Quotes
 cfvd Super Soul: And there goes the Challenger, being chased by the blue, blue meanies on wheels. The vicious traffic squad cars are after our lone driver, the last American hero, the electric centaur, the, the demi-god, the super driver of the golden west! Two nasty Nazi cars are close behind the beautiful lone driver. The police numbers are gettin` closer, closer, closer to our soul hero, in his soul mobile, yeah baby! They about to strike. They gonna get him. Smash him. Rape... the last beautiful free soul on this planet.
Sandy: Kowalski, and the keys for a sawed-off weekend. Well you`re both welcome.
Kowalski: What do you do with those things?
Prospector: Trade `em. Trade `em for coffee, sugar, chewing tobacco, salt, flour, and beans, lots of beans, son.
Super Soul: Hey Kowalski, you out there?
Charlie: [after listening to Super Soul`s broadcast] Did you hear that?
Collins: Yeah.
Charlie: Where the hell he get so much information?
Collins: Same place as you do, Charley.
Charlie: You mean from our own frequency?
Collins: That`s right.
Charlie: How long`s he been at it?
Collins: Year `n a half, maybe two.
Charlie: Hell, that`s against the law!
Collins: So`s carryin` a transistor on duty.
Charlie: Hey, come on now, that`s different.
Collins: But he never says anything to incriminate himself. Brains `n lawyers, Charley. As far as the law`s concerned, he`s clean as Kleenex.
Charlie: What do you think he`s done?
Collins: Don`t know.
Charlie: Well, what do you think?
Collins: I think he`s gonna hijack that car to Cuba, hahahaha.
Charlie: Don`t be ridiculous!
Collins: Hell, Charley, I don` know! Maybe killed somebody! Maybe stole that big dude o` his! Maybe both.
Colorado State HP Officer: Nevada, this is Colorado State Highway Patrol. This is about a special query raised by the Utah Highway Patrol. - Affirmative, that`s correct, but later they asked that the information be forwarded to you guys, so get ready for some details. Put on your tape recorders and all that sort of jazz, huh? Apparantly this speed maniac you`ve been chasing all over your territory is a former professional road racer named Kowalski, K-O-W-A-L-S-K-I, repeat Kowalski. First name unkown, other particulars also unknown. All we do know is that he`s employed as a car delivery driver by an agency in Denver. He`s presently driving a Dodge Challenger, Colorado licence plate OA-5599. This is not a stolen car; he`s driving it to San Francisco for delivery due Monday.
Nevada State HP Officer: It`s only Saturday, what`s his hurry?
Colorado State HP Officer: That`s what we wanted to know ourselves, so your guess is as good as ours. 10-4.
Nude Motorcycle Rider: Is there something I can do for you?
Kowalski: Well, like what?
Nude Motorcycle Rider: Like anything you want.
Kowalski: How about a smoke?
Nude Motorcycle Rider: Sure, I`ll roll you one.
Kowalski: No, no, no, no. A straight one.
Trivia
Charlotte Rampling had a role as a hitchhiker whom Kowalski met while en route, but her scenes were deleted before the US release. The scenes were re-inserted for the UK release. The DVD release includes both the US and UK versions.
The car featured in the film is a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, with a 440 cubic-inch V-8, and not a 426 Hemi V-8 (as is often believed). Five white Challengers loaned from the Chrysler Corporation were used during the filming.
The Challenger had Colorado plates: OA-5599
There were actually four 440 Challenger R/Ts and one 383 Challenger R/T, which was an automatic with green interior. This one was used for some exterior shots and it pulled the 1967 Camaro up to speed so the Camaro could hit the bulldozers. As confirmed by property master Dennis J. Parrish, all of the cars were NOT originally white. They were just painted white for the film. During the scene where Kowalski has a flat tire, you can see green paint in the dents.
Cameo: [David Gates] The singer/songwriter (of Bread fame) played the piano during the rousing revival in the desert with the J. Hovah singers.
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# The city names on the California Highway Patrol tracking board (where Kowalski never made it) were Stockton, Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco.
Director Richard C. Sarafian`s original choice for the role of Kowalski was Gene Hackman, but the studio, 20th Century Fox, insisted on using Barry Newman if the movie was going to be made.
The color white was chosen for the car simply so the car would stand out against the background scenery in the movie. White was not symbolic in any way. The director says this in the DVD commentary.
A 1967 Camaro shell (no engine) loaded with explosives was used for the final crash. You can see the "Camaro" fender nameplate upside-down in the lower left corner of the screen after the crash.
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# Kris Kristofferson was considered for a part. His then wife, Rita Coolidge, has a small role in the film.
Dean Jagger (the snake charmer/prospector) and Barry Newman (Kowalski) shared the same birthday: November 7th.
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