Saturday, March 6, 2010

1936 Buick Chrysler car driven by Cary Grant in the movie Topper...

This exotic roadster was built by Pasadena coachbuilders Bohman and Schwartz to feature in the 1937 comedy, Topper, starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett as fun-loving ghosts.
1936 Buick/Chrysler roadster from the movie Topper
Buick Chrysler 1936 Topper movie car
Cary Grant driven Buick Chrysler 1936 Topper film car
Cary Grant's 1936 Topper movie car
Its teardrop fenders, swooping lines and prominent dorsal fin made it stand out even among other exotic cars of the day. After Topper the car was sold by the studio to Gilmore Oil, who repainted it cream and red and used it to promote their Red Lion gasoline, towing a lion cub behind in a trailer.
Topper movie poster
Topper movie poster
In the 1940's, under the direction of Mobil Gas (who had bought Gilmore Oil), the roadster was returned to the coachbuilder for updated bodywork.
Rechristened the 'Mobil Special' in 1954 the car's body was placed on its current Chrysler chassis by Chris Bohman & Sons.
Around 1970, Movie World in Buena Park purchased the car and had Von Dutch add their logo to the side.
Buick/Chrysler roadster driven by Cary Grant in the film Topper
Buick Chrysler 1936 Topper movie car
1936 Buick Chrysler Topper movie car dorsal fin
The movie car was photographed on display at The Petersen Automotive Museum
in L.A. on March 2, 2010.

9 comments:

  1. Great website. You cover the entire movie industry. Its hard to picture what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood. Your site opens it up for many others to see. Keep up the good work I will be returning many times. Dennis Riley ( hollywoodmoviecostumes.com

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  2. I'm sitting here watching the movie Topper. The car here does not look like the car used in the movie except for the dorsal fin on the back. The car in the movie had the supercharger pipes and the front end is entirely different.

    This car even looks smaller than the one in the movie. If this is the modified version of that same car I think I like the previous version better.

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  3. Sorry folks, you need to improve the research on this. The Topper movie car was a modified 1936 Cord.

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  4. oh dear, this info was on display with the car above at the Petersen Museum

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    Replies
    1. what was it? a Buick or cord?

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    2. It was a 1937 Buick Century customized by the Bohman & Schwartz Company of Pasadena. It was specially designed for use in the Topper movie , and for this it was equipped with a hidden steering mechanism so that it could be driven by a person that was not seen on the screen. (so says “pilou” at https://www.imcdb.org)

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    3. See pictures here to compare. https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_19840-Buick-Century-1937.html

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    4. I don't think it's the same car. The movie car looks like a Cord/Auburn boat-tail speedster convertible to me.

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  5. The 36 Buick Chrysler was in Topper Returns. The Auburn boat tail was the original Topper movie.

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