Hell Drivers

[alan gowdy]

Originally Posted by Moor Larkin I wonder if the cinema's big-screen size would have made that speed appear less ludicrous. I was always curious at how fast a Kew Dodge could actually go: 50mph top speed? Just guessing...... I can recall in the Sixties when my dad first got a car that we used to get very excited when we got to a stretch of road that had a speed limit of 40mph - and dad would press the pedal to the metal and our hearts would beat faster.... Now some nutters reach 50+ just in my cul-de-sac......

It's not constant speed which is the problem with speeding up the action, it's the fact that such things as acceleration, deceleration and the reactions of the vehicle's suspension around corners and over bumps all look absurdly 'cartoony'.

[kevinfl]

What about the church hall location where the dance takes place?. It looks " too good " to be a set. Possibly in the vicinity of Pinewood - Fulmer, Langley?.

[alan gowdy]

Anyone up for a restoration job? It might take a few weekends!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1950s-Dodge-KEW-tipping-lorry_W0QQitemZ200133998112QQihZ010QQcategoryZ1088 54QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Automotivehistorian]

In an article I hope will be in our magazine, I will be quoting from a chap's father who drove Kew Dodges. The speed limit at the time for trucks was 30 mph but the police stopped the author's father and let him off having they said clocked him at 84 mph! I am sceptical that the boys in blue were telling the truth, as I cannot criticise memories. I can certainly imagine 60 was achievable, as 40 was the norm in those days in service. The Perkins diesels must have been slower that the petrol-engined trucks.

I remember when we celebrated if dad's 1955 Ford Popular achieved 60 after a long struggle on the Causewway in Feltham...that was pretty scary in a cable-braked car.

A school friend's father was stopped doing illegal speeds in Feltham. The officer shouted at him when he got to the driver's window: "Who the fuff do you think you are? Fuffing Fangio?". Dates it a bit!

[alan gowdy]

I managed to get up to the Downs today to take some photos. The disused quarry (easily visible from the A2037 Henfield Road) is pretty much as it was 50 years ago. No sign of wreckage (no surprise there) but rather unnervingly someone had pinned a target to a small tree at the base and peppered it with very accurate gunshots. Ooo er.

On looking more closely at the scenes where the two lorries fall into the quarry I have an uneasy feeling that the distance they fall is significantly greater than the height of the quarry that I photographed (which is the one seen in the long shot that is used several times). Therefore perhaps another quarry was used for the climactic shots. Where? Perhaps the old cement works nearby which is much larger. Incidentally it seems to me that a clumsy matte was used on one short duration shot of Baker's lorry falling, to increase the apparent width of the quarry face.

The section of road where the Baker character spots McGoohan's character taking a shortcut, just as they emerge from some trees, is very recognisable, though the neat line of planted saplings on the side road/track to the quarry have been removed. The sign to Warren Hill Quarry was probably genuine as there is a sign on the footpath I took referring to the area as Warren Hill.

I'm happy to upload images but it seems not to be that simple - I keep getting asked for the URL of the images.
They are on my PC, not a website.
Why is life so complicated?

[DB7]

I'll send you a PM Alan.

[Automotivehistorian]

I can host pix if required.

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by alan gowdy perhaps another quarry was used for the climactic shots. Where?

A chap posted an old clipping from the Shoreham Times of 1957 showing the filming. The quarry used for the crash was a much older and smaller one than the cement works. I'm sure it's all earlier in this Thread..... or another one very similar. Another poster recalled seeing the lorries next to the trees. It was near a radar station he worked at. I'm sure you'll find all this upthread.

Great that you've got your finger out and been there though. I keep driving past on the A27 and keep thinking I must pop up there some day..... I'll look forard to seeing some pix....

[alan gowdy]

One of my pictures does feature a rather larger quarry only a few hundred metres from the 'long shot' one. I initially discounted it as it is very active with excavators and trucks so I assumed it was a recent feature. However, looking at aerial photos suggests that it was in existence some time ago, possibly lay unused for a while, and has recently (last 5 or 10 years?) been re-opened. If it was the one used for the truck smashes then it has changed dramatically and any residual evidence of filming that may have been there will have been lost.

The radar station aerials feature in my photos and are exactly as they appear in the film so there is no doubt as to the location.

[caferacer63]

Now the special edition DVD has been released, a few more details have come to light. The trucks were supplied by the W.W. Drinkwater Company and as far has anyone can remember the colour of the trucks was dark bottle green.

[spinalman]

Originally Posted by Moor Larkin A chap posted an old clipping from the Shoreham Times of 1957 showing the filming. The quarry used for the crash was a much older and smaller one than the cement works. I'm sure it's all earlier in this Thread..... or another one very similar. Another poster recalled seeing the lorries next to the trees. It was near a radar station he worked at. I'm sure you'll find all this upthread. Great that you've got your finger out and been there though. I keep driving past on the A27 and keep thinking I must pop up there some day..... I'll look forard to seeing some pix....

here's that grab:

http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?i...driversxh5.jpg

[Automotivehistorian]

Drinkwater's were definitely bottle green..I remember! They used Parrot-beak Dodges, then LAD forward-control Dodge tippers..8 cubic yards. They had a base at Hounslow, which I remember, and I think that was on Hounslow Heath? Also, Bushey Heath, Herts! They would thus be fairly local to Denham.

[alan gowdy]

Sorry not to have posted those pix yet - all I seem to be able to do is grab a few minutes here and there at work to log onto the forum. I'll find time soon though!

[alan gowdy]

Hope this works - all new fangled stuff for me. Anyway, should be:

Quarry used in longshot where truck drives along top:



Turn-off to 'short cut', a succession of tightening views with aerials visible in the first:

[alan gowdy]

Apologies for one non-functioning and several small sized images. I had trouble uploading and for some odd reason the image size varied dispite all settings (camera and PC) being the same. Oh well - I'll try again at the weekend when I've got more time and am not so tired!