There is one car that can bring Optimus Prime, Megatron and the rest of the transformers down to their knees when it comes to popularity. She don't h ave super powers, she don't have ammunition and she can't transform into a robot. All that she has is charm. You heard it right, “she” is the pronoun. The car that can weaken the ferocious beasts is named Eleanor. She may not be your usual infamous car superhero, but you will surely fall for her when you get to see the film Gone in 60 Seconds. You might even choose to dump Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie for her.
Eleanor is a 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 in the 1974 Film starring H.B. Halicki and became a 1967 Shelby GT500 when being revived in 2000 by Nicolas Cage.
From the 1974 film, Eleanor sent the 1973 Ford Mustang into popularity because of its big role in the movie. And as a matter of fact, Eleanor is the only Ford Mustang in history that received Star title credit in a movie. The main star and director of the film Toby Halicki was the one who trademarked the terms “Gone in 60 Seconds” and “Eleanor”. There were two “Eleanors” being created, one is for modification and driving and the other one is for beauty shots of the film. The creation required 250 hours before it became ready for shooting. It was fitted with a NASCAR roll cage. A camera was also inserted in the back seat of the car to record the driver's point of view. A heavy duty double strength Simpson Shoulder harness and seat belt and deadbolt door locks were also added for the safety of actors.
Before they finished the film, Eleanor suffered from two serious accidents. First was when the driver overshot his target and then clipped Eleanor and sent her careening into a steel light pole standard in excess of 100mph. Second accident happened when the car landed roughly after a 128-foot jump and soared over 30 feet. The film was independent at that time, reason why there is no much assistance and budget for filming.
After the movie was shown on theaters, that is the time that Eleanor gained instant fame. She became visible on car shows, fairs, auto races, shopping centers and was featured on several news shows all across United States. She was also mentioned on the “Greatest Cars of the Movies” event at the Petersen Automobile Museum, California Classic Car Rally on Rodeo Drive and Cars Are the Stars. Eleanor was also featured in the independent film “The Junkman” and Deadline Auto Theft. In pop culture, there have been toys, scale models and die-cast replicas of Eleanor created and produced by Racing Champions ERTL and Playing Mantis Johnny Lightning. These products became a hit both for young and not so young.
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