For horror movie fans and car enthusiasts, Christine is a film (1983) that will surely fill the bill, based on the eponymous work by Stephen King, and directed by John Carpenter.
It is the story of a 1958 Plymouth Fury (produced in 1957), named Christine by its first owner, who is “alive”, possessed by demonic forces and has no problem killing. Twenty years after having left the production line, and in a state of neglect, it is bought by a young man who recovers it.
It is the beginning of a relationship between the young man and his car, whose demonic influence of the machine soon makes itself felt. Over the course of the story, we see Christine starting a new homicidal wave, literally eliminating any and all threats to her new and young owner — highlighting Christine's ability to recover from the damage suffered during her “sales”.
This Plymouth Fury, which will be auctioned on January 10th in Kissimmee, Florida, United States of America, through Mecum Auctions, is the only one of the film that is documented, and includes records of ownership by Polar Filmes and photos by producer Richard Kobritz and some actors from the movie with the car — this copy was used mostly for closed shots.
During the production of the film, 23 cars were used, between the protagonist Plymouth Fury, as well as two other contemporary Plymouth models, the Belvedere and the Savoy.
It was also subject to an in-depth restoration, with a small block V8 Wedge residing under the bonnet, with dual four-chamber carburetors, and an Offenhauser intake. The transmission is of the automatic type (TorqueFlite), and already has assisted steering and brake servo. The radio — Christine's “voice” in the film, with an excellent selection of '50s rock songs to communicate — is AM only.
A post-film addition is the “Watch out for me, I am pure evil, I am Christine” back bumper sticker which translates to something like “Beware of me, I'm pure evil, I I am Christine”.
The auctioneer hopes that this Plymouth Fury, or rather the Christine, will be sold for between 400,000 and 500,000 dollars (360,000 and 450,000 euros).
