title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: A properly equipped C-Series half-ton class pickup could tow up to 8,000 lbs (4 tons) of braked trailer, while a properly equipped C-Series three quarter-ton or one-ton class pickup could tow up to 12,000 lbs (6 tons) of braked trailer. Adding four-wheel drive reduced towing capability due to increased curb weight, which resulted from additional driveline components (transfer case, front axle, front differential, front propeller shaft, and so on) needed to facilitate four-wheel drive. A properly equipped K-Series half-ton or three quarter-ton class pickup could tow up to 6,500 lbs (3.25 tons) of braked trailer; a properly equipped K-Series one-ton class pickup could tow 500 lbs more, up to 7,000 lbs (3.5 tons) of braked trailer.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Heavy-duty towing equipment was available for both C and K-Series pickups, such as the "Trailering Special" package (included power steering, uprated battery, and uprated generator), 7-pin trailer electrics connector, heavy-duty engine oil cooler, heavy-duty transmission oil cooler, and a weight distributing trailer hitch. An optional Elimipitch camper was made available for the Big Dooley.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: At its 1973 launch, the Rounded-Line pickup trucks were offered with five different engines. A 250 cubic-inch inline-six was standard, with the option of a 292 cubic-inch inline-6, a 307 cubic-inch V8, a 350 cubic-inch V8, and a 454 cubic-inch V8. Available only in two-wheel drive C-series trucks, the 454 replaced the 402 cubic-inch "396" V8; the 307 was offered only for 1973.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: During the 1970s, the model range underwent several revisions to its powertrain line. For 1975, a 400 cubic-inch V8 was introduced as the largest engine option for K-series trucks, slotted above the 350; in another change, catalytic converters were fitted to all trucks under 6000 lbs GVWR. For 1977, a 305 cubic-inch V8 was introduced for C-series half-ton trucks, expanding the engine range to six. For 1978, General Motors became the first major American manufacturer to market a light-duty truck with a diesel engine, offering a 350 cubic inch Oldsmobile diesel V8 as an option for half-ton C-series trucks; the engine also marked the launch of the Oldsmobile diesel engine family.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: During the 1980s, the C/K trucks saw additional revisions to the powertrain line, shifting towards more advanced engine designs. As part of the 1981 model revision, the 454 V8 became available on K-series trucks for the first time, replacing the 400 V8 entirely. To improve its fuel efficiency, the 305 V8 received electronic spark control (in markets outside of California); the 350 became the standard V8 for California.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1982, the Oldsmobile 350 diesel was replaced by a Detroit Diesel V8, shifting the diesel engine from the -ton series to -ton and 1-ton trucks. To further improve fuel economy, an automatic overdrive transmission was made available: the four-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic 700R4.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: As the Rounded-Line series were redesignated the R/V trucks for 1987, several changes were made to the powertrain line. The 292 I6 was dropped from -ton and 1-ton trucks, with the 4.3 L V6 becoming the sole 6-cylinder engine; all engines adopted fuel injection (with the exception of the 6.2 L diesel). In addition, a "smart" powertrain control module (PCM) was also introduced, which controlled the fuel injection system, fuel-to-air burn ratio, engine ignition timing, and (if equipped with an automatic transmission) the Turbo Hydra-Matic's turbine torque converter clutch.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Following the transition of -ton pickups to the fourth-generation GMT400 chassis, the R/V series was offered with three engines from 1987 to 1991: a standard 5.7 L V8 with the option of either a 7.4 L V8 or the 6.2 L diesel V8.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Throughout their production, K-Series (later V-series) pickup trucks included multiple four-wheel drive systems. Regardless of the type of four-wheel drive system equipped, all K-Series pickups featured four-corner "Vari-Rate" multi-leaf springs, front live axle with symmetrical (inline) shock absorber geometry, and the "Load Control" rear suspension system. K-Series pickups also featured an off-road oriented design, with the transfer case bolted directly to the transmission and running gear tucked up as high as possible under the vehicle to reduce the chances of snagging vital components on obstacles, as well as to achieve a low silhouette and optimal ground clearance. Exposed brake lines wrapped in steel were standard, with underbody skid plate armor optional for further protection.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Offered as standard equipment for K-series trucks with inline-6 engines, the conventional four-wheel drive system was equipped with a two-speed New Process 205 transfer case with four drive modes: "Two High", "Four High", "Neutral", and "Four Low". Two High gave a 0:100 torque split, while Four High yielded a locked 50:50 torque split. Four Low applied reduction gearing. The front and rear propeller shafts were locked at all times in Four High and Four Low. Neutral allowed for flat towing, or use of the power take off (PTO).


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: A new "Shift-on-the-move" four-wheel drive system with two-speed dual range New Process 208 aluminium transfer case was introduced on K-Series pickups for the 1981 model year. It replaced the permanent four-wheel drive system, on pre-1980 models. The shift-on-the-move four-wheel drive system featured new automatic self locking hubs and synchronized direct high range planetary gearing, such that the truck could be shifted from two-wheel drive, to fully locked four-wheel drive at speeds of up to 25 mph. Once the shift from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive was made, the vehicle could be driven at any forward or reverse speed. Four drive modes were offered: "Two High", "Four High", "Neutral", and "Four Low". Two High gave a 0:100 torque split, with Four High yielding a locked 50:50 torque split through direct synchronized gearing. Four Low applied reduction gearing with a 2.61:1 ratio, compared to the previous New Process 205's 1.96:1. The front and rear propeller shafts were locked at all times in Four High and Four Low. Neutral was provided for disengagement of both propeller shafts. Conventional four-wheel drive was still available with manual locking hubs.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Full-time four-wheel drive pickups featured a two-speed New Process 203 transfer case with center differential and lock. Five positions were provided: "High Loc", "High", "Neutral", "Low", and "Low Loc". In High the center differential was unlocked and allowed the front and rear propeller shafts to slip as needed for full-time operation. The system could be manually shifted into High Loc which locked the center differential for a locked 50:50 torque split. Low and Low Loc applied reduction gearing with or without lock, depending on the mode selected. Neutral was also available for use of the PTO.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: A new "Eaton Automatic Differential Lock" (ADL) was introduced in 1973 as an optional extra on the Rounded-Line C/K-Series pickups, for the rear hypoid differential. The new automatic locking differential was offered under the G86 code, replacing the "Eaton NoSpin" differential, and eventually replacing the old "Positraction" limited-slip differential in 1974, at which point it assumed the G80 code. The Eaton ADL featured intelligent differential control via an internal governor which monitored vehicle speed and wheel slip to know when to automatically lock and could lockup 100 percent at or below 20 mph (32 km/h) increasing tractive effort. The differential lock would unlock and deactivate at speeds above 20 mph for safety reasons, such as the vehicle being on dry pavement.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1977, a K30 (four-wheel drive, full one-ton chassis) was added to the lineup, and a Dana 60 was used for the front axle. For the 1980 model year, full-time four-wheel drive was discontinued on K-Series, leaving only conventional four-wheel drive.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The third-generation C/K marked several firsts to the model line. Alongside the two-door regular cab, a four-door crew cab made its debut. While trailing Dodge, Ford, and International by a decade in bringing a crew cab pickup truck to production, the C/K crew cab shared its body construction with the Suburban wagon (giving it four passenger doors for the first time). Derived from the C/K chassis cab, "Big Dooley" was the first factory-produced dual rear-wheel pickup, sold only as a one-ton truck.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Five different bed designs were offered, with 6 and 8-foot versions of the Chevrolet Fleetside (GMC Wideside) and Chevrolet Stepside (GMC Fenderside); to cover its extra set of rear tires, "Big Dooley" was a hybrid of the two designs, offered only in an 8-foot length.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Soft touch materials were used throughout the passenger cabin, such as the dashboard, doors (arm rests), steering wheel, and shift levers. Subtle grained interior panels and bright metal work was used on the inside with high-quality materials also used on the outside, like chrome, aluminum, and polished stainless steel, particularly on top-of-the-line luxury "Silverado" or "Sierra Classic" trim levels. "Custom Vinyl" vinyl or soft "Custom Cloth" cloth and velour seating surfaces were used along with fabric headliners, door inserts, and plush carpeting, depending on the trim level. Upper class trim levels also used acoustic deadening materials for quieter ride comfort. From model years 1973 to 1977, chestnut wood grain inserts were used on the dashboard and doors for further visual enhancement. The wood grain inserts were replaced by bright brushed aluminum inserts for model years 1978 to 1987. A Delco AM/FM audio sound system and an all-season climate control system were optional extras.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The four-door crew cab was offered in two configurations. Along with the standard six-seat (badged as "3+3") crew cab, a "Bonus Cab" configuration was offered, deleting the rear seat of the crew cab (effectively a 3-seat truck with a large internal storage area).


