A movie-loving petrolhead has spent $125,000 to create his dream car – the Mad Max Interceptor. Michigan born Dale Walter, 50, fell in love with the powerful vehicle when he watched George Miller's seminal film over thirty years ago in a tiny theatre, where he told his friend 'someday I will own that car'. The famous car has featured in three of filmmaker Miller's four pictures, including the latest Mad Mad: Fury Road, starring British actor Tom Hardy in the title role. In 2008, Dale commissioned specialist company Mad Max Cars to convert his 1972 Australian Ford Falcon into the iconic Interceptor – a process which took five years and $125,000.
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00:00 00;01;10;12 00;01;14;22 Over three decades ago, 50 year old
00:23 Dale Walter from Michigan set his heart on recreating one of cinema's most iconic cars.
00:30 00;01;36;22 00;01;50;22 But to build the replica of
00:53 the police interceptor, which has so far featured in three films from the Mad Max franchise,
00:59 Dean first had to get hold of an Australian Ford Falcon.
01:02 00;02;00;00 00;02;10;00 Undeterred, Dean paid over $120,000
01:16 to convert the 1972 Falcon into a convincing Mad Max interceptor.
01:23 00;02;10;00 00;02;22;00 And this is the heart of the car.
01:27 That is a 351 Cleveland.
01:29 It's 450 horsepower.
01:30 It was built by Proformance Engineering.
01:33 We spent $12,000 on the engine alone.
01:37 My favorite thing about the car is probably the engine sound.
01:40 I considered putting a stereo in it, but that engine note off that 351 stroked the 390 is
01:48 just so choice that I just like listening to it.
01:51 The steering wheel is the Max Robb steering wheel that was used in the movie.
01:58 And you can see in the shifter, it has the lever to turn on and off the blower.
02:02 One of the interesting things about the car that I get asked all the time is, is the blower
02:06 real?
02:07 And it's not because if you remember in the movie, he would turn on the blower, which
02:12 is the big scoopy thing to get more power to the car.
02:16 Real blower can't work like that.
02:17 The way a blower works is it's forced air induction.
02:20 And if you turn it on and off, you would probably blow the bottom out of your engine.
02:23 So the way this one works is it's on a magnetic clutch.
02:26 When I pull the lever, it spins up the blower, just like in the movie.
02:29 If you notice here, it has the RVS radio, just like the one in the movie had.
02:37 And what Mad Max car be complete without your handy dandy double barrel shotgun.
02:43 So we have a replica of that here because these are really legal, even in the United
02:47 States.
02:48 One of the other features of the car is it does have a movie accurate siren.
02:58 It also has a movie accurate horn.
03:03 And like the car in the movie, we have a PA system as a police car would.
03:11 Hey, you stop.
03:13 Hey, you know, you're a turkey.
03:16 Like who says in the movie.
03:19 When I first saw the car after it was rebuilt, I was absolutely stunned.
03:23 Absolutely stunned.
03:24 It took them five years to do this, but the wait was worth it.
03:28 Well, you've seen it.
03:29 You've heard it.
03:30 How about we go for a ride?
03:36 The Interceptor always turns heads, even on the highway.
03:43 You get all kinds of odd looks.
03:45 You get either a car looks familiar or people whose eyes light up and they go, that's the
03:50 Mad Max car.
03:57 I think it's great.
03:58 It was a great movie.
03:59 It's a great tribute to the car.
04:01 I didn't see it first.
04:02 I heard it first.
04:03 The car's pretty cool.
04:04 I think the car's awesome, actually.
04:05 Brings me back to when I was a little kid watching the movie for the first time.
04:13 And the car's also attracted the attention of some other Mad Max buffs who are keen to
04:18 get their hands on the wheel.
04:20 I get asked a lot of times, would I sell the car?
04:22 The car is pretty much priceless to me at this point.
04:25 Of course, there's always a price.
04:28 Somebody walked through the door with $25 million, I would pretty much hand the car.
04:41 You know, this was such a dream for so long, 30 years, to now be sitting here behind my
04:49 own Mad Max Interceptor.
04:50 It's pretty cool.
04:54 But for all its big screen bling, Dean's Interceptor does have its downsides.
04:59 I often wonder how it would fare in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
05:03 And I think not so well, simply because it gets about six miles to the gallon.
05:12 And you could tell in the second movie Max added those huge tanks.
05:17 There's a reason for that.
05:18 This thing sucks gas like it's going out of style.
05:21 So for that reason, not so well.
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