Mad Max V8 Interceptor car replica

Australia, 2019

Commissioned by ACMI

Object ACMI commissions On display
Photograph by Egmont Contreras

George Miller’s Mad Max revolutionised movies when it tore through cinemas in 1979. Max Rockatansky’s journey dispensing justice across the wasteland in his V8 Interceptor became a cult classic and catapulted Australian cinema onto the world stage.

Bursting with stunning practical effects, explosive set pieces and iconic costumes, the original Mad Max trilogy (1979–85) cemented its place in pop culture. Thirty years later it roared back onto screens with a ‘reimagining’ featuring instantly classic new characters like Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and the War Boys.

Mad Max’s super-powered vehicles, legendary characters and post-apocalyptic setting influenced everything from movies, manga and music videos to fashion, videogames and art, spawning enough parodies, homages and clones to fill a Thunderdome.

Curator Notes

It would be hard to keep a continent as large as Australia connected without cars. From the suburbs to the Outback, cars have become essential to Australian identity, especially in cinema, where they represent independence, freedom and status. They also often symbolise Australian ideals of masculinity. Under the armoured death machines and shiny chrome, George Miller’s Mad Max series interrogates the undercurrent of toxic machismo and violence tied to Australia’s isolation and obsession with cars. Bush Mechanics similarly embodies Australian ideals of masculinity but reinterprets car culture to represent the ingenuity, adaptability and innovation of Aboriginal Central Australia.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

On display until

16 February 2031

ACMI: Gallery 1

Credits

creator

Cameron Manewell

Production places
Australia
Production dates
2019

Appears in

Group of items

The Mad Max film series

Explore

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

P183279

Curatorial section

The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Australia → MA-03. Car Culture

Measurements

1369 x 950 x 4808mm

Object Types

Exhibition Prop

Film and television props and memorabilia

Materials

fibreglass, steel, aluminium, plastic, glass, epoxy resin, automotive paint, vinyl, leather, nylon carpet

Collected

30 times

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/107804--mad-max-v8-interceptor-replica/ |title=Mad Max V8 Interceptor car replica |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=29 March 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}