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The usage of the C/K nomenclature was carried over from the previous generation, with "C" denoting two-wheel drive trucks and "K" denoting four-wheel drive vehicles. Chevrolet trucks were denoted in a 10/20/30 series (for -ton, -ton, and 1-ton); GMC trucks returned as a 1500/2500/3500 series (15/25/35 for 1973-80). While the Chevrolet Cheyenne and GMC Sierra names were carried over from the previous generation, this generation marked the introduction of the Chevrolet Silverado and Chevrolet Scottsdale trims.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Chevrolet marketed its C/K pickups under four trim levels for 1973, carried over from the previous generation. The standard trim was the Custom, slotted below the Custom Deluxe; the top two trims were the Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The Custom was a basic vehicle with minimal exterior and interior trim, with the Custom Deluxe upgrading by adding color-keyed upholstery and interior trim and additional chrome trim. Intended for personal use, the Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super added carpeting, a headliner, and additional sound insulation; the Super offered the most interior trim on the door panels.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1975, Chevrolet revised its C/K trim lines, with two making an appearance for the first time. The Scottsdale was slotted above the Custom Deluxe (which replaced the Custom as the base trim) and the Silverado replaced the Cheyenne Super as the flagship trim. For 1982, Chevrolet discontinued the Cheyenne trim line, largely consolidating it with the Silverado. The Cheyenne name returned for 1988, serving as the base trim of the fourth-generation C/K, alongside the R/V pickup and Suburban.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: During the 1970s and early 1980s, Chevrolet marketed the "Bonanza" appearance package coupled with the Scottsdale (and later Silverado) trim, adding upgrades such as interior carpeting.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: In line with Chevrolet, GMC introduced four trim levels for its third-generation C/K pickup trucks. Custom served as a base trim (the only name in common with Chevrolet) below Super Custom. As a counterpart of the Cheyenne and Cheyenne Super, GMC offered the Sierra and Sierra Grande, respectively. For 1975, in a revision of its C/K line, all GMC pickups became Sierras, with the Sierra becoming the base trim, followed by the Sierra Grande, High Sierra, and Sierra Classic.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1982, GMC followed suit with Chevrolet, downsizing to a three-trim line; the Sierra Grande was dropped. For the fourth-generation C/K, GMC dropped the external C/K nomenclature, with all pickup trucks becoming Sierras (C/K remaining in use for internal model codes). For 1989, GMC adopted the trim nomenclature of the fourth-generation C/K for the R/V series pickups.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: In line with the Chevrolet Bonanza, GMC offered the "Royal Sierra" appearance package, coupled with the Sierra Grande and High Sierra; in Canada, GMC offered several "Sierra Wrangler" exterior appearance packages (prior to the use of the name by Jeep).


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Alongside the full-size pickup range, the "Rounded Line" C/K series also included a variety of other vehicles. The C/K (and R/V) chassis and body were used for the Chevrolet/GMC Suburban, the Chevrolet K5 Blazer/GMC Jimmy, and multiple GM commercial trucks for the 1970s and the 1980s.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1973, the General Motors medium-duty truck range (Class 5-7) underwent a redesign. Slotted below the Class 7-8 H/J and C/M heavy conventional trucks (designed by GMC), the Chevrolet-designed vehicles shared their cab with the Rounded-Line series. With the exception of the steering column and gear shifter, the model lines shared much of their interior.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1973, a Chevrolet 454 V8 was offered alongside 379 and 432 cubic-inch GMC V6s; a very rare option was the DH478 "ToroFlow" 478 cubic-inch diesel V6. For 1974, GMC engines were discontinued, with the 454 replaced by 366 and 427 cubic-inch V8s (developed specifically for commercial use).


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1980, diesel engines made their return with the introduction of the Detroit Diesel 8.2 L "Fuel Pincher" V8. The same year, GM introduced the Chevrolet Kodiak/GMC TopKick. Largely developed to accommodate the Caterpillar 3208 diesel V8 engine, the Kodiak was slotted between the medium C/K and the heavy-duty Bruin/Brigadier conventional; it received a larger, squared-off hood and grille, which required raising the cab several inches upward.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: During 1984 production, GM shifted the design of its cowled bus chassis from the previous-generation medium-duty truck (introduced in 1967) to the Rounded-Line C/K series; the model line was produced through 1991.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: After 1989 production, GM replaced the medium-duty C/K and the Kodiak/TopKick with a single medium-duty truck line (codenamed GMT530), using the GMT400 truck cab and adopting the Kodiak/TopKick name.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1973, GM introduced the second generation of the Chevrolet K5 Blazer and GMC Jimmy off-road vehicles (a precursor of the modern SUV). As with the previous generations, the Blazer/Jimmy were derived from a shortened -ton pickup truck chassis. For the first time, two-wheel drive was offered as standard equipment (most examples were K-series four-wheel drive vehicles). The popularity of the larger size led to the 1974 introduction of the Dodge Ramcharger (and Plymouth Trail Duster) and the 1978 redesign of the Ford Bronco; the model line also competed against the Jeep Cherokee and the International Scout II.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The Blazer/Jimmy shared the same external design changes as Fleetside/Wideside pickup trucks. For 1976, the configuration of the body was updated, changing from a fully open convertible to a half-cab design; while the rear top remained removable, rollover protection improved for front-seat passengers.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1982, the Blazer/Jimmy names were adopted by the GM compact SUV model names; to distinguish the compact model lines, GM added the S10/S15 model prefix. Following the 1987 transition to the R/V model nomenclature, the K5 Blazer was remarketed as the "full-size Blazer" and the Jimmy became the "V-Jimmy".


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1992, the second-generation Blazer/Jimmy were replaced in a transition to the GMT400 architecture; the V-Jimmy was renamed the GMC Yukon (with the K5 Blazer later becoming the Tahoe). In a major change, the removable hardtop design was discontinued (effectively making the model line a short-wheelbase version of the Suburban).


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1973, General Motors introduced the seventh generation of the Suburban using the Rounded Line truck chassis. Marketed at the time as a truck-based station wagon, the Suburban was marketed by both Chevrolet and GMC under the same nameplate. Far larger than the Jeep Wagoneer (by nearly 3 feet), the Chevrolet Suburban competed largely against its GMC namesake following the 1975 discontinuation of the International Travelall.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The first generation of the Suburban produced with four passenger doors, the seventh-generation Suburban shared many design elements with the C/K crew cab from the doors forward. In contrast to the -ton Blazer/Jimmy, the Suburban was offered in both -ton and -ton series, sharing all trim levels of the pickup trucks. While seating up to 9 passengers, the model line was sized between the A-body Chevelle/Malibu and B-body Impala/Caprice station wagons in length.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: After becoming part of the R/V series in 1987, the seventh-generation Suburban remained in production through the 1991 model year.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: As it entered production for 1973, the third-generation C/K-Series marked multiple safety advancements concerning full-size pickups. The model line was the first full-size pickup produced with a passenger-side sideview mirror as standard equipment. While in use in GM cars since 1967, the Rounded-Line pickups were the first full-size trucks produced with an energy-absorbing collapsible steering column.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: For 1976, outboard seats received 3-point (lap-and shoulder) safety belts with emergency locking retractors; a center lap safety belt was used, with slack adjustment. For 1977, Ford and Dodge would follow suit, adding the same seat belt design to their full-size trucks.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Other safety features included soft-padded interior panels for appearance and safety, 3,329 square inches of tempered and laminated safety glass, prismatic rearview mirror, six turn-signal indicator lamps with asymmetrical flash, four-way hazard function, and lane departure function.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: During the development of the Rounded-Line generation of pickup trucks in the late 1960s, the fuel tank was relocated from inside the cab to the outboard side of the right frame rail (if an auxiliary fuel tank was specified, both frame rails). Commonly referred to as a sidesaddle configuration, the decision was largely made in the interest of reducing in-cab exposure to fuel vapors (and to carry more fuel). After the 1991 discontinuation of the model line, the design underwent both media and government scrutiny related to potential fire hazards of the configuration.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The successor fourth-generation 1988–2001 C/K pickup trucks were designed with a single fuel tank located between the frame rails; the model line was designed well before the sidesaddle fuel tank configuration received media controversy.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: On November 17, 1992, "Dateline NBC" aired an investigative report titled "Waiting to Explode". Coinciding with federal investigations into the model line, Dateline focused on allegations on the third-generation C/K trucks exploding in side-impact collisions due to the design of the fuel tanks. As a central part of the episode, "Dateline" showed sample footage of a low-speed accident in which the fuel tank exploded. In what would become a controversy of its own, the program did not disclose that the accident was staged to optimize an explosion.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: During the 1992 report, a third-generation C/K caught fire in an 30 MPH side-impact test collision. Following subsequent investigation, the speed of the collision was found to be higher (approximately 40 MPH). After finding the charred wreckage of the tested GM pickups, GM investigators Failure Analysis Associates (FaAA, now Exponent) examined the fuel tanks of the vehicles; after X-ray examination, it was discovered that none of them had ruptured after collision. It was also found that to stage the explosion, NBC experts used model-rocket engines coupled with a leaking fuel cap to stage the explosion. After reviewing the video itself, smoke was found erupting underneath the truck a few frames before the collision; additionally, the subsequent fire lasted for only 15 seconds.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Regardless of any increased risk of fire, the GM trucks had safety records in side-impact crashes statistically indistinguishable from their Ford and Dodge counterparts. The sidesaddle fuel tanks themselves were found to have a robust design highly resistant to crushing or crumpling from a side impact. Trucks equipped with these tanks met and exceeded the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 301. Studies showed that it would take about 4,000 side-impact crashes with such a truck to get one with fire, major injury, or fatality.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: On February 8, 1993, after announcing its anti-defamation/libel against NBC, GM conducted a highly publicized point-by-point rebuttal in the Product Exhibit Hall of the General Motors Building in Detroit that lasted nearly two hours. On February 10, 1993, GM settled with NBC, resulting in multiple NBC personnel losing their jobs.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: In April 1994, General Motors rejected a government request to issue a recall for all 1973-1987 C/K pickup trucks, claiming that it would involve over 6 million vehicles at a cost of over $1 billion. As of today, such a recall would have been the third-largest ever (in terms of size). On October 17, 1994, U.S. Transportation Secretary Federico F. Pena announced that a two-year investigation had found that the trucks posed a fire hazard; federal officials estimated that 150 persons may have died in preventable fiery crashes. In its investigation, the government found that the 1973-1987 C/K trucks were at least 2.5 times more likely to produce a fire-related fatality from a side-impact crash than a comparable Ford or Dodge pickup truck.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: The gas tanks leaked in at least two crash tests performed by GM around the time the trucks were first sold in 1972. The federal report also stated that 50 MPH crash tests performed in the early 1980s "clearly demonstrated" the tanks were susceptible to puncturing.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: As most recalls are issued by the manufacturer, government-issued recalls are fairly rare (only 8 had been issued at the time of the investigation). In the 1980s, GM had blocked an effort in court for a recall over a suspected brake problem of the model line. In response, the government clarified that vehicles sold in the United States must meet the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act; along with meeting safety standards at the time of production, their production is also required to allow them to operate them safely under real conditions.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: GM also settled with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 1994 for the amount of $51 million to be used for safety programs. GM also offered owners $1000 coupons toward the purchase of a new truck with a trade-in of the old one.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: In 1993 the bad publicity generated by the Dateline story spawned several class action lawsuits. In addition GM was sued more than 100 times in lawsuits brought by individuals who were burned in GM trucks. Nearly all of those cases were settled out of court. In 1993, a Georgia jury awarded more than $105 million, including $101 million in punitive damages, to the parents of a 17 year old named Shannon Moseley who burned to death. The verdict was later overturned by an appeals court and the case settled before it could be re-tried.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Fatality figures vary wildly. A study by Failure Analysis Associates (now Exponent, Inc.) found 155 fatalities in these GM trucks between 1972 and 1989 involving both side impact and fire. The Center for Auto Safety, Ralph Nader's lobbying group, claims "over 1,800 fatalities" between 1973 and 2000 involving both side impact and fire.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: Sevel Argentina S.A. built the Chevrolet C10 in its Córdoba plant from 1985 to 1991. The gasoline version used the Chevy 250 CID engine (4,093 cc) familiar to most Latin American markets, producing 130 hp. Because of Sevel being a subsidiary of Peugeot, the C10 was also available with a 70 hp Indénor XD2 2,304 cc diesel engine, perhaps best known in the US from the Peugeot 504.


