#wagon master

[manderley]

WAGON MASTER dir. John Ford (1950)

[oldtvcowboys]

Ben & his horse - Wagon Master '50

[audiemurphy1945]

Wagon Master (1950) dir. John Ford

[optimabatteries]

The original Showboat four-engine dragster. Built by Tommy Ivo and chassis fabricator Kent Fuller, the Showboat debuted on July 23, 1961 at San Fernando Drag Strip. When Hot Rod magazine came out to shoot it for the magazine cover on the set of Ivo’s current TV gig, “Margie,” the bosses flipped. To stay employed, Tommy turned the driving over to a couple of hot shoes, especially after NHRA said no to it running in competition, and it became nationally known as an exhibition car.

When that TV program ended, Ivo became a full-time racer and soon turned to fuel racing. The car was rebodied as a Riviera station wagon and called the Wagon Master, with it eventually going to racer Norm Day. When TV Tommy decided he was going to retire from racing, he found, bought and drove this car to culminate his career in 1982. Its final exhibition run was at the 1982 World Finals at Orange County Raceway, and it made a pass at the July 1996 Goodguys Nostalgia National at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Today, this legendary exhibition car retains four Buick Nailhead-type 401 CI V-8 engines that Ivo set up to run inline essentially as two V-16 engines. Two engines drive the front wheels while the other two drive the rear wheels—a sort of smoky 4-wheel drive layout. Painted in a black, orange and red scheme typical of the TV Tommy quality exterior, this car features a black interior, roll cage, period chrome side exhaust stacks, a humorous luggage rack, specially chromed front wheels and period Cragar rear wheels, and a multi-gauge dash for engine readouts. TV Tommy Wagon Master remains one of drag racing’s most important historical icons. www.powerpacknation.com

[glennk56]

Charles Kemper (photos 1948-1950) Charles continued getting good memorable roles playing memorable good guys and bad guys. One role in particular was that of the leader of a family of outlaws in the western Wagon Master. Sadly Charles was killed in a car crash in 1950 at the age of 49 just when his career was peaking.

[lacuevadelasirena]

Caravana de paz | John Ford, 1950

[theartofmoviestills]

Wagon Master | John Ford | 1950

[thefilmstage]

A trio of underappreciated works by Billy Wilder, John Ford, and Douglas Sirk get magnificent new life on Blu-ray. 

We take a closer look.