# Identify this car from Three O'Clock High (1987) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323 "2016-03-17T21:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/21 "2016-03-18T14:48:59Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > no, the Mustang and Cougar also had leaf springs. And Camaros, and Corvettes, and Gran Torinos, and … you know what, it would be a LOT shorter to list cars made from 1960 to 1980 that _didn’t_ use leaf springs for their rear suspension. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/22 "2016-03-18T16:33:43Z")
I can’t link to the photos, because they were in ebay auctions, but the inner door is an exact match for Barracuda/Challenger. No question there. Having the inner door panel installed would have solved the cuda/challenger question, as would seeing the quarter window. So the true question is, why did they go to so much trouble to pick camera angles that hid the car? Why show it at all if you don’t want to show it? Showing a muscle car in a movie like that is a good thing! Does anyone remember the plot of\* Phantasm\*? Not as much as they remember the Barracuda. Would _Vanishing Point_ have been as popular if Kowalski drove a Pinto? Anyway, as for Dana 60s, they were required options for 440 equipped 'cudas and 4-speed Hemis, but even hemis with automatics got an 8 3/4 as standard. Unlike current days, though, you could order any combination you wanted. Want a 6 cylinder Grand Coupe convertible\* with 4.56 geared Dana? I’m sure they would have built you one. The 8 3/4 was a stout rear end. It was tough enough to be the default top fuel axle for a number of years. It’s way lighter than a Dana 60. But having a Dana is cool. So cool, I had a 70 Nova that someone had installed a narrowed Dana with 4:56 gears. Meant I had to have two spares, because of the different bolt pattern! \*Why this is silly, is the one distinctive feature of the GC was the overhead console. Which you don’t get in a convertible. But I had a friend that owned a GC convertible. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/23 "2016-03-18T17:10:07Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The Chevelles didn’t have bucket seats, and I don’t think the Novas did either. Never owned a Nova, but I cut my teeth in a 72 Chevelle. They were options on the Novas and the [Chevelles](http://chevellestuff.net/1971/interiors/int_bucket.htm)… Looking at interior shots online it looks like I am wrong as the door handles and window cranks are in the wrong position. Looking back on it, my buddy had a '71 Challenger with a similar 3 spoke wheel and the squarish instrument panel ; ([link to 71 Challenger](http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/mopp-1002-1971-dodge-challenger/)) My buddy’s was wine red but otherwise identical, so those of you who said an E body are probably right. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/24 "2016-03-18T17:10:49Z")
[Barracuda Door](https://nebula.wsimg.com/9473fd2fec6ac656a2e748c41c63df20?AccessKeyId=0AF1FC231A8387E94C5F&disposition=0&alloworigin=1) and [Challenger door](http://horton.com/cars/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/70-Dodge-challenger-17.jpg) Note the window crank is below the height of the door handle on the Plymouth and above the height of the door handle on the Dodge. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/25 "2016-03-18T17:20:15Z")
The door handles are definitely from a Barracuda looking some more. Were I a betting man I’d be willing to put money on it being a '71 Cuda. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/26 "2016-03-18T17:20:48Z")
I don’t think the wheels are a stock part from either a Challenger or a Barracude. In fact, they look like a GM part. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/27 "2016-03-18T17:34:12Z")
Good thing I’m not a betting man. The ['71s had sill plate moldings](http://www.stockmopar.com/_images/cuda/brochures/1971/3.jpg) and I don’t see any holes where it would mount on the bottom of the door jamb in the pic, so most likely a '70 'Cuda. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/28 "2016-03-18T18:27:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t think the wheels are a stock part from either a Challenger or a Barracude. In fact, they look like a GM part. They’re [Ansen Sprints](http://www.kustomwheel.com/images/310_ANSEN_Sprint_15x8.5.JPG)or a similar variation. Your basic aftermarket 5 hole slot. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323/29 "2016-03-18T20:43:08Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > And Camaros, and Corvettes, and Gran Torinos, and … you know what, it would be a LOT shorter to list cars made from 1960 to 1980 that _didn’t_ use leaf springs for their rear suspension. The larger GM cars from that era had the rear coils; Chevelle, Impala, and similar sized vehicles. Probably a cost/ride trade-off. I would casually drag race (Saturday morning bracket race what you drove up with) in my 68 Chevelle convertible 327/4-speed. It had coils but the topic of axle tramp/windup was always popular no matter what you drove. IPOTM I had to race with the top up and wearing a motorcycle helmet for safety (like that was going to help a lot):D:rolleyes: _Interesting probably only to me_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-car-from-three-oclock-high-1987/749323.md?page=1)