title: Chevrolet C/K (third generation)

text: In Brazil, General Motors do Brasil produced the Rounded-Line series as the 10/20 series. Introduced in 1985, the model line replaced the locally produced C10 (derived from the first-generation 1964 C/K). The model line was marketed under three model series, designated by fuel (A=ethanol/gasoline flex-fuel, C=gasoline, D=diesel). Sharing primarily its cab structure with its American counterpart, the 10/20 was produced with its own front fascia (sharing its headlights with the Chevrolet Opala). Shared with the Opala, a 135 hp 4.1L inline-6 (discontinued in the United States in 1984) was used for gasoline and flex-fuel vehicles; an 87 hp 3.9L Perkins inline-4 diesel was offered. For 1986, a "double cab" was introduced, sharing the 4-door crew cab of its North American counterpart. During the early 1990s, the 10/20 series underwent several mechanical updates and was produced by GM do Brasil through 1997, when it was replaced by the GMT400-derived Silverado produced in Argentina.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel, "The Exorcist", and for his 1974 screenplay for the film adaptation of the same name. Blatty won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "The Exorcist", and was nominated for Best Picture as its producer. The film also earned Blatty a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama as producer.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Born and raised in New York City, Blatty received his bachelor's degree in English from Georgetown University in 1950, and his master's degree in English literature from the George Washington University. Following completion of his master's degree in 1954, he joined the United States Air Force and served in the Psychological Warfare Division where he attained the rank of first lieutenant. After service in the air force, he worked for the United States Information Agency in Beirut.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: After the success of "The Exorcist", Blatty reworked his 1966 novel "Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane!" into a new novel titled "The Ninth Configuration", published in 1978. He went on to adapt the novel into a film of the same name, "The Ninth Configuration" (1980), which was also his directorial debut. At the 38th Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Blatty refused to have any involvement with , which was ultimately critically panned. However, he would go on to write and direct the second sequel, "The Exorcist III" (1990), which he adapted from his 1983 novel "Legion". His second film as a director, "The Exorcist III" would turn out to be both his final directorial credit and his final screenplay credit. Blatty would remain active as a novelist for the rest of his life; some of his later notable novels include "Elsewhere" (2009), "Dimiter" (2010) and "Crazy" (2010).


title: William Peter Blatty

text: and youngest child of Lebanese immigrants, Mary ("née" Mouakad), a devout Catholic and the niece of a bishop, and Peter Blatty, a cloth cutter. His parents separated when he was a toddler. He was raised in what he described as "comfortable destitution" by his deeply religious mother, whose sole support came from peddling homemade quince jelly in the streets of Manhattan; she once offered a jar of it to Franklin D. Roosevelt when the President was cutting the ribbon for the Queens–Midtown Tunnel, telling him, "For when you have company." He lived at 28 different addresses during his childhood because of nonpayment of rent. "We never lived at the same address in New York for longer than two or three months at a time," Blatty told "The Washington Post" in 1972. "Eviction was the order of the day." Blatty's mother died in 1967.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: He attended Brooklyn Preparatory, a Jesuit school, on a scholarship and graduated as class valedictorian in 1946. He later attended Georgetown University on a scholarship, where he earned his bachelor's degree in English in 1950. "Those years at Georgetown were probably the best years of my life," Blatty said in 2015. "Until then, I’d never had a home." While studying for his master's degree at George Washington University, Blatty took menial jobs. Initially unable to find a job in teaching, he worked as a vacuum-cleaner door-to-door salesman, a beer-truck driver, and as a United Airlines ticket agent. He earned his master's in English literature from the George Washington University in 1954. He then enlisted in the United States Air Force.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Mustering out of the Air Force, he joined the United States Information Agency and worked as an editor based in Beirut, Lebanon. Eventually, his writing talent emerged, and he began submitting humorous articles to magazines.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: In the late 1950s, Blatty worked as the public relations director at Loyola University of Los Angeles and as a publicity director at the University of Southern California. He published his first book, "Which Way to Mecca, Jack?" in 1960, a humorous look at both his early life, and his work at the United States Information Agency in Lebanon. The book also tells of his successful masquerade as a Saudi Arabian prince when he got to Los Angeles. In 1961, while still pretending to be a prince, Blatty appeared as a contestant on the Groucho Marx quiz show "You Bet Your Life", winning $10,000, enough money to quit his job and to write full-time. Thereafter, he never held a regular job.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: He then published the comic novels: "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!" (1963), "I, Billy Shakespeare" (1965), and "Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane" (1966). He achieved critical success with these books – Marvin Levin in the "New York Times", for example, wrote: "Nobody can write funnier lines than William Peter Blatty, a gifted virtuoso who writes like [S. J.] Perelman"; but significant sales were lacking. It was at this point that Blatty began a collaboration with director Blake Edwards, writing scripts for comedy films such as: "A Shot in the Dark" (1964), "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?" (1966), "Gunn" (1967), and "Darling Lili" (1970), a musical starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson. Blatty also worked on his own using the name "Bill Blatty" writing comedy screenplays such as those for the Danny Kaye film "The Man from the Diners' Club" (1963), and the Warren Beatty/Leslie Caron film "Promise Her Anything" (1965). Other screenplays include the film adaptation of "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!" (1965), and "The Great Bank Robbery" (1969).


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Later Blatty resumed writing fiction. In 1971, he wrote "The Exorcist", the story of a twelve-year-old girl possessed by a powerful demon, that topped "The New York Times" Best Seller list for 17 weeks and remained on the list for 57 consecutive weeks. The book sold more than 13 million copies in the United States alone and was translated into over a dozen languages. He later adapted it with director William Friedkin into the film version. Blatty went on to win an Academy Award for his "Exorcist" screenplay, as well as Golden Globes for Best Picture and Best Writing. It also became the first horror film ever to be nominated for the best picture Oscar.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: In 1978, Blatty adapted his novel "Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane" into a new book titled "The Ninth Configuration", and in 1980 he wrote, directed, and produced a film version, which focused on the question of the existence of God. The film was a commercial flop despite critical acclaim. Movie critic Jerry Stein called it a "masterpiece" in "The Cincinnati Post," and Peter Travers described it as "the finest large-scale American surrealist film ever made" in "People" magazine. At the 38th Golden Globe Awards in 1981 it was nominated for three Golden Globes, and won the Best Writing Award against competition that included "The Elephant Man" (1980), "Ordinary People" (1980), and "Raging Bull" (1980). In 1983, Blatty wrote "Legion", a sequel to "The Exorcist" which later became the basis of the film "The Exorcist III". At first he was unable to set up the production because he wanted to direct the film. with producer Carter DeHaven at Morgan Creek Productions. Blatty directed the film. He originally wanted the movie version to be titled "Legion", but the film's producers wanted it to be more closely linked to the original. The first sequel, "" (1977), was disappointing both critically and commercially. Blatty had no involvement with it and his own follow-up ignored it entirely.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Blatty's son Peter Vincent Blatty died from a rare heart disorder in 2006 at the age of 19. His death was the subject of Blatty's non-fiction book that is "part comic memoir, part argument for life after death", titled, "Finding Peter: A True Story of the Hand of Providence and Evidence of Life After Death" (2015).


title: William Peter Blatty

text: In 2011, "The Exorcist" was re-released in a 40th Anniversary Edition in paperback, hardcover, and audiobook formats with new cover artwork. As described by Blatty, this new, updated edition features new and revised material. The 40th Anniversary Edition of "The Exorcist" will have a touch of new material in it as part of an all-around polish of the dialogue and prose. First time around I never had the time (meaning the funds) to do a second draft, and this, finally, is it. With forty years to think about it, a few little changes were inevitable – plus one new character in a totally new very spooky scene. This is the version I would like to be remembered for. Tor/Forge have also re-published "The Ninth Configuration" and "Legion", with new, updated cover artwork.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: "The Exorcist" was eventually adapted into a stage play starring Richard Chamberlain and Brooke Shields in 2012 and a TV mini-series some years later. The TV series debuted on Fox in 2016. Internationally, the series premiered in Brazil on FX on September 23, 2016, the same day as in the U.S. It premiered in Australia on showcase on December 4, 2016.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Blatty married four times and had seven children. With his first wife, Mary Margaret Rigard, whom he married on February 18, 1950, he had three children: Christine Ann, Michael Peter, and Mary Joanne. His first marriage ended in divorce after 13 years. His second wife was Elizabeth Gilman, whom he married in 1965. In July 1975 he married his third wife, tennis professional Linda Tuero, with whom he had two children: restaurant entrepreneur Billy and photojournalist J. T. Blatty. Following the dissolution of his first three marriages, Blatty married Julie Alicia Witbrodt, his fourth wife, in 1983, with whom he had two children. The couple remained together until Blatty's death. After residing for many years in Hollywood and Aspen, Blatty settled in Bethesda, Maryland in 2000.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Blatty was a Roman Catholic. In 2012, he filed a canon law petition against his alma mater, Georgetown University, which he said has been at variance with Catholic Church teaching for decades, inviting speakers who support abortion rights and disobeying Pope John Paul II's instructions issued to Church-affiliated colleges and universities in 1990. The Vatican rejected the petition in 2014. In a response letter to Blatty, Archbishop Angelo Zani stated that this was because Blatty had not “suffered an objective change” at Georgetown's hands, but acknowledged that Blatty's case constituted "a well-founded complaint".


