Johnny Dark Movie Book

106 Because most of Detroit ’ s contemplated domestic sports vehicles are as yet in blueprint state, the studio made arrangements with a dozen top car designers to turn out special models for the film. These vehicles, in many respects, are years ahead of their time, and are expected to be of great influence in the design of commercial cars. Designers represented in “ Johnny Dark ” include Howard A. Darrin, who created the Kaiser - Darrin KF - 161; Frank Kurtis, of Kurtis - Kraft; N.J. Kraker, famous for his Grantham “ Stardust ” special; Chuck Tatum, of Stockton, Calif., builder of the Tatum Special; Bowman and Sons, of Pasadena, Calif., and B. R. “ Woody ” Woodill, one of the nation ’ s foremost men in the field. Among sports car enthusiasts several types of races are officially recognized — the road race, and what is known as the airport race, over a fixed course. Both types are shown in “ Johnny Dark ”. For the latter the studio filmed a Labor Day run at the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Municipal Airport. The studio entered its own ve- hicle in the contest with Haile Chace, noted race driver, who also served as technical adviser for the picture, at the wheel. Foreign sports cars seen in this footage include such well - known makes as the Jaguar, Allard, Bentley, Alfa - Romeo, Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, Bugatti, Simca, Delahaye and Mercedes - Benz. In staging the filmic road race, depicted as a border - to - border run from Canada to Mexico, additional loca- tion work took the peripatetic troupe over more than 2000 miles of territory between the boundaries of the neighboring nations. To facilitate photographic coverage, cinematographer Carl Guthrie used a helicopter especially adapted for the addition of camera gear. Technical advisor Chace disclosed that sports cars enjoyed considerable vogue in the United States prior to the first World War, but that thereafter most of the interest shifted to Europe, and not until after World War II, when American servicemen returned from overseas, carrying with them favorable impressions of the foreign runabouts, did the fad begin to regain ground. Statistics amassed by the Automobile Manufacturers Association reflect the over - all story. From 1940 to 1945, only 464 new and 1962 used foreign cars were imported into the United States. But from 1946 through 1952, 113,409 new and 2693 used foreign vehicles were brought in. For 1952 alone, the imports totaled more than 30,000. First of the domestic sports cars off Detroit ’ s assembly lines was the Nash - Healey which appeared in 1950. It was seen in international competition the same year in the rigorous 24 - hour road race at LeMans, France, placing fourth against the best of the world ’ s sport cars, the first time an American - powered vehicle had done so since 1921. The following year, in the same race, the car took sixth place & 1952, finished 3rd.