Johnny Dark Restoration Book - The Black Woodill Wildfire

29 In Search of the Johnny Dark Woodill Wildfire #1 - The Red One Published in UndiscoveredClassics.com, January 12, 2015 By Geoff Hacker One of the most famous fiberglass sports cars of the 1950s is the lead car from the 1954 movie Johnny Dark . Much speculation has taken place over the last many years concerning whether the car survives and who might be the lucky owner - if the car exists at all. Making it interesting, many people claim to have the car. Some of these cars are powered by Willys drivetrains, while others are powered by Chrysler, Buick, Ford, and even Jaguar. These cars differ in many ways such as their frame and cockpit/dashboard layout too. It's an interesting question to answer. Knowing the significance of the Johnny Dark Wildfire sports car, let ’ s review what we know about this car based on: • Recent research • Previously conducted research • A thorough review of vintage photography • An interview with one of the original builders and drivers of a car in the film: Chuck Tatum And away we go. Timing of the Film: Although the film debuted on June 16 th , 1954 filming started in early fall of 1953. The first race in the film contained footage of an actual event/race that occurred in Santa Barbara, California at the Goleta Airport on Labor Day, 1953. And … the footage shows the Wildfire at speed on the course. What ’ s fun about this is “ fiberglass fact ” is that the Wildfire was actually entered in the race and driven by stunt driver – and race car driver – H. Haile Chace . Chace was the “ Technical Director ” for Johnny Dark, and it was in this official race (as seen in the program on the next page) that he squared off against the most famous Glasspar G2 sports car at the same time – a car owned by Bill Tritt and piloted by Bill Pol- lack . What I would have given to see both of these cars on the track at the same time!