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Blatty died of multiple myeloma on January 12, 2017, at a hospital in Bethesda, five days after his 89th birthday.


title: William Peter Blatty

text: Studies of Blatty's work include G. S. J. Barclay's "Anatomy of Horror: The Masters of Occult Fiction".


title: William Peter Blatty

text: "William Peter Blatty: The Catholic Weird Tale" in "The Modern Weird Tale: A Critique of Horror Fiction" (2001). Essays studying all Blatty's novels can be found in Benjamin Szumskyj's "" (McFarland, 2008).


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: The Hitcher is a 1986 American road thriller film directed by Robert Harmon and written by Eric Red. It stars Rutger Hauer as the title character, a murderous hitchhiker who stalks a young motorist (C. Thomas Howell) across the highways of West Texas. Jeffrey DeMunn and Jennifer Jason Leigh appear in supporting roles.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Released in the United States on February 21, 1986, the film was initially met with tepid critical and commercial response, grossing $5.8 million on a $7.9 million budget. Opinion of "The Hitcher" improved in later years, however, with Hauer's performance receiving praise. The film was followed by a , which featured Howell reprising his role, and a 2007 remake.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Jim Halsey, a young man delivering a car from Chicago to San Diego, spots a man hitchhiking in the West Texas desert and gives him a ride. The brooding and evasive hitcher, who calls himself John Ryder, forces Jim's leg down on the accelerator when they pass a stranded car. Ryder states he murdered the driver and intends to do the same to Jim, threatening him with a switchblade. Terrified, Jim asks what Ryder wants. He replies, "I want you to stop me." When Jim realizes that Ryder's seat belt is unbuckled and the passenger door is ajar, he shoves Ryder out of the moving car.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Relieved, Jim continues his journey. When he sees Ryder in the back of a family car, Jim tries to warn the occupants, but has a minor accident. He later comes across the family's blood-soaked car and vomits after peeking inside. Ryder then corners Jim but simply tosses him the keys from Jim's car. Ryder leaves with a trucker, and later nearly runs Jim down with the truck as it crashes into the pumps of a gas station. As Jim flees, Ryder causes the station to explode.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: At a roadside diner, Jim meets Nash, a waitress who cooks him lunch while he calls the police. He starts eating until he finds a severed finger among his French fries, indicating Ryder's proximity. The police arrive immediately but they arrest Jim, whom Ryder is now framing for his murders. During interrogation, Sergeant Starr infers Jim's innocence. However, he instructs his two deputies to lock Jim up overnight as protocol, until other law enforcement arrives from Austin for further questioning. Jim wakes to find the cell door unlocked and the three officers murdered. He panics and flees with a revolver. At a gas station, he sees two officers, takes them hostage, and speaks on the radio to Captain Esteridge, the officer in charge of the manhunt. As Esteridge convinces Jim to surrender, Ryder shows up and kills the two officers.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: The patrol car crashes, and Ryder disappears again. After briefly considering suicide, Jim reaches a cafe, where Ryder confronts him. He points out Jim's revolver is unloaded, and proves it by challenging Jim to shoot him. Ryder also remains oblique about his reasons for tormenting him, and after cryptically placing two coins on Jim's eyes, leaves him several bullets and departs. Jim boards a bus, where he meets Nash and explains his situation. After a police car pulls the bus over, Jim surrenders. The furious officers accuse him of killing their colleagues and attempt to kill him. Nash appears with Jim's revolver, disarms the officers, and flees with Jim in their patrol car. As the police chase after them, Ryder joins the chase and murders the officers by causing a massive car accident and shooting down a police helicopter.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Jim and Nash abandon the patrol car and hike to a motel. While Jim is in the shower, Ryder abducts Nash and Jim immediately searches for her. Captain Esteridge discovers Jim and enlists him to try to negotiate with Ryder, who is at the wheel of a large Mack truck. Ryder has gagged and tied Nash between the truck and its trailer hitch, and is threatening to tear her apart. Esteridge tells Jim that his men cannot shoot Ryder because his foot would slip off the clutch, causing the truck to roll. Jim enters the cab with Ryder, who gives him a revolver and tells him to shoot, but Jim is unable to do so. Ryder, disappointed, releases the clutch, killing Nash.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Ryder is taken into custody. Esteridge gives Jim a ride, but Jim, believing the police cannot hold Ryder, takes Esteridge's revolver and vehicle to chase down Ryder's prison bus. Ryder kills the deputies and leaps through Jim's windshield as the bus crashes. Jim slams on his brakes, sending Ryder through the windshield and onto the road. Ryder challenges Jim to run him over, which he does. When Jim leaves his car to look at Ryder's body, Ryder jumps up, but Jim shoots him repeatedly with a shotgun, finally killing him. Jim leans against Esteridge's car in a daze, and smokes a cigarette as the sun sets.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: When writer Eric Red was 20 years old, he made a short film entitled ""Gunman's Blues"" in the hopes of getting the opportunity to direct a feature-length film. When no offers came, he moved from New York City to Austin, Texas, taking a drive-away car cross-country. While driving from one city to another, he got the idea for a film from The Doors song "Riders on the Storm". He found that the "elements of the song – a killer on the road in a storm plus the cinematic feel of the music – would make a terrific opening for a film". Red had a lot of time to think about the song and it inspired ideas for the story. During his seven-month stay in Austin, he drove a taxi cab and wrote "The Hitcher". In 1983, he sent a letter to several Hollywood producers asking if he could send them a copy of the screenplay for "The Hitcher". His letter concluded: "It (the story) grabs you by the guts and does not let up and it does not let go. When you read it, you will not sleep for a week. When the movie is made, the country will not sleep for a week". Script development executive David Bombyk received a copy of Red's letter and was intrigued by the description of the film. Red sent him a script that was approximately 190 pages in length (one page traditionally equals one minute of screen time).


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: In the original script, an entire family is slaughtered in their station wagon, an eyeball is discovered inside of a hamburger, a woman is tied to a truck and a pole and then torn in half, two teenagers engage in sex, and there is a decapitation as well as several slashings, shootings and car crashes. In its original form, Bombyk found the script to be "extremely brutal and extremely gory", but he and personal manager Kip Ohman (who later became co-producers of the film) also saw in it "a level of challenge, intensity and poetry". Bombyk and Ohman were worried about getting it into good enough shape to show their boss, producer Ed Feldman, and his partner, Charles Meeker, and prove to them that it was more than an exploitation film. Bombyk worked with Red via several long-distance phone calls to Texas and eventually the writer moved to Los Angeles. Red agreed to work with Ohman on the script until it was ready to be shown to Feldman and Meeker. They liked the script but wondered, "how could we manage to translate it to the screen without making a slasher movie?" Meeker said.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Feldman and Meeker decided to come on board as executive producers. Ohman and Red spent six months reworking the script, removing most of what Ohman felt was repetitive violence. Once they got it in good enough shape, Ohman gave it back to Bombyk and also to David Madden, a production executive for 20th Century Fox. Within a few days, Madden called back and told them the script was "terrific". The studio was not comfortable with the subject matter but felt that the writing was unique and interesting enough to give the filmmakers a letter-of-intent to distribute the film. This would allow them to get financing and then, once filming was completed, the studio would reimburse them for the budget.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: The film's producers then went looking for an inexpensive director. Still photographer-turned-cameraman Robert Harmon was given a copy of the script by his agent and called his agent early next morning, telling him that he wanted to do it. In February 1984, Harmon met the producers to talk about the script. He recalled that "even the exact actions that remained in the script were described in much bloodier and gorier detail". The producers were impressed with him and the fact that he also envisioned the film as a Hitchcockian thriller. However, Harmon objected to the eyeball in the hamburger scene and never planned to show the girl getting ripped in half.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: In early drafts of the script, John Ryder had been described as skeletal in nature and so actors like David Bowie, Sting, Sam Shepard, Harry Dean Stanton, and Terence Stamp were mentioned. Harmon was set on casting Stamp and even carried around his picture to pitch meetings. Stamp received a copy of the script but turned down the role. Sam Elliott was offered the role but an agreement could not be reached on his salary. Michael Ironside was also considered for the role. Singer mentioned Dutch actor Rutger Hauer. While in L.A. for a short visit, Hauer read the script. Even though he was looking for non-villainous roles, the script "really got a hold of me ... I thought, 'If I do one more villain, I should do this.' I couldn't refuse it". The one reservation Hauer had was with the scene where the girl is torn apart and Feldman told him, "you "are" the bad guy and you'll be the baddest bad guy there ever was!" Red mentioned to Hauer that he had Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in mind when he wrote the part of Ryder. Furthermore, Red felt that the character should have an electronic voice box.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: For the role of Jim Halsey, the producers mentioned Matthew Modine, Tom Cruise, and Emilio Estevez. They agreed on C. Thomas Howell and liked his look. At the time, Howell was being more selective with the roles he took and heard that the script was a generic thriller. Harmon personally gave Howell a copy of the script. He could not put it down and "couldn't believe the things that happened to my character in the first 12 pages. I knew I wanted to do it". He also wanted to work with Hauer. Unbeknownst to Hauer, Howell found him "frightening, intimidating, and that he was in a constant state of fear, almost as if he really was John Ryder and I really was Jim Halsey".


