the trucker may not like 'em but ralph nader sure would!
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urgeking — 10 years ago(November 15, 2015 10:20 AM)
OK folks, you've had your fun with Nader, ha ha
but to get real for a moment, Nader probably wouldn't have any objection to a car with good acceleration and horsepower; that's not a safety issue unless a driver misuses it. And he definitely WOULD want that Valiant to have heavy-duty suspension for good cornering and evasive maneuvers. Meanwhile, some things that Nader HAD pushed for the padded dashboard, the seatbelt, and other interior safety features may have saved David Mann from some injuries, especially when his car slammed into that rock outcropping near the finale.
As for the Valiant having a 318 V8: Maybe in real life it had an engine that big, but were
we
supposed to think so? And maybe it
could
"break 110-115 MPH flat out" with a 318 but for how long? Besides, Mann's garden-variety Valiant would probably be using ordinary 1971 sedan tires, and would they have been rated for such speeds, especially over long distances? -
Syn84 — 10 years ago(January 27, 2016 10:31 PM)
Whatever the top speed of the Valiant is, it still should easily outrun a 1955 Peterbilt 281. Even today most trucks have a speed limiter at 68 mph and without one trucks may hit maybe 80 mph in the best case scenario - and those are today's trucks with 550-600 hp engines, which is much higher than 1955 Peterbilt's 270 hp engine. Even with heavy modifications a 1955 Peterbilt couldn't go faster than maybe 90 mph, so Valiant should not have any issues outrunning it. Heck, even a 1932 Ford Model B would outran it.
When I die, I want to be buried face down. That way whoever doesn't like me can kiss my ass.
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urgeking — 10 years ago(January 28, 2016 09:12 PM)
Even today most trucks have a speed limiter at 68 mph and without one trucks may hit maybe 80 mph in the best case scenario -
Oh yeah? Well, I don't know about
that.
Let me tell you a couple stories from my own experience.
One day in the 1980s I was riding with a friend who, in order to get from the West Coast to New York, had taken a 'drive-away' job (do people still do that?) where he was paid to drive someone's Camaro from California to NYC. Somewhere in PA, probably on I-80, there was construction and we had to merge in from the right lane. But there was an 18-wheeler cruising along in the next lane over, holding pretty steady near our left rear corner. His intentions were not at all clear. My friend asked, "Is he letting us in, or
isn't
he?" I could not tell. "Well, our lane is ending, so I have to get over."
But as we started merging, the driver of the semi suddenly floored it and zoomed past us. He came so close to the driver's side of our car that I thought we might go underneath his trailer. We were forced back into the right lane, which was now only half a lane, and nearly hit some of the merge barriers. After a moment to let the dust (and our shock) clear, we realized we should catch up to that SOB, get some ID numbers off the back of his trailer, and report him to the state police. But he took off like a bat out of hell. We got the Camaro up to at least 75 mph, but in no time the truck was several hundred feet ahead of us and still accelerating. We could see there was no way to catch him without going well over 80, and then maybe WE would get nabbed. So we gave up.
Later, when we stopped to get gas, we noticed a black mark on the outside edge of the Camaro's driver's-side mirror. It was rubber from the sidewall of one of the truck's tires.
About fifteen years later I was heading to work in my '95 Saturn, a wagon (oh, pardon me, 'crossover') with the larger of the two engines available, the 1.8-liter, which was about to justify its extra cost big-time. The scene: a two-lane main road in a rural-heading-into-suburban area. Ahead was a flat three-mile stretch next to an airport. The 18-wheeler ahead of me was really creeping along after starting up from a stoplight. I mean
crawling
. Excessively. It reminded me of that early part of "Duel". Little did I know! We were on a long curve, so it was at least half a minute before a passing zone finally began, and I pulled out and began to pass. But then the truck driver sped up to match my speed. By the time I got up near the front of his trailer, it was clear that he was trying to race me.
By this time I could see the headlights of an oncoming car in the far distance. (ALWAYS use them in the daytime!) "Are you
kidding
me?" I yelled at the trucker. "What the (beep) are you doing?!?" 65 mph, 75, 80 mph,
and he still kept matching me
. For a moment I thought of hitting the brakes and ducking in behind his trailer but who could know whether the road behind him was clear? So I had to get past him. Pushing the pedal to the floor, I managed to, at 90 mph the fastest I've ever driven. The oncoming car almost had to veer onto the shoulder. After that, of course, the trucker, having gotten his sick jollies, slowed right down to a normal speed. And I was thinking just what David Mann had thought: "What kind of twisted (beep) would deliberately DO that?"
Oh, and I almost forgot the summer day in 1980 when some friends were heading south to a party on Long Island. Having dozed off in the back of our late-'60s Olds Vista Cruiser (probably also on I-80), I woke up and immediately noticed three things: Our speedometer was holding steady at 85 the cars around us were doing the same speed and an 18-wheeler was right on our tail, no more than three feet from our rear bumper, with his brights on.
Hey, maybe this should be a new topic "Tell about your
own
'Duel' experiences." -
Syn84 — 10 years ago(January 29, 2016 04:05 PM)
My dad was a truck driver all of his life and I went to many trips with him. Trucks may go over 80 mph if they're going downhill, but there is no way that a 1955 Peterbilt 281 could hit 90-95 mph (which is what was shown in the movie) - at least not without some heavy (and I really mean heavy) modifications.
When I die, I want to be buried face down. That way whoever doesn't like me can kiss my ass.
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urgeking — 10 years ago(January 29, 2016 05:59 PM)
there is no way that a 1955 Peterbilt 281 could hit 90-95 mph (which is what was shown in the movie) - at least not without some heavy (and I really mean heavy) modifications.
