Before Glee revitalized old Journey songs, before Footloose unleashed our rebellious spirit, Grease was the word.
Our blast from the past originally appeared in the 1978 movie, Grease as the nemesis to Danny Zuko and the T-Birds’ Grease Lightning 1948 Ford convertible. The original Scorpions Hell’s Chariot was found last year outside of Paramount studio hands and sorely neglected. The story of how Hell’s Chariot became a lost property is still a mystery today. Luckily, Hell’s Chariot found its way into the right hands — someone who appreciated the history of the car and the many stories associated with converted hard-top.
No expense has been spared to restore Hell’s Chariot to its original stature as a “bad boy” hot rod. A full frame-off restoration was done by Dan Condon, owner of “The Shop” in Palm Desert, and asked to make it even better over what you saw in the movie. Small details such as the Scorpion decals on the doors and the Ben Hur style razor hubcaps were meticulously recreated .
The 1949 Mercury custom was originally a hardtop coupe. Eddie Paul, who is frequently called upon by Hollywood to create custom rides, chopped the top and welded several braces where the back seat used to be as a measure to stiffen the chassis. Eddie recently saw the ’49 Mercury after it was recovered, recognized his work, and verified that this is the original car used in the movie Grease.
Bottom line: this Hollywood star looks great and drives even better after a 35 year hiatus.