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Jennifer Jason Leigh agreed to do the film because she wanted to work with Hauer again (they co-starred in "Flesh + Blood"), and loved the character of Nash because "there was a real person there".


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: In addition, veteran character actors Billy Green Bush (known for playing ill-fated police officers in "Electra Glide in Blue" and ""), Gene Davis (known for playing the naked psychopathic killer Warren Stacy in "10 to Midnight"), Armin Shimerman (who would later be the voice of General Skarr in "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy"), and Emmy-winner Henry Darrow, have supporting roles as police officers who pursue Jim Halsey.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Fox ultimately rejected the project over the budget and saw it as a "straight-out horror movie". Madden also admitted that he would have "argued to soften the movie. There were some people at the studio who thought it was pretty gross". Feldman and Meeker optioned the film themselves, paying Red $25,000. Major studios like Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. passed on it, as did smaller ones like Orion Pictures and New World Pictures. Many executives liked the script but balked at the girl being ripped apart scene. At least two studios were willing to consider making it but only if Harmon was replaced. However, the film's producers had faith in their director and stuck by Harmon.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Independent producer Donna Dubrow heard about "The Hitcher" while working on another film and to her it sounded like ""Duel" with a person". When she went to work for Silver Screen Partners/Home Box Office, she contacted Feldman, a former employer, and asked for a copy of the script. She submitted it to her boss, HBO senior vice-president Maurice Singer. He liked it and sent it back to New York to be read by Michael Fuchs, HBO chairman and chief operating officer. They needed Fuchs' approval to get the film made. It would not be easy to convince him because it was not the kind of material that he liked and he did not want to make it. However, Dubrow had to go back to New York on other business and met with Fuchs. She mentioned "The Hitcher" script and pitched the Hitchcockian thriller angle. When she returned to L.A., Singer told her that Fuchs agreed to make the film but with the stipulation that the girl would not be torn apart and the violence would be reduced. The film's budget was set at $5.8 million.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Over the next few months, the filmmakers negotiated two key scenes in the script: the girl getting ripped apart and the eyeball in the hamburger. For the latter scene, Harmon just changed the body part to a finger. As for the former, everyone at HBO/Silver Screen, except Dubrow, wanted it changed. Fuchs did not want the girl to die and Dubrow argued that this would change the story significantly. There were arguments about how the girl should die and Dubrow remembers, "they were trying to make her death not horrible, when – by the nature of the script – it had to be". The studio even suggested softening her death by having a funeral. The filmmakers refused to back down and Silver Screen executives finally relented at the last minute.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Contractually, TriStar Pictures was obligated to distribute any film by HBO/Silver Screen. TriStar representatives saw an early screening and studio president David Matalon said, "It's the best film that we have for 1986". "The Hitcher" opened in 800 theaters on February 21, 1986, and made $2.1 million during its opening weekend, going on to gross $5.8 million in North America.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, "The Hitcher" holds a 62% approval rating based on 37 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The consensus reads: "Its journey is never quite as revelatory as it could be, but "The Hitcher" stands as a white-knuckle vision of horror, bolstered by Rutger Hauer's menacing performance.” On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews"


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: Roger Ebert awarded it no stars, arguing that the identification of the film's hero with the killer is hollow because the killer has no backstory or even a motive. Gene Siskel also gave the film zero stars, calling it "a nauseating thriller" and "a thinly veiled but more gruesome ripoff of Steven Spielberg's "Duel"". In her review for "The New York Times", Janet Maslin criticized the film's lack of intensity and originality, and wrote, "Mr. Harmon, making his feature debut, displays a much surer hand for action than for character, though even some of the action footage here looks meaninglessly overblown". "Variety" called it "a highly unimaginative slasher ... with a script that has many holes." In his review for "The Washington Post", Paul Attanasio wrote, "The script (by Eric Red) is laconic in a dull way, much Cain but hardly able. And Harmon and his cinematographer, John Seale, have shot the movie in such brown murk, you can hardly make anything out. By the end, you're willing to forgive Ryder his worst if someone would just change the light bulb". In his review for "The Globe and Mail", Jay Scott described the film as a "slasher movie about gay panic, a nasty piece of homophobic angst for the age of AIDS". A rare positive review came from "Newsweek" magazine's Jack Kroll who called it, "an odyssey of horror and suspense that's as tightly wound as a garrote and as beautifully designed as a guillotine". Leonard Maltin awarded the film a score of 2 1/2 out of 4 stars (his most frequently used rating), criticizing the film's violence as being "genuinely grisly and unappealing" while also noting that the film wasn't without interest.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: While most reviewers criticized the sadistic nature of the film's violence in general and Nash's death in particular, one of the film's producers said that the film's commercial failure was because of a lack of violence and that Nash's death should have been shown: "There's other gore in the movie, other killings, but this is the main one. It's the motivation for the hero. You can't show all the killings we showed and then not show the main one. It's cheating the audience". Hauer said critics misunderstood the film. According to him, it is an allegory in which Ryder represents evil. However, Ebert wrote that "I could see that the film was meant as an allegory, not a documentary. But on its own terms, this movie is diseased and corrupt. I would have admired it more if it had found the courage to acknowledge the real relationship it was portraying between Howell and Rutger, but no: It prefers to disguise itself as a violent thriller, and on that level it is reprehensible."


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: "The Hitcher" has been released on VHS, laserdisc and DVD. Its first DVD release had just the trailer as a special feature, then in 2003, Europe received a two-disc special edition DVD set, which was digitally remastered from the original negative. It also contained a bonus disc with special features that are not found anywhere else and a booklet, containing photos and a mini-essay on the film itself.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: The first high-definition release occurred in Germany, 2019, when a Blu-ray and DVD Mediabook set was released by Alive Fernsehjuwelen GmbH. Although appearing in 1080p high definition for the first time, this release is transferred and remastered from 35mm film and therefore this edition suffers from texture loss, warm tint filters and regular white-outs.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: British label Second Sight Films are scheduled to release The Hitcher on remastered 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray in 2022 as the original camera negative film elements had been found.


title: The Hitcher (1986 film)

text: A remake using the original title, produced by Michael Bay and directed by Dave Meyers, was released on January 19, 2007, starring Sean Bean as John Ryder, Zachary Knighton as Jim Halsey, and Neal McDonough as Esteridge. The remake added a female protagonist named Grace Andrews, who was portrayed by Sophia Bush.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and author. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley was born on 20 March 1972 in Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, the son of an English mother and Greek father. As a two-month-old he moved to Sunderland, moving to Scotland when he was 7. He attended the University of Aberdeen to study Theology. After dropping out, he continued studying at the University of Strathclyde, gaining a BA. In 2005, he was awarded Strathclyde's Alumnus of the Year.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: Kapranos worked as a chef, barman, music promoter, driver, welder and IT lecturer prior to his success in music. From the early 1990s, he was a fixture of the Glasgow music scene, running live nights at The 13th Note Café, most notably The Kazoo Club. While working at the city's Anniesland College, he played in some of Glasgow's popular bands, including The Blisters (later known as The Karelia), The Amphetameanies and The Yummy Fur. He is also known to have contributed to the noise act Urusei Yatsura and Lung Leg recordings.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: After dropping "Huntley" from his name, Kapranos formed Franz Ferdinand in 2001. The band was composed of Kapranos, Nick McCarthy (guitar, keyboard, backup vocals), Paul Thomson (drums, backup vocals, sometimes guitar) and Bob Hardy (bass). The band saw chart success after their second single "Take Me Out" was released on 12 January 2004 and reached Number 3 in the UK Charts followed by their debut album "Franz Ferdinand" (released 9 February 2004), which debuted on the UK album chart at Number 3.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: The band went on to win the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two Brit Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: Kapranos produced "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" – the third album by British indie rock group The Cribs in Vancouver, B.C., released on 14 May 2007. He also produced their single-only track "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant?", which was featured with "Our Bovine Public" (from "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever") as a double A-side.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: His remix of the single "New in Town" by British pop singer Little Boots was featured on various formats of the singles release.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: He produced the debut album by British indie rock band Citizens! – "Here We Are", which was released by Kitsuné on 28 May 2012.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: In 2019, he produced the single "Pista (Great Start)" by London-based band Los Bitchos, which he described thus: “Truly international with cumbia beats, Turkish psychedelia, a hint of Swedish pop and a touch of shoegaze shimmer. More than anything, they put you in a really good mood when you listen to them. Celebratory trills and whoops energise the vibrant Dick Dale-esque guitars and brass, making for a blistering escape to a rip-roaring desert session."


title: Alex Kapranos

text: In September 2005, Kapranos began "Soundbites", a weekly food column for G2 in "The Guardian" newspaper, which detailed his culinary adventures as Franz Ferdinand traversed the globe on their world tour. "", a book of the column and unreleased material illustrated by Andy Knowles, was released in 2006.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: "Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand" was read by Kapranos on BBC Radio 4's "Book of the Week" for 4–8 December 2006, described as "his account about what he ate while touring the world."


title: Alex Kapranos

text: Kapranos narrated the 2008 BBC Scotland documentary "Edwyn Collins: Home Again" on the recovery of Orange Juice singer Edwyn Collins.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: In 2016, Kapranos took part in a documentary about Glasgow music, and Chemikal Underground Records, called "Lost in France". The film was directed by Niall McCann and brought Kapranos (along with members of The Delgados, Mogwai and others) to Mauron, Brittany, to recreate a gig they played when Kapranos was in his earlier band, The Karelia. The film features Kapranos playing live with Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai, and other musicians such as Emma Pollock and RM Hubbert, and Holy Mountain, as well as interviews with Kapranos and his old label-mates. "Lost in France" premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to wholly positive reviews and was called "Funny, vital and sobering" by Scotland's arts publication, "The Skinny".


