The original concept was for fibreglass dummy motors and to run a hidden single motor, but Colin Gibson said we had spare cash and we wanted something more realistic. They came as crate motors but we put the blowers and manifolds on them. “Gigahorse runs twin 502 Chevs with 8/71 superchargers. The guys buying these cars weren’t mechanics, they were just buying what they could and we’d fix them up to work for us. Now, people don’t sell good off-road racing buggies, they only sell tired ones or ones with dodgy parts. “We also bought a heap of off-road racing buggies and rebodied them. “We then bought Nissan Patrols, Mitsubishi Pajeros, Ford F-trucks, Land Cruisers, Holden Jackeroos, and transplanted the old bodies onto those frames, which meant stretching them to fit. “The basic idea with all the vehicles was we got crappy old bodies from the country and we made them to suit the artists’ impressions,” Mark said. Mark McKinley gave us an insight into the process of turning the concept drawings into reality in the May 2015 issue of SM: The detail work on every car, truck and bike is truly mind-blowing. It was clearly made with the love and passion of many car-mad artists and craftspeople, including principle vehicle designer Peter Pound, production designer Colin Gibson, chief mechanic Mark McKinley, engineering guru Anthony Natoli, body guys Mark Natoli and Paul Nolan, Interceptor builder Cameron Manewell and many others. Sure, it was filmed on another continent and the iconic Interceptor doesn’t get too much screen time, but I reckon it is a more-than-worthy addition to the franchise.
Not a bad acknowledgement for what was an epic production that produced one hell of an exciting and crazily detailed film.Īnd while Mad Max remains the pinnacle of car flicks, I’m a massive fan of Fury Road. Even so, it did take home six awards: Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Sound Editing, Costume Design, Sound Mixing and Best Makeup & Hairstyling. THERE was never much hope that Mad Max: Fury Road would take out the Oscars for Best Film, or Best Director for George Miller.