Bluesmobile
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--"It's got a cop motor, a four hundred and forty cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks, it was a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. Whaddya say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?" - Elwood Blues
As many "Bluesheads" already know, the "Bluesmobile", as it was known in the movie, came about when the group's previous Bluesmobile, a Cadillac (year and model never revealed), was traded for a microphone during brother Jake's hiatus for his "service to the state", so to speak. For a quick and easy replacement, Elwood picked up a (very) used 1974 Dodge Monaco police car at the Mt. Prospect, IL police auction. The day of Jake's release from prison, Elwood picks him up in this new Bluesmobile, and Jake of course takes an instant dislike to it ("the day I get out of prison, my own brother picks me up... in a police car...").
After Elwood demonstrates and extols the virtues of this new Bluesmobile, Jake reluctantly accepts it as the new Bluesmobile after ordering Elwood to "fix the cigarette lighter" (or moreover, replace it after Jake threw the previous one out the window), and the new Bluesmobile would faithfully carry them throughout the rest of the movie (barely) as they embarked on their "Mission From God".
A reported 13 1974 Monacos were used in the movie, including one fiberglass mock-up that was used in the famous backflip scene while escaping the Illinois Nazi party. While none of the actual movie cars are known to still exist, the fiberglass mockup model, however, does still exist and is occasionally displayed at various car shows around the country.
Many Bluesmobile replicas are abound throughout the U.S. (and even some outside the U.S.), most commonly seen at Dan Aykroyd-owned House of Blues establishments. A Bluesmobile is actually one of the easier movie cars to replicate, since the original was horribly abused, ratty, dirty - one certainly doesn't need to make it a mint-condition example to be authentic (in fact, just the opposite - the worse shape the better). The hardest part is probably finding a 1974 Monaco to convert as one. Monacos weren't popular back in those days and they're almost impossible to find today, especially when compared to a comparable Chevrolet Impala or a Ford LTD, which is why many Bluesmobile replicas aren't '74 Monacos - they're either a different model year, or the Monaco-twin Plymouth Fury. In some cases, even some older Dodge Coronets or later St. Regis models have been used - but they just aren't the same. Our advice: If your wish is to make a Bluesmobile, hold out for a true '74 Monaco. It may take you a while to find one, but they're out there if you're patient enough - and you can still pick one up for dirt cheap if you do actually manage to find one.