title: Alex Kapranos

text: Kapranos was interviewed for Edgar Wright's 2021 documentary film "The Sparks Brothers", centered around the band Sparks, with whom Franz Ferdinand formed supergroup FFS.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: From 7 August to 11 September 2022, Kapranos presented a six part Sunday night radio programme titled "The Alex Kapranos Show" on Absolute Radio.


title: Alex Kapranos

text: In June 2005, Kapranos was detained for around an hour by officials at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow after being mistakenly identified as belonging on a U.S. "no-fly" list. This occurred due to the surname on his passport, Huntley, also having been previously used as an alias by the former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson. Tomlinson had been fired, imprisoned, and labelled a security risk after circulating to publishers a draft of a book on MI6. Kapranos was released after officials determined that he did not fit Tomlinson's description.


title: TVR

text: TVR is a British manufacturer of sports cars. The company manufactures lightweight sports cars with powerful engines and was, at one time, the third-largest specialised sports car manufacturer in the world, offering a diverse range of coupés and convertibles.


title: TVR

text: The abbreviation TVR stems from the name of the company's owner Trevor Wilkinson, his first garage sporting the letters T, V and R.


title: TVR

text: The history of TVR can be divided into several eras, each of which is associated with the company's owner at the start of that period:


title: TVR

text: Trevor Wilkinson (14 May 1923 – 6 June 2008) was born in Blackpool and left school at 14 to start an engineering apprenticeship at a local garage.


title: TVR

text: In 1946, he purchased an old wheelwright's workshop in Beverley Grove, Blackpool, to start an engineering business that he named Trevcar Motors. Initially, the company performed general engineering work (not always automobile related), and would also refresh and service cars and trucks. In 1947, local auto enthusiast Jack Pickard joined the company. Trevcar Motors was subsequently renamed to TVR Engineering (dropping several letters from Wilkinson's first name), and it continued to find general mechanical engineering work through the following years.


title: TVR

text: In 1949, TVR built its first original chassis. The Hotchkis-style rear suspension used the live axle from a Morris Eight, and the front suspension was of an independent trailing-arm design. The engine was a Ford 1,172 cc sidevalve from a 1936 van, tuned to 35 hp. Even before the car was bodied, it was crashed by the man hired to create the bodywork, Les Dale. After repairs, the body was styled and built from aluminium, and painted British racing green. Although neither Wilkinson nor Pickard found the finished bodywork to be very aesthetically appealing, it was functional, and the two men conducted the first successful test drive on the runway at Squires Gate aerodrome in 1949. Later that year, TVR Number One was sold to Wilkinson's cousin for £325. It was later crashed and salvaged for parts.


title: TVR

text: TVR Number Two began with the same chassis design found on the first car, using the rear axle, springs, dampers, brakes, and steering from the Morris Eight, as well as the same sidevalve Ford engine. However, the front suspension design was changed to use wishbone control arms and a single transverse leaf spring. The bodywork was again constructed by Les Dale, and it was similar in appearance to the first car. An auto enthusiast local to Blackpool purchased the car for use in competition, although it was eventually registered for road use in 1952. Around this time, the car was refreshed: it received a new body style with a lower nose, and some different instrumentation and equipment (including a tachometer from a Supermarine Spitfire and Marchal headlamps from a Delage.)


title: TVR

text: After the sale of the Number Two car, TVR began work on Number Three, which again used the same chassis and suspension design. Instead of the sidevalve Ford engine, it was fitted with the 1,200 cc 40 hp OHV four-cylinder engine from an Austin A40. This car was painted yellow, and in contrast to the rounded bodywork of the first and second cars, it was styled with a blunt nose and a squarish vertical panel as the grille. Driven by Wilkinson in a number of car club events (such as sprints and hillclimbs) in 1952 and 1953, the car was quick enough to earn several awards. It was during these club events that one David Hives was introduced to the TVR management, and he would become a key TVR employee a decade later. Hives helped set up the production line at Griffith Motors in Syosset, New York.


title: TVR

text: In the summer of 1953, Wilkinson and Pickard began working on the design of a new chassis, which was intended to accept the engine, gearbox, and other components from the Austin A40 (including the independent coil-spring front suspension and rear axle.) Significantly, it did not incorporate an upper body frame, and the engineers intended to provide the car for sale as a kit with a fiberglass body. Approximately twenty ; these three cars used an RGS Atalanta body manufactured by special builder Richard G. Shattock. With the Atalanta body included in the kit, the car was named the "TVR Sports Saloon". The kit was first offered for sale in 1954 for £650. It was with this car that TVR first produced a brochure to advertise a product: it quoted some figures, such as the car's weight and 0- time of 13 seconds. It was also on the Sports Saloon that the first incarnation of TVR's badge appeared, designed by a young art student and Wilkinson's friend, John Cookson.


title: TVR

text: The first Sports Saloon was finished in Spring 1954, and Wilkinson first campaigned it in the Morecambe Rally from 21 to 23 May. He used it in a number of other events to increase exposure to TVR's products, and would drive the car regularly in competition and on the road over the next eight years.


title: TVR

text: The chassis built by TVR were all made in accordance with customer specifications, and therefore no two of them left the factory in exactly the same configuration. The extra exposure created by using the Sports Saloon in competition led to potential customers inquiring about the availability of other body styles. TVR sold kits with Microplas Mistal bodies, and at least two different styles from Rochdale Motor Panels & Engineering Ltd. The engines fitted were typically the Ford sidevalve or Austin A40 OHV engines. There was at least one instance of a car being fitted with the BMC B-Series engine (as fitted to the MG MGA), and one chassis was built to accommodate a customer's -litre Lea-Francis engine.


title: TVR

text: In 1955, the company started development of new semi-spaceframe chassis with a central backbone. This chassis used outriggers and a steel bulkhead to carry mounting points for doors. In contrast to the earlier chassis, the new design allowed for the seats to be mounted low (six inches from the ground) on either side of the backbone tunnel. The trailing arm suspension from the Volkswagen Beetle was used for both the front and rear suspension, setting the precedent of all-independent suspension for TVRs in the future.


title: TVR

text: Later in that year, TVR Engineering received a letter (dated 29 August) from Ray Saidel in Manchester, New Hampshire. Saidel was a successful racing driver and owned the Merrimack Street Garage in Manchester. He indicated that he would be interested in purchasing a TVR chassis fitted with a Coventry Climax FWA engine. TVR completed the chassis in May 1956, and it had arrived in New Hampshire by June of that year, where it was given an aluminum body. This car was the first of several to be designated "Jomar Mk2" (the name being derived from Saidel's children, Joanna and Marc, and the fact that this generation of the car was the second after the first Dellow-chassis Jomar.)


title: TVR

text: Around this time, Bernard Williams, a motoring enthusiast who lived in Lytham St Annes, expressed interest in becoming involved in the company. By July 1955, he had been hired as the director of TVR Engineering. Wilkinson and Pickard were amenable to this because of their limited interest in financial and business administration; both were more interested in the chassis and components engineering. With renewed optimism about the future success of TVR, Wilkinson moved operations from the Beverley Grove garage to three buildings at Fielding's Industrial Estate in Hoo Hill, Layton, Blackpool. The buildings occupied by TVR Engineering were somewhat in poor state; holes in the glass roof panels admitted snow in the winter.


title: TVR

text: Even before receiving his first chassis in June, 1956, Saidel had placed orders for two more chassis. TVR Engineering, bolstered by the influx of sales, hired two more employees: Stanley Kilcoyne, a welder, and Josef Mleczek, a general components fitter. In the following years, Mleczek (nicknamed "The Pole") would become an expert fibreglass laminator, and would ultimately direct operation in TVR's body shop. Also around this time, Bernard Williams introduced a wealthy investor named Fred Thomas, who would join TVR as a director.


title: TVR

text: In mid-1956, Wilkinson and Pickard undertook to create the first original TVR body style, which would be fitted on the Jomar-style chassis. The body shape was created with the use of two Microplas Mistral nose sections, one for the bonnet and one (reversed) for the rear. Although never officially named, this car is usually referred to as the TVR Open Sports. The first car, painted red and fitted with a Coventry Climax engine, was tested successfully by Wilkinson at the Aintree Motor Racing Circuit in the summer of 1956. Either three or four TVR Open Sports were built in total, although the true number is not known due to incomplete records. One of the cars was provided to "Autosport Magazine" writer Francis Penn for testing. He drove it at Aintree and described its steering response and grip as "superb".


title: TVR

text: To address feedback from customers about the Open Sports lacking daily-use practicality, the designers at TVR created a fixed-head notchback coupe body. This body was fitted to the same semi-spaceframe chassis to create a car that became known as the TVR Coupe. As with previous models, it was offered with the choice of several engines, including the Ford 100E sidevalve, the Coventry Climax FWA, and the MGA engine. When the Ford sidevalve was selected, the customer had the further option of fitting a Shorrock supercharger. One of the Coupes was used by the factory as a demonstrator model, and was driven by Mike Hawthorn.


title: TVR

text: On 10 January 1958, the TVR Coupe made its first public appearance at H & J Quick Ltd showroom in Manchester, England: "The designers are Mr. Trevor Wilkinson and Mr. Bernard Williams, who run the T.V.R. engineering company at Layton, Blackpool, and who have been making chassis for special car builders for some years. A little over two years ago they were asked by the American racing car enthusiast, Mr. Raymond Saidel, of Manchester, New Hampshire, to design a racing chassis. For twelve months this chassis was tested and improved on tracks in the United States and in the last year a team of six T.V.R.s has been racing regularly in the United States." "Competition Press" reported: "Jomar has gone into Formula racing, too. The Jomar "monoposto" has been designed by Ray and is built in his Manchester N.H. shop (the sports car chassis are built for him in England)." In 1959, "Motor Sport" reported: "The cars are made in Blackpool and the majority of the production is exported to America, where the sports version is known as the Jomar."


