Quote:
Originally Posted by Transamric
The TA's ordered and used in the movie were not built with the optional hood bird decals. So no issue there. But they would still have had the small bumper bird decal.
I think the real reason all the other decals were removed will have to remain unanswered.
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I'll still argue that it was a deliberate choice on the part of the producer or director to match the conservative character profile of a retirement-age SPD Lieutenant Detective.
Two observations; since '73 was the first year for the screamin' chicken hood decoration, the public was not really used to its rather bold appearance yet. The producers probably wanted a subtle look for McQ's vehicle. Plus it saved a little cash by not ordering the $55 option. Someone certainly knew what they wanted when those TAs were ordered. Not a lot was known about the delete decal option at that time.
As you stated, all of the TRANS AM callouts were also removed from the cars. This further reinforced the stealth look of the performance Pontiac ponycar McQ owned. After all, the McQ character was nearing retirement age (Wayne was 65 at the time) in this film play. A detective of that vintage probably would not have wanted the extra visibility that a fully festooned TA would have afforded on the streets of Seattle. He certainly loved the performance/handling, however.
Has anyone viewed the DVD copy of this film in the “commentary” mode? Maybe some mention of this issue was made there? Many times the director or a producer will make note of exactly why a certain vehicle was chosen for the lead character, or why its appearance was modified.