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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Royal Enfield sidecar played part in films, seller says

Seller says this Royal Enfield sidecar rig played parts in movies.
Vintage looks make Royal Enfield motorcycles naturals for the job of movie props. But unless the motorcycle has a starring role, as it did in the recent Harry Potter films, it isn't likely to attract much attention.

A 2004 Royal Enfield and sidecar said to have played parts in three movies is for sale on CraigsList in Oxnard, Calif. for $3,500. That strikes me as a real bargain for a sidecar combination, especially one that has racked up under 2,000 miles.

The movies named were "Big Fish" and "Death Tunnel." If you've seen either one, let me know what you thought.

"Big Fish," about a man's efforts to come to terms with the tall tales told by his father, was nominated for an Oscar. "Death Tunnel" was a horror film about college girls in lingerie locked up in an abandoned (and haunted) institution. It was not nominated for an Oscar.

As best I can tell from watching online trailers for the two movies named in the ad, life as a movie extra wouldn't have been very demanding for this combination. I couldn't spot a shot with the Royal Enfield and sidecar in the trailers, so perhaps its appearance in the movies was brief.

There is a still photograph on Internet Movie Cars Database  from "Big Fish" that shows a Royal Enfield motorcycle and Cozy sidecar.

Still from the movie "Big Fish."
(The seller says this is a 2004 Royal Enfield. "Big Fish" is listed as a 2003 movie. "Death Tunnel" is a 2005 picture. So we're right in there, somewhere.)

Royal Enfield sidecar combination looks good and the seller says it has a film history.
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1 comment:

  1. kevin8/19/2011

    We did have a bike and sidecar in the movie "Death Tunnel". I made the horrible mistake of renting the movie. DO NOT DO THIS. Your life is too short to spend two hours watching this movie. The sidecar appears toward the very end of the movie and is fleeting. After the movie was made the bike spent quite a bit of time in a shed in Kentucky. We owned the rig and then sold it to a dealer. It was dirty etc. but with very low miles. I have no idea what happened to it after that.

    We also had a bike in the movie "Big Fish" as stated. We have no idea where that bike/sidecar came from. It just appeared one day on the screen. I have no idea if it is the same bike as the Death Tunnel bike. My guess is that this may be the Death Tunnel bike since the movie is so obscure you would really have to dig to find it.
    I agree with David that it appears to be a good deal. I would NOT buy it sight unseen though. Movie bikes are ridden by people who know nothing about bikes. They are usually fine but dirty scratched etc. We just got one back from the Discovery Channel for an episode of "Triggers" (don't ask the purpose and subject of the episode are top secret). Our LA dealers in LA are good at getting bikes into the entertainment business. We also routinely have bikes on the Price is Right and Lets make a deal.

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