title: TVR

text: Ray Saidel, enthusiastic about the prospect of selling TVRs in the United States, purchased several cars in addition to the rolling chassis that he had bought previously; he imported one Open Sports and three Coupes, with the intention of selling them under the Jomar name. He was not especially successful in selling the cars, and felt that one problem lay in the car's styling. Saidel wrote to the factory and suggested that the next model be styled as a fastback.


title: TVR

text: The next model produced by TVR was the Grantura Mark 1, which used a fastback-style body over the existing chassis design (with the same trailing-arm independent suspension front and rear.) Engine options included the Ford 100E sidevalve (normally aspirated or supercharged), the Ford 105E OHV unit, two different Coventry Climax units, or the MGA's BMC B-series. The interior of the Grantura was cramped, with the short doors and 17"-diameter steering wheel making it difficult to enter and exit the car. Climax-powered cars would be finished with a leather interior, while cars with the lower-specification engines were trimmed with vinyl.


title: TVR

text: The TVR factory sent the first Mk1 cars to Ray Saidel in the United States, where they would be offered for sale as the "Jomar Coupe" or the "Jomar Gran Turismo Coupe", depending on which engine had been fitted. Some of these cars carried both the "Jomar" and "TVR" badging on the nose.


title: TVR

text: A 1958 advertisement from Saidel Sports-Racing Cars offered two models. The Jomar Mk2 (with fibreglass or aluminum bodywork and the Climax engine) was listed with the copy, "only 930 lbs and "Outhandles Everything."" The second model, the Jomar Coupe, a . fixed-head sports car. These cars utilised the same chassis. In 1959, "Motor Sport" reported:


title: TVR

text: The JOMAR COUPE is the result of a joint Anglo-American project. The firm of T.V.R. Engineering of Blackpool, England is responsible for the basic-designing and building of the JOMAR chassis upon which in 1956 and 1957 Saidel Sports-Racing cars of Manchester, New Hampshire, using aluminum bodies of their own design carried out extensive research and development. Through the efforts of both concerns the successful MK2 was evolved.


title: TVR

text: Before the name "Grantura" was selected, some alternatives were briefly considered. A model name of "Trevor" was rejected, as was the suggestion of "Hoo Hill Hellcat" (which was proposed by Averil Scott-Moncrieff, the wife of TVR director David "Bunty" Scott-Moncrieff.)


title: TVR

text: In October 1958, TVR's debt with the bank was nearing £10,000. At that point in the year, the factory had completed as few as ten cars, and orders from the United States had almost ceased due to the lack of sales success there. All of this was of little concern to TVR director and financier Fred Thomas, as he had apparently intended to close TVR and use the failure as a tax loss to benefit his own engineering firm. In actuality, the directors decided on 30 October that the company would be dissolved and re-formed as Layton Sports Cars Ltd. When the new company began trading in December 1958, the directors voted to immediately inject £15,000 to expand the workforce and build stocks of car components. In February 1959, a sister company was formed under the name Grantura Engineering Ltd. to avoid incurring the UK's Purchase Tax on sales of the cars (which were then still being offered as kits); Purchase Tax would not be applied to kit cars that were purchased from a different company than that which supplied the mechanical components.


title: TVR

text: TVR received some positive publicity when "Autocar" magazine dedicated three pages in its March 1959 issue to a technical description of the Grantura Mk1. Unfortunately, the company continued to struggle with the rate of production, still only able to build about one car per month. With the order backlog having grown to around fifteen cars by the end of March, the board voted to replace Trevor Wilkinson with Henry Moulds as the new production manager. Moulds was a car enthusiast and friend of Bunty Scott-Moncrieff. Wilkinson would remain involved with the company, although his influence had been diminished by the appointment of Moulds as the new manager.


title: TVR

text: The already-strained relationship with Ray Saidel in New Hampshire was finally broken during negotiations between Saidel and TVR in May 1959. Derek Harris, the TVR chairman, attempted to pressure Saidel into purchasing fifty cars per year (rather than the previously agreed upon twenty-five.) Saidel walked out of the negotiations and made it clear in a letter to the factory, dated 18 June, that he felt TVR's expectations to be extremely unrealistic. By July 1959, the situation at TVR was dire; there were significant inconsistencies in pricing and in financial recordkeeping, stocks of components were not being properly managed, the factory did not employ enough skilled workers, and there were serious doubts about the capability of the company's leadership.


title: TVR

text: In an attempt to re-establish a distributor network in the United States, the factory accepted an order for two cars from Continental Motors in Washington, D.C., which also happened to be the North American distributor for the Elva Courier. Unfortunately, TVR had to have the cars returned to the UK when Continental Motors was shut down after its owner, Walter R. Dickson, was convicted and jailed for defrauding his bank.


title: TVR

text: An engineer (and earlier TVR customer) named John Thurner left his position at Rolls-Royce and joined TVR in November 1959, whereupon he was named Technical Director. Thurner's experience and enthusiasm were sought to help the company improve the Grantura and to streamline production, and he was given full control of Grantura development. This raised the ire of Wilkinson, who regarded Thurner as a professional competitor and who felt that he was being undermined by the company he originally created.


title: TVR

text: By the middle of 1960, the factory employed forty-three workers, the Grantura Mk1 production was ending (with a total of 100 cars produced), and the Mk2 body shell design was nearly ready. TVR had distributors selling cars in the UK, including David Buxton Ltd. in Derby and Bill Last in Woodbridge, Suffolk. In January 1961, Keith Aitchison and Bryan Hopton (of the Aitchison-Hopton Lotus/TVR dealer in Chester) expressed interest in investing in TVR. During the Summer, Bernard Williams attempted to cement their interest by offering a Climax-powered Grantura Mk2 to the two men for a drive to the Monza circuit in Italy. During the trip, a portion of the exhaust system fell off the car on two separate occasions, but the two men were nonetheless impressed with the car's performance.


title: TVR

text: In September of the same year, the Aitchison-Hopton company bought a controlling share of TVR. Before the end of the year, Hopton had appointed himself as chairman and renamed Layton Sport Cars to TVR Cars Ltd. Between September 1961 and February 1962, the number of orders for cars had been doubled, and most of the stock of finished cars had been sold.


title: TVR

text: In January 1962, the company hired Ken Richardson as a competition manager, with the intent that he would lead TVR's attempts to enter international racing. In March, Hopton entered three Grantura Mk2As in the 12 Hours of Sebring. The lightweight cars were prepared by chief mechanic David Hives and competition mechanic Bob Hallett, although only one of them would actually finish the race (the other two retiring early with mechanical failure.) TVR directors began to doubt the new leadership when they saw Bryan Hopton's tendency to overextend the company's finances in motor racing, as well as on indulgences such as luxury transport and hotels. This ill-fated race outing at Sebring was the last in a series of events that led to the departure of Trevor Wilkinson, whose resignation was accepted by the board of directors on 5 April 1962.


title: TVR

text: After both Wilkinson and Pickard left TVR, they together set up a specialist fiberglass engineering business. On retirement, Wilkinson moved to Menorca, Spain, where he died aged 85, on 6 June 2008.


title: TVR

text: Despite the lack of success at Sebring, the company continued to enter international motor racing events in 1962, including the Dutch Tulip Rally in May, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. The Tulip Rally resulted in one car finishing third in its class, but the Le Mans outing was fraught with unfortunate events for the TVR team. In the time leading up to the race, two of the cars slated to compete were crashed in different incidents and hastily rebuilt. The single car that started the race would badly overheat and retire during the third lap. David Hives described the event as a "fiasco", and noted that "it cost TVR a small fortune". TVR cars were driven to greater success by World War II flying ace Tommy Entwistle, who, in 1962 and 1964, finished as runner-up in the Freddie Dixon Challenge Trophy race series. Entwistle won the series in 1963, 1965, and 1966. The car was maintained by David Hives throughout this time. After this racing success, Entwistle stopped racing for a period of time and sold the car to Gerry Sagerman.


title: TVR

text: By late 1962, the company was again in dire financial trouble. The Mk3 Grantura had been introduced later than expected, two of the home market distributors had gone out of business (Research Garage and David Buxton Ltd.), the Canadian government had imposed a 10% duty on cars imported from the United Kingdom, and the company discontinued its relationship with Dick Monnich, the US importer, because of his failure to pay for his orders. Factory workers were all laid off in October 1962, and Henry Moulds and Bernards Williams met with the company's creditors in December. TVR Cars Ltd. moved into receivership and much of its equipment, including body moulds, was moved to secure storage.


title: TVR

text: Fortunately for the future of TVR, its associated company, Grantura Engineering Ltd., was still in business. Bernard Williams was able to convince the receivers of TVR Cars Ltd. to allow access to the body moulds as well as some partially finished body shells, and several cars were completed in late 1963 and early in 1964. Keith Aitchison again became involved with the company in spring 1963, and remained as marketing and sales director for the following two years. Many of the factory workers and some of the directors were persistent, remaining with the company in an attempt to return TVR to profitability. Early 1963 saw the creation of Grantura Plastics Ltd., a company that handled the fiberglass moulding.


title: TVR

text: Also in 1963, a new shareholder, Richard Barnaby, initiated talks with Major Tony Rolt of Ferguson Developments over the possibility of developing a four-wheel drive V8-powered TVR. Barnaby asked David Hives to make the chassis for such a car, which he did, although TVR did not have the funds available to commit to such a project in full. It was later revealed that Rolt had been discussing a similar project with Jensen Motors, which ultimately resulted in the Jensen FF.


title: TVR

text: The company's recovery effort brought a partnership with a new distributor, The TVR Centre of Reece Mews, South Kensington, London. Its owner was James Boothby, an ex-RAF pilot.


title: TVR

text: After re-establishing a distributor partnership with TVR, the American Dick Monnich visited Blackpool and informed the directors that one of his colleagues, Andrew Jackson "Jack" Griffith, was a Ford dealer based on Long Island, and he had been experimenting with installing a Ford 289 engine in a Grantura Mk3 chassis. This car would ultimately become known as the Griffith Series 200.


