MAXSV8 Interceptor takes to the road
Another Interceptor replica takes to the highways
The following article by Barry Green appeared in the March 17 edition of the Albert & Logan News, a local community newspaper serving Brisbane and surrounding areas.
Mad Max, the 1979 Australian low-budget movie that launched Mel Gibson towards Hollywood stardom, has developed a cult following worldwide. Motoring writer Barry Green talks to a true believer.
When movie maker Tim Ridge wanted Mad Max's Interceptor replicated, he looked instantly to Marsden resident Steven Jakavicius. The automotive spray painter had previously built Ridge a convincing replica of another vehicle – a four door that Mad Max drove early in the original movie. Film watchers will remember the black, brutish Interceptor as being the 600-horsepower nitro burner that Max used with good effect to take revenge on a motorcycle gang for the death of his wife and child. "I wanted a replica of the Interceptor as a promotional vehicle in a documentary I'm making on the 25th anniversary of the movie, called The Madness of Max," Ridge said. "So I went straight to Steven."
The pair of Mad Max fans met through a "friend of a friend". Jakavicius can remember going to see the original movie at the Capalaba drive-in when it was released in 1979. "It was on at midnight on a Friday and there were so many people there I couldn't get in," he said. "So I went back the following night."
He has since become a true Mad Max buff – the family pet dog, a miniature foxie, is called Max. The replica Interceptor is based on a 1974 Ford Falcon XB Coupe, which Ridge bought from a deceased estate in Sydney. The original Interceptor is in a museum in the UK while the replica four door is now in Japan. Jakavicius spent seven months part-time working on the exterior and interior to create what is a veritable traffic stopper. While photographing the car in J J Smith Park, passersby pulled up and residents came out for a closer look. Jakavicius' daughter Courtney has got caught up in the fervour, asking her father to bring the Interceptor to school for show and tell before it left for Sydney on Tuesday. The Madness of Max, two years in the making, is expected to be released on DVD later this year and will be available through www.madmaxonline.com.
– Barry Green
