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Bearne), is an engineering marvel in itself. It is built on a truck chassis, and has two 1959 Cadillac DeVile cabs mounted on top of each other, to give it a two-up view, not unlike an Apache attack helicopter. The bottom cab is custom-made, and has a wider windscreen. The upper one has two harpoons at the back. This monster is powered by two 8.2-litre, 502bhp Chevrolet big block V8s with custom manifolds and superchargers. The engines are connected through a specially-designed straight-cut gearbox. After each day of shooting, the gear teeth had to be realigned so that the meshing would be perfect the next day. The Gigahorse runs on huge 70-inch tractor tyres. It has a top speed of 95 kph.
