 |
Jeff Lutz’s Mad Max Camaro carries a Drag Week championship and a years-old speed record, plus an equally well-earned reputation for spectacular mechanical failures. Rick Ware Racing bought the car in 2026 and built a new twin-turbo Noonan Hemi specifically to chase the elusive five-second average. The comeback lasted exactly one scored pass.
The Ford Falcon XB coupe that became Mad Max’s V8 Interceptor was built from improvised parts, including a worn-out drag car supercharger with its compressor vanes removed just to make it spinnable. Decades later, a mechanic who worked on the build showed up in the comments to explain exactly how close the whole thing came to falling apart during filming — and Australia is still campaigning to bring the car home. Watch to see why this scrappy, homemade build became one of the most beloved movie cars ever built.
Jeff Lutz has a pattern: flat black paint, twin-turbo big-blocks, 1957 Chevrolets, and Drag Week wins to back it all up. His newest build, unveiled at the Tri-Five Nationals, keeps the 540-cubic-inch big-block he has used before but steps up from 88mm to 98mm turbos in pursuit of roughly 3,500 horsepower. Read on to see how the new car fits the formula that made his two Mad Max ’57s and his Drag Week-winning Camaro famous.
Bond’s DB5 and Dom Toretto’s Charger are not the only movie muscle cars worth remembering. A black Trans Am and a customized Mustang fastback both left just as big a mark on car culture, one by boosting real-world sales and the other by spawning an entire tribute-car industry. Here is the rest of the list.
Ford has built a full-size, rear-wheel-drive Falcon continuously in Australia since 1960, and most American muscle car fans have never seen one. It played Mad Max’s own car on screen, runs down speeders as an Australian police interceptor, and in 2014 offered a turbocharged six-cylinder quick enough to embarrass plenty of V8 rivals. Read on to find out why this nameplate’s long run was already nearing its end.