The Film
Mad Max (1979)
This original film in the Mad Max series was released in November 1979. A low budget film, made with a budget of just $350,000. Max was played by Mel Gibson, who went on to play Max in the following two sequels in the series.
The story takes place in a dystopian Australia in the future, with law and order now in the hands of the Main Force Patrol (“MFP”). Mad Max full name is Max Rockatansky, a Main Force Patrol officer who drives a 1976 Ford Falcon Interceptor car. Max joins a car chase after a character named Knightrider, who is member of an outlaw motorcycle gang, has already caused two other MFP pursuit vehicles to crash and retire from the chase. Max’s Ford Falcon Interceptor dons the fleet number MFP508.
Max joins the chase after said Knightrider, which culminates in the outlaw crashing and being fatally wounded in the fireball that ends the chase. Max then becomes the target of revenge by said outlaw motorcycle gang, which is led by a character named ‘Toecutter’, after they all turn up at a local town (mainly riding Kawasaki 900cc motorcycles) to collect Knightrider’s remains from the train station. The gang are immediately want to revenge their friend’s death and amongst other violence and lawlessness they soon seriously injure Max’s bike-riding MFP colleague and friend, ‘Goose’. Max decides he wants to leave the Main Force Patrol and spend time with hiss family.
The gang then target Max’s wife and child, which results in them both being killed. So the revenge soon reverses as Max goes for revenge. After wanting to quit the MFP, Max is easily talked around his decision by being tempted with another Interceptor, which is a highly modified car sporting a supercharger. The barren wastelands of becomes the arena for the twists & turns of the battle.
The Car
The MFP508 car is an exact replica of Max’s original car in the film. This includes the ‘MFP 508’ fleet number, which is painted on the roof of the car. The car is actually an Australian 1976 Ford Falcon, powered by a ‘Windsor’ 351ci (5,752cc) V8 engine, and is painted in MFP colours of yellow, blue and red. Red & blue lights don the roof of the car.
UK-based ‘MFP 508’
Now in the UK, this exact replica of the original Mad Max car used in the film has that exact same car number as its UK-registration number – ‘MFP 508’. The replica car is a 1976 Ford Falcon that was modified in around 2010 to be an exact replica of the original car in the film. The car has all the features of the car in the film, including the red & blue roof lights and the overhead radio box inside.