title: TVR

text: In October 1963, Dick Monnich, Jack Griffith, and Griffith's race mechanic George Clark finished the prototype of the car named Griffith, developed by fitting a Ford 289 V8 into a Grantura Mk3. The accelerative performance of the car exceeded expectations, although the brakes and chassis had been left unmodified and, by all accounts, were woefully inadequate when matched with the large engine. In a short period of time, David Hives at the Hoo Hill TVR factory built a second prototype that was better developed and better finished, as well as three engine-less cars destined for Griffith's business in New York. In March 1964, David Hives went to Long Island to assist Bob Cumberford in building a pattern and plug for the Griffith 600 series, and he also helped set up the production line with George Clark. Hives helped build the "tartan car" that was displayed at the International Automobile Show in New York, which he and Dick Monnich attended. After this, the Griffith factory established in Syosset, Long Island began completing cars from engine-less cars imported from the Hoo Hill TVR factory.


title: TVR

text: Amidst the Griffith production (which required the TVR factory to build cars at a greater rate than ever before), Major Timothy Knott was hired as the managing director in August 1964. His military background and strict enforcement of order and workday schedule prevented him from ingratiating himself with most of the factory workers. Knott subsequently hired Ralph Kissack, also from a military background, and whose family was involved with Peel Engineering Company on the Isle of Man.


title: TVR

text: David Hives returned to the TVR factory in England on 1 September 1964. Immediately, he was put onto building the Griffith 400 Series, which involved a lot of work at MIRA (Motor Industry Research Association). It also required working with Armstrong Patents to source the springs and dampers, Janspeed for the exhaust systems, and Kenlowe for the twin fan radiators. After six Months of working on the 400 series, Hives handed the car over to Chris Laurence to finish off development work so that he could concentrate on the upcoming Trident project.


title: TVR

text: Reliability problems and customer complaints began to mount through 1964. In 1964, a dock strike in the US severely damaged Jack Griffith's ability to import cars. Griffith was then unable to meet his financial obligation to Ford, which stopped supplying drivetrain components. Ties with TVR were also then severed, and the already-struggling TVR was no longer able to continue. In September 1964, a director meeting was held at TVR, and it was announced that the company would be stopping production and closing the factory at Hoo Hill. TVR went into liquidation in November of that year.


title: TVR

text: In 1965, TVR produced four prototypes of a car named the Trident. It was powered by the same Ford V8 as was found in the Griffith, and the body was hand-built of aluminum and steel by Carrozzeria Fissore in Savigliano, Italy. The styling was the work of Trevor Fiore (born Trevor Frost), who borrowed the shape from his previous styling exercise for the Lea Francis Francesa (a conceptual roadster that never reached production).


title: TVR

text: Carrozzeria Fissore displayed a prototype Trident coupé at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1965. Despite very positive public reaction to the car, it was not well received by Jack Griffith, and the one prototype that had been shipped to the United States was returned to the UK in 1965. When TVR collapsed in 1965, the third and fourth Tridents were under construction at the time, and they were put into storage. In the wake of the company's liquidation, TVR dealer Bill Last acquired the rights to the Trident by some means not viewed as legitimate by later TVR management. In 1966, Last established in Trident Cars Ltd and started building the car under the model name "Clipper".


title: TVR

text: In late 1965, Arthur Lilley and his son Martin Lilley purchased the assets of TVR to mitigate their personal losses of £2,000 worth of TVR shares. TVR Engineering Ltd. was then formed on 30 November 1965, with Arthur as chairman. Arthur approached David Hives and offered him the position of General Manager and Senior Designs and Development Engineer, which David accepted. After two years of this arrangement, Hives asked Arthur Lilley to appoint his son Martin as managing director whilst Hives went to America to talk to Gerry Sagerman about the importation of TVRs. This ultimately resulted in Sagerman establishing TVR Cars of America.


title: TVR

text: TVR had no outstanding orders to fulfill, and significant outstanding debts towards suppliers. Additionally, members of previous work force had apparently stolen parts and damaged machinery out of spite when they were laid off. In the final days of 1965 and into early 1966, the new workforce gained confidence in management as it became apparent that the Lilleys were genuinely interested in the success of the business. The factory began to ramp up production of the Mk3 1800S. During the period, some partially finished cars were delivered as kits to Martin's Barnet Motor Co. car dealer business, where they were finished.


title: TVR

text: Meanwhile, the company also gained positive publicity as Gerry Marshall had significant success in racing a factory-prepared Griffith. In America, Gerry Sagerman lamented the damage done to the TVR reputation in the US by the poor build quality and poor reliability of Jack Griffith's V8-powered cars. After meeting the Lilleys, Sagerman agreed to be involved in importing TVRs to the US. In April 1967, he opened a small showroom and garage in Lynbrook, Long Island, and began importing TVRs as a full-time activity.


title: TVR

text: Arthur and Martin Lilley were aware that the company's future depended on the introduction of new, competitive models. Plans to put the Trident into full production were derailed when the Lilleys discovered that Bill Last had commandeered the rights to that design during the period of confusion between the previous TVR liquidation and the Lilley ownership. TVR engaged Carrozzeria Fissore to build the coachwork for the steel-bodied prototype TVR Tina. David Hives was very heavily involved with the Tina prototype project, and went to Italy with Arthur Lilley to inspect the car. He also accompanied Martin to the 1966 Turin Motor Show. Shortly after this, Hives was dismissed by Martin Lilley for unknown reasons; he was then approached by Bernard Williams and Bill Last to assist in the building of the Trident Clipper.


title: TVR

text: In January 1967, after production of the Griffith had been discontinued, TVR unveiled the Tuscan V8, initially in short-wheelbase and then long-wheelbase configurations. It was first displayed at the Racing Car Show at Olympia, in London. The Tuscan did not provide the economic boost to TVR that the Lilleys had hoped, and it was only built in low volume. A Tuscan owned by racing driver John Burton was modified by race car mechanic Mike Bigland to improve the handling, and Bigland's success was noticed by Martin Lilley; this would be the beginning of a relationship that would be important in the development of the later M Series chassis.


title: TVR

text: The TVR Vixen Series 1 was unveiled at the British motor show in October 1967. It proved popular, and generated many new orders for cars. With the launch of the Vixen, TVR transitioned back to making their own fiberglass bodies, rather than depending on Grantura Plastics to build them. Despite the sales success of the Vixen, the company still recorded an overall loss for 1967, and financial advisors began to recommend to Arthur Lilley that the company be shut down. Martin resolved to improve TVR's financial fortunes with increased production in 1968.


title: TVR

text: Around this time, in early 1968, the prospect of putting the TVR Tina into production became infeasible due to the significant expense of building a steel-bodied car. The project was cancelled, with the only two existing Tinas being the two prototype cars. Bill Last also approached TVR and suggested a merger so that TVR Engineering could begin building the Trident in larger volumes. TVR declined this offer.


title: TVR

text: Because the Ford Essex V6 engine had not yet been certified to meet US emissions standards, TVR engaged British Leyland in negotiations to supply either the Rover V8 engine or the 2.5 L Triumph inline six. Extra production for the Rover V8 had already been allocated to Morgan, so the six cylinder Triumph unit was selected.


title: TVR

text: During Christmas in 1970, TVR moved from its cramped facility at Hoo Hill to a 28,000 square foot Bristol Avenue factory that had been vacated by Nutbrown Ltd., a manufacturer of kitchen utensils. The workforce was enthusiastic about the move, as the Hoo Hill factory had become inadequate for the number of people working and the rate of production, which had risen to between five and eight cars per week.


title: TVR

text: Between 1969 and 1971, TVR released several new models. The Tuscan V6, equipped with the 3.0 L Ford Essex V6, was intended to fill the performance gap between the four-cylinder Vixens and the V8 models. The long wheelbase widebody Tuscan V8 was built to address the cramped interior dimensions of the car, but was not commercially successful and only a very small number were produced. The Vixen S3 incorporated several minor updates to the Vixen S2, which had continued to be successful. The new 2500 model was fitted with the Triumph 2.5 L inline-six engine. Working together in 1971, Martin Lilley and Mike Bigland developed yet another new model, the TVR 1300. This used the 1.3 L Standard SC engine from the Triumph Spitfire and was intended as an inexpensive model option that was also cheaper to insure.


title: TVR

text: At the British International Motor Show at Earls Court in 1970, TVR hired model Helen Jones to pose nude on the TVR stand, and the resulting commotion immediately generated more publicity for the company. This advertising technique was used again at the 1971 show, when Helen Jones was accompanied by a second model, Susan Shaw. The reaction was even greater in 1971, and amid the chaos of the public response, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders threatened to ban TVR from the show. This, of course, drew even more attention to the brand. The 1971 show also marked the appearance of the M Series prototype bodywork and the prototype SM estate car.


title: TVR

text: By 1971, TVR wanted to introduce a more luxurious GT car, and they ultimately began to work on a prototype sports estate model. The styling was done by Harris Mann (who would later become known for the Triumph TR7 and Leyland Princess designs), and the engineering by Mike Bigland. The prototype body was built by Specialised Mouldings Ltd. of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire on a TVR 2500 chassis. The car was given the development name 'SM' and was intended chiefly as a styling exercise with essentially no thought given to fitment of mechanical components or to driver ergonomics. The car appeared at the 1972 British Motor Show as an engineless show car.


title: TVR

text: After the show, the car was renamed 'Zante' (after the Greek island) and test driven by both Martin Lilley and Gerry Sagerman in the US. They agreed that the car's ergonomics and visibility were not suitable for a road car, and Sagerman further pointed out that it would need a V8 engine to be successful in the US market. Also considering the anticipated development costs for the pop-up headlamps, it was decided the project was not financially viable and the prototype remained the only Zante ever built. The body was removed from the chassis at Sagerman's facility and shipped back to Blackpool, where it was stored outside and left to deteriorate.