Bluesmobile

Bluesmobile replica at House of Blues in Dallas, Texas

The Bluesmobile is a 1974 Dodge Monaco sedan that was prominently featured in the 1980 Universal Pictures film The Blues Brothers. The car is described as a decommissioned Mount Prospect police car, purchased by Elwood Blues at an auction after he had traded a previous car (a 1968 Cadillac Sixty Special) for a microphone. The Bluesmobile is equipped with a "440 Magnum" engine and squad car package, an option offered by Dodge for the Monaco in 1974. It bears an Illinois license plate reading "BDR 529", a tribute to the Black Diamond Riders motorcycle club of Toronto, Canada.[1] Dan Aykroyd, co-writer of the film, stated that he chose the 440 Dodge Monaco because he considered it to be the hottest car used by police during the 1970s.[2]

It's got a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant. It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas.

— Elwood Blues describing the Bluesmobile

The Bluesmobile has the ability to perform seemingly impossible stunts, such as jumping over an open drawbridge, flipping backwards in midair and even "flying" for very brief periods of time. However, its cigarette lighter does not work, and Jake throws it out the window upon finding this out for himself.

  1. ^ Yves Lavigne (1989). Hell's Angels: "Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead". Carol Publishing Group. pp. 155–. ISBN 978-0-8184-0514-3.
  2. ^ "In Search of the Bluesmobile". DieCast Magazine. Summer 2008. p. 98.