If you haven’t seen the 1967 film The Flim-Flam Man with George C. Scott, you are missing out. I first saw it over twenty years ago, and it is always enjoyable to re-watch. Lots of Curbside spotting in this crazy chase scene, involving Mordecai Jones’s (Scott) “borrowing” of Sue Lyons’ brand-new Valiant Signet convertible–one of just 2,507 built.
It’s sad to see what happens to it, but I have had a thing for ’66 Signet convertibles ever since. Be sure to keep an eye out for the 1965-66 Corvair convertible, ’56 Chrysler and other interesting iron!
Video courtesy of Youtube.
I always get a kick out of 1964’s “Man’s Favorite Sport”. Paula Prentiss drives me crazy!
That Valiant Signet is badly tortured as the 1967 GTX in the movie “Tommy Boy” although in some scenes, we see then they switched the GTX for an ordinairy Belvedere/Satellite and a 1967-68 Chrysler Newport.
Nice, now I have to watch it again. Mad Mad Mad Mad World had a lot of good cars and S. Cal scenery in it too. Plus a great cast.
True, but I sure got tired of everyone in it shouting all the time.
Bill Hickman did the driving.
This is a great clip!
I’ve never seen this movie, although I have heard of it as it has one of my favorites in it – Slim Pickens.
Here’s a portion of a great Slim Pickens scene from 1941:
Thanks Tom! Remember seeing the movie back in 66 or 67. Do not think I’ve seen it since. The Signet must have had a 225 slant six to have taken the abuse it took. When it first came out my Grandmother had a 65 Valiant 200 Coupe which my parents eventually got and I got to use quite a bit when I first learned to drive. My brother and I gave it quite a bit of abuse but nothing like that. That Valiant took a licking and kept on ticking.
Not seen this film and did I see Harry Morgan in it in the plaid shirt?
As to the venerable 225, it’s bullet proof, and we had one on a 64 Dodge 330 wagon with the torqueflite, and it lasted well into the 140K+ miles before we finally parted with it in 1977. Bought the wagon new too in Jacksonville Florida and drove it out to the Pacific NW that summer and it stayed most of its life out here.
It WAS a rust bucket by the time we sold it, however, you’d not have known it unless you noticed two gaping holes in the rear tailgate, thanks to my sister backing onto someone in the mid 70’s and a few holes from an ice pick to drain the water that leaked inside. 🙂
That is a great movie, haven’t seen it in decades.
Oh lordy, the car carnage. It was hard to watch that Valiant be destroyed!
I am not sure I have ever seen this movie, but the abuse suffered by the poor Valiant convertible was painful. I love those old movies where all of the cars came from one manufacturer. Not very true to life, but a triumph of someone’s promotional department.
Great laugh to start the day. Thanks. I loved this movie but had forgotten it.
The car is almost as beautiful as Ms. Lyon…almost.
Excerpts from “Lolita” are now running through my brain,
That was extra cringe inducing as I have a red V200 convertible that looks an awful lot like that car.
Not sure if the 2,507 number includes all convertibles or just Signets but either way it’s not very many. Any idea where I could similar numbers for 1963 Valiants?
The Signet was the sole Valiant convertible in ’66, though a V200 was also available in 1963-65.
Saw the movie in the late 60’s on a black and white tube television. That’s about all I remember of it.
My future brother-in-law and my own brother’s best friend (each five years older than I) took me backpacking in the wilds of West Virginia over what happened to be my sixteenth birthday. We took my future in-law’s 1967 Signet 4-door sedan that was nicknamed The Heap (white on red, slant-6, auto). Well, they decided they were going to take advantage of their new found “designated driver” and bought a case of beer soon after we got out of the woods to go home to Maryland. They sat in the back seat pounding beers while I proceeded to navigate steep downhill switch-backs without guard rails, in the rain, on baloney-skin bias-ply tires…still on my 90-day card. I was proud as hell to be of service!