In July 1974, “Gone in 60 Seconds” hit the scene, and, as was often the case with H.B. “Toby” Halicki’s films, it was an instant cult classic. Typical of his style, Halicki not only wrote, directed and produced the movie, but he also acted and even did some stunt work—some of which nearly killed him and others during production, and most of which can be seen in the final cut of the movie.

The premise behind the film was interesting. Halicki plays Maindrian Pace, an insurance investigator who heads a ring of professional car thieves on the side. His craft is second to none, but his caveat is that any car they steal must be insured. A powerful South American drug lord offers him $400,000 to steal 48 specific types of cars, rare and difficult to find examples such as vintage vehicles, exotics and even big rigs. These cars are hard enough to locate and acquire, let alone within the timeframe the drug lord demands, which is just a number of days. With several impossible situations, jaw-dropping stunts and some seriously fabulous cars, the movie unfolds and takes the viewers on a fun—if a bit rough-around-the-edges—journey of a day in the life of Maindrian Pace under pressure.

In 1995, the idea began circulating about remaking the legendary film, polishing it up and heightening the experience in the process. Enlisting Touchstone Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer, the movie knocked it out of the park with an all-star cast including Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall and Will Patton, among many other gifted actors, blending with edgy cinematography, spectacular stunt work, a tremendous musical score and a revised story from the original with a lot of heart wrapped in tough packaging. Filming began in 1999, and the modernized “Gone in 60 Seconds” premiered on June 9, 2000, grossing more than $25 million the first weekend and finding more than $237 million worldwide by the time it left theaters. All that said, some sources allege that the film lost roughly $90
million after tallying up all the expenses at the end of the day. Regardless, the film was legendary, easily reviving and doing well by Halicki’s original—but, through it all, one star truly stole the show, and her name was Eleanor.

“Eleanor is Memphis’ unicorn.”
“What’s a unicorn?”
“Fabled creature? You know, the horse with the horn, impossible to capture? It’s the one car that no matter how many times ya try to boost, somethin’ always happens.”

Those lines are from the 2000 movie and sum up car thief extraordinaire Memphis Raines’ experiences with Eleanor well; in fact, if you listen closely to the dialogue in this scene, the crew discusses the mishaps with Eleanor seen in the 1974 original “Gone in 60 Seconds” as Memphis is “getting reacquainted with” Eleanor.

Like the original, the film depicts a band of car thieves led by Memphis Raines (Cage) out to score an impossible heist of 50 cars in just 72 hours. As in the original, for identification purposes, each car was given a lady’s name—a 1965 Pontiac GTO was named Sharon, a Jaguar XJ220 was Bernadine and a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 was called Nadine, for example. The idea of using names was to keep the cars under the radar while the crew communicated on radios with transmissions that could be heard by others, including police. The movie was packed with an array of great surprises and stunning and stellar cars, any of which most car guys would give their right arm to own, but it was a 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 in Pepper Gray Metallic with black stripes riding on Halibrand-style wheels with a host of subtle and not-so-subtle enhancements that would become the hero car and an instant dream car—this was Eleanor. Sketched by Steve Stanford, Eleanor’s design was refined by Chip Foose, who implemented what he thought Carroll Shelby would want to see as a modern day GT500. An interesting story alleges that Bruckheimer had originally wanted Eleanor to be black with gray stripes and that a painter mixed up the order, creating the gray with black stripe motif that became so famous. Bruckheimer liked the incorrect look and stuck with it. Or, maybe they didn’t have time to correct the paint, but either way, if the story is true, it worked out well.

Cinema Vehicle Services in North Hollywood, California, was commissioned to build 11 cars for production, and, according to the studio car list, this Eleanor is labeled as “The Dream Car.” Used for a number of interior and exterior sequences, including the chase scenes through the shipyard, city and along the Los Angeles River, this is one of the cars that made Eleanor a household name, rocketing her into the imaginations of car guys all over the world. This is the car that rocked the theater sound system with her ferocious exhaust. This is the car that led the movie LAPD on the chase of chases around Southern California. This is the car that Memphis Raines is scared of—and isn’t that part of the formula for love, being a little afraid of her? She even has the famous Hurst shifter with the “Go-Baby-Go” button and daringly beautiful 18-rivet French-made Lecarra wood-rimmed steering wheel. Indeed, she is “The Dream Car.”

Cinema Vehicles recently performed a rotisserie restoration on Eleanor and has cruised with her for approximately 90 miles since the completion. Powered by a blueprinted HiPo 351 CI V-8 engine topped with aluminum heads and an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold, the car boasts a roller camshaft, headers with stainless side-exit exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers, and an MSD ignition system. A Tremec TKO 5-speed manual transmission and a hydraulic clutch with Quicktime bellhousing and a Wenco driveshaft delivers power to the 3.70 Positraction differential, while power steering and Wilwood disc brakes along with a Total Control Products suspension all conspire to make this car a truly riveting ride. But, the NOS system, which lends the engine an additional 100 to 125 HP, takes it over the top, just as anyone would expect from Eleanor. Items that keep things in check include an aluminum radiator with electric fan, an Auto Meter Sport Comp 10,000 RPM column-mounted tachometer and hefty racing-style lap belts that nod back to the glory days of racing.

All things told, Eleanor is one that cannot only run with the best of them, but also be somewhat docile and easy to drive in traffic. A trunk-mounted fuel cell, PIAA lights, TCP aluminum pedal covers and custom 10-spoke spinner wheels round out the package. The best part of all: this is a real-deal screen-featured Eleanor, one that the original builders maintain is the cleanest and most complete one to be restored and that also exists as the last one that Cinema Vehicles has to offer. It doesn’t get much better than that.