John was clearing out a drawer that held old business papers and at the bottom II found a little yellow box of slides. They were old ones of John's father, Burt! So I scanned them into the computer several times as I had got them in the wrong way and the number 35 was back to front. This is the original shell that Burt made for his record run on the Salt and is outside the garage that he lived in for so long. In the film, this is the field that was set alight by Burt played by Antony Hopkins .
We were present along with Burts daughters (John's sisters) at the making of the movie and were told with this scene to be very quiet as it could only be shot once. They spread petrol all over the grass and then "Burt" threw a match into it. Unfortunately, June, the oldest sister had no experience of making films and couldn't stop her exclamation being heard out loud. "Oh, my hat" she cried when the flames took hold!
For those of you who don't know, Johns father at the age of 67 set a world record in the USA 's Salt Flat on his modified Indian motorbike! He had done the work on it by hand fashioning new pistons etc from pieces of junk for over 40 years. He lived in this garage for years modifying his bike after it had crashed or he had fallen off. The story took Roger Donaldson's fancy and he got Sir Anthony Hopkins to play the part of Burt Munro! It was filmed in both USA and NZ and released in 2005 called The World's Fastest Indian. Burt's record has never been broken!
BTW this photo has never been seen before in the last 50 years!
(the date on the scanner always comes out 1/1/2007 and I can't change it) This photo would have been taken in mid 1960s.
Sounds very interesting maggiemae I think I might have missed your original story about your father in law....is he a bit famous in NZ? You might have to re tell about the movie etc!! Sounds like he went for some speed record on the flat sand, am I right?
What a great find!! I was thinking the same as Pat @happypat I missed your story about your Father in Law which sounds very interesting!! Love the shot!!
What a great shot, Maggiemae. I really enjoyed the movie. (And I think of it when I drive by the Bonneville Salt Flats (which I will do again in a few weeks as I head from Utah to California ; )
Oh my goodness- what an amazing archival shot! I watched the movie earlier this year and wondered if you had been around during filming. Your father in law was a very inspirational man. Is there a museum or gallery of his achievements?
@carolinedreams At the moment Hayes and Sons in Invercargill have the original motorbike and lots of memorabilia - not for sale and insured for millions!
What a wonderful piece of history and family memoribilia. I had to "Google" the movie and pulled up Wikipedia and it had some interesting information there. It is amazing what he did without the benefit of expensive tools.
Wow, what a great find. I really enjoyed the Kiwi No. 8 wire approach that got Burt to Salt Lake. Amazing how he achieved what he did from Invercargill! And I enjoyed the movie, although I imagine there is a lot John knows that would not make good movies.
I remember watching that film. It's very exciting to see the actual vehicle used to complete the world record. Have sent a link of this shot to hubby so he can take a look. Burt reminded him of his own Grandfather :o) xx
Sounds like this story could be the next "book" after your mother's travel diaries are done! What an awesome thing to have- all those pictures of this historic vehicle. I haven't seen the movie but it sounds like one I would like (I'm a very picky movie goer!). My older son & his wife like movies like that too so I'll have to tell them to rent it when we visit next time. Awesome shot all the way around!!
Love seeing this historic shot and love hearing all of the great history of your fatehr in law. How amazing that you got to see the filming of the movie. Was he around to see it? Fav!
@olivetreeann There is a book written by Roger Donaldson the director of the film in conjunction with John. It is called "The World's Fastest Indian" and then "Burt Munro - a Scrapbook of his Life" We have been selling them with John's signature but are coming to the end of our supply.
Just watched this movie tonight and I thought about your picture! What a great movie! Did your husband think that it did a good portrayal of the actual events? Was Anthony Hopkins good for his character?
