that's my dad's favorite movie, he's got probibly 7-8 copys of it on VHS & DVD, all kinds of special editions and such. he's even got a cool magazine article featuring most of the starring cars and their backround storys. the john milner coupe was a falling apart POS that barly ran, most of the scenes with it it's actually on a trailer or being pushed / chain towed, and the black '55 chevy was one of the leftover cars from the movie "two lane blacktop", which actualy was a profeshionally built race car.
i've always been more fond of the 2nd movie, more amarican graffiti. it kinda follows up on where everyone winds up a few years down the road.