This 16mm film from my archive is supposed to be a parable... So here it is: Work hard washing cars, and you can buy the most awesome build-it-yourself SSP (On Sale!), put it together in your basement, race it with your best friend, smash it to bits against the wall, and you get to put it back together and do it all over again. So... That's the parable! Honestly, every kid knows that smashing Thunder Rod was the best part! Worth a week washing cars. And aren't there rules about child labor and low pay? Anyway - The moral of the story is have fun, work hard, demand a living wage, and don't be a sour puss just because you don't think that repairing things is the most fun of all. As usual I transferred this reel with my own Telecine and corrected color to taste. Enjoy!
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- Intro Music by Fran Blanche -
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By Fran

13 thoughts on “Thunder rod!!!! 1971”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars nottiification says:

    Directed by Skeets McGraw

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rocco M says:

    That "Thunder Rod" title card shot looks weirdly similar to Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof", when the title "Thunder Bolt" briefly appears until immediately replaced with "DEATH PROOF" 🤔

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David Wood says:

    Hil ar e us

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hartlor Tayley says:

    Born into a world of shoddy toys

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dave says:

    But…Thunder Rod is based on a car that was never built! If you look at the roofline and side window (especially in the C-pillar area) the body is clearly a 1971 B-body Road Runner with a Superbird nose and wing modified to fit. Maybe it was based on what would have been of the 1971 Superbird until Nascar reduced the engine size of the winged cars to 305 ci., effectively killing that car.
    Oh, for what might have been?

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars THReynolds2 says:

    I believe the actual name of the film is "Spend, Spend".

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Matthew Leary says:

    Didn't anyone else notice the writer as Laura Ingram????

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Midnight Runner 68 says:

    Those car were fun until you got your hair all tangled in the wheel

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars ElectroSound says:

    Interesting, these were sold in Australia. There is a SSP website but I don't remember any of the cars other than the purple rocket type one – I was probably to old to be interested and was into Scalectrix. Perhaps a local manufacturer lisenced them and made their own designs? I do remember the zip cord teeth wearing out though.

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars CARL iCON says:

    I had SSPs but I don't remember putting them together as a kit from parts..btw this film has a bizarre "Vanishing Point" kind of vibe to it…

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Craig Pennington says:

    A junk yard like that would be a Gold Mine today. A lot of those cars went to the crusher, then shredded, then melted down. I remember hauling away some pretty nice rides to the Midlothian, Tx. steel mill to be melted down into steel bars & slabs. Federally mandated. Pity. Classic stuff here Fran. Cool to see these type film reels again.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Fall Witch 1 says:

    75p to wash a car? Even in the 70s that was robbery.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Newport Shapwick says:

    Love the music!

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