With such a modest horsepower rating, I believe it. But if there were only one person who'd have good motivation to
make
such heavy heavy modifications, it would probably be our mystery psychopath up there in that cab, wouldn't it? -
Syn84 — 10 years ago(January 29, 2016 08:41 PM)
Probably.
And I wouldn't say that the horsepower was modest. 270 hp out of a diesel engine in 1955 was pretty good. I mean, even a 1955 Corvette had 195 hp and it was considered a performance car.When I die, I want to be buried face down. That way whoever doesn't like me can kiss my ass.
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!!!deleted!!! (1688273) — 10 years ago(January 30, 2016 06:20 PM)
Remember that the Valiant was an economy car. In an era when the average new car was $3,000, You could buy a new, no-options Valiant for $2000 out the door Volkswagen Beetle money, and you sure couldn't get an old generation Beetle to go over 90. Mann was also a mild driver that was uncomfortable going too fast. The fact that the truck normally could never do the things it was doing was what added a thrilling touch of the supernatural to the proceedings. Mann rationalized it by surmising that the truck had been modified, but its startling performance was unnerving.
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Syn84 — 10 years ago(January 30, 2016 09:46 PM)
I own a 1971 Zastava 101 for nostalgic reasons (Zastava was the same company that used to build Yugo). Its my weekend toy. I got it as fast as 140 km/h, which is almost 90 mph and we're talking about 1.3L 55 hp engine.
I'm sure that Peterbilt was modified and like you said Mann was also a pretty crappy driver. The mix of these two made the movie pretty good.When I die, I want to be buried face down. That way whoever doesn't like me can kiss my ass.
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urgeking — 10 years ago(January 30, 2016 09:47 PM)
And I wouldn't say that the horsepower was modest. 270 hp out of a diesel engine in 1955 was pretty good.
Sure, but I meant 'modest' by
today's
standards. It's indeed remarkable to see how little horsepower many large, heavy 1950s cars had when compared with 1970, or today. Many full-size models, far bigger than any sedan available now, had six-cylinder units as their base engines. Of course, they had no pollution controls reducing engine efficiency, but the cars sure weighed a lot. Zero-to-60 mph times were generally much slower then.
Speaking of weight, I can't imagine 270 hp giving a cab unit very quick acceleration, or much speed going uphill, when a loaded trailer was attached. As a kid about 50 years ago I had a metal toy version (Buddy L?) of a Texaco tanker truck much like the rig in this movie. Printed on the back of the trailer as on the real-life trucks, I presume were the words "SOUND THE HORN THE ROAD IS YOURS." Apparently, large trucks tended to plod along pretty slowly in those days, hence the invitation to ask the driver to move over to the shoulder. And it still happens. My town has a four-lane local highway that ascends a steep grade for a couple of miles, and often in the slow lane there's some 18-wheeler doing no more than 20 mph. It's hard for me to make sense of that, given those high-speed semitruck misadventures recounted in my other post. Must have something to do with gearing requirements. -
Paul-308 — 10 years ago(November 04, 2015 01:10 PM)
I believe more than one Valiant was used for Duel,and one very much had a "V Eight" emblem on the front fender.Its plainly visible when the bumper guards are locked under the bus bumper.Of course this scene was added in later to pad the film out to 90+ minutes.In one scene where the car stops in the road and the trucker waves him on,the throttle is floored and there is some serious leaf spring wrap going on there due to the torque.This would be 318 style,not slant-6.This car also appears to have airshocks,but in some scenes the car rear is sagging badly.
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urgeking — 10 years ago(November 15, 2015 12:40 PM)
In one scene where the car stops in the road and the trucker waves him on,the throttle is floored and there is some serious leaf spring wrap going on there due to the torque.This would be 318 style,not slant-6.
Mmmm, maybe, maybe not. Even a slant-6 would have SOME torque. The first time I ever chirped tires actually, it was long enough to be a squeal was in my parents' '73 Dart (Dodge's version of the Valiant), with the 225 six and the auto trans (3-speed?). Yes, the pavement was hot on that summer day, and yes, I was starting up a hill when I turned a corner and hit the gas pedal hard, trying to make up time but it definitely laid a patch for a second or two. Not that any of this really
matters
so much, but, whatever.
It did look like the rear of the Valiant in that scene, and perhaps in others, was jacked-up higher than one would normally see in those Chrysler compacts. -
urgeking — 10 years ago(January 06, 2016 10:17 PM)
I'm just wondering why Weaver didn't haul ass as soon as he figured out that truck driver was cat-and-mousing him, kept the pedal to the metal until he could find a different route to take. A busier one, at least.
So why
was
he taking that road? I've always assumed there was no Interstate highway that would've gotten him to his meeting more quickly and/or more directly. But has anyone ever determined his exact (theoretical) route? (I suppose I should check the rest of this board to find out.) From the opening credits sequence it looks like he was heading north from the suburbs (maybe on the southeast end of LA), then through the city itself, up I-5 to state route 14, toward Lancaster, Palmdale hey, he was getting near Frank Zappa's childhood environs!
He told his wife he'd probably be home in time for dinner, so he couldn't have been going
really
far. On the AAA map it appears that there weren't any major alternate roads out that way.
I was watching (in vain) for route signs once he encountered the truck, and what struck me was the very small number of road signs and reflectors along the roadside back then, as was also the case in the 1940s and '50s far fewer than today or even 20-25 years ago.
As for his 45-50 mph driving early on, I figure they wanted to portray him as a very sedate, middle-of-the-road (so to speak) driver, so we can see he's no hotshot trying to push the trucker to unreasonable speeds. However, in the diner at one point we hear him thinking, "As soon as I stopped concentrating, I'd go back to 60 or 70 [mph] like I always do it's a habit, I can't help it"