Christine

Screenwriter Bill Phillips thought it was a joke when he was asked to adapt a book about a killer car. Halfway through reading Stephen King's novel, "Christine," Phillips realized it was really good and signed on.

King chose a '58 Plymouth Fury for Christine because it was a "forgotten car." "I didn't want a car that already had a legend attached to it like the '50s Thunderbird."

Kevin Bacon was offered the lead role in the 1983 film, but ended up choosing "Footloose" (1984) instead. Scott Baio was considered to play Arnie Cunningham and Brooke Shields was considered for Leigh Cabot, but the filmmakers involved all felt the movie would be better served by casting unknowns.

Originally, director John Carpenter had not planned to film the car's regeneration scenes, but gave special effects supervisor Roy Arbogast three weeks to devise a way for the car to rebuild itself. Arbogast and his team made rubber molds from one of the cars, including a whole front end. One of the cars was stripped of its engine to accommodate internally-mounted hydraulics that pulled the framework inward, crumpling the car, with the shot then run backwards in the final film.

Twenty-three cars were used in the film. nitially sold as scrap metal after filming ended, one of the best known surviving vehicles was eventually rescued from the junkyard and restored. It was subsequently bought by collector Bill Gibson of Pensacola, Florida.