Used Cars

19801980
RR
1h 53min

Used Cars (1980)

Official Trailer

Play trailer1:51

When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car ri... Read allWhen the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.When the owner of a struggling used car lot is killed, it's up to the lot's hot-shot salesman to save the property from falling into the hands of the owner's ruthless brother and used-car rival.

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination

Videos1

Used Cars

Kurt Russell and Deborah Harmon in Used Cars (1980)

Gerrit Graham and Peanuts in Used Cars (1980)

Gerrit Graham, Claude Earl Jones, and Peanuts in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell, David L. Lander, Gerrit Graham, and Michael McKean in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell and Deborah Harmon in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell and Deborah Harmon in Used Cars (1980)

Leigh Scarritt in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell, David L. Lander, and Frank McRae in Used Cars (1980)

Joe Flaherty and Jack Warden in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell, Gerrit Graham, and Frank McRae in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell in Used Cars (1980)

Kurt Russell in Used Cars (1980)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

6.9

I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Romancing the Stone

6.9

Romancing the Stone

Used Cars

7.4

A Field of Honor

6.2

A Field of Honor

The Lift

6.0

The Best of Times

6.0

The Best of Times

Amazing Stories

7.2

Amazing Stories

1941

5.8

Night Shift

6.6

Death Becomes Her

6.6

Death Becomes Her

What Lies Beneath

6.6

What Lies Beneath

Married to the Mob

6.2

Married to the Mob

Used car salesman Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) needs money to run for State Senate, so he approaches his boss Luke (Jack Warden). Luke agrees to front him the $10,000 he needs, but then encounters an "accident" orchestrated by his brother Roy also played by Warden, who runs the car lot across the street. Roy is hoping to claim title to his brother's property because Roy's paying off the mayor to put the new interstate through the area. After Luke disappears, it's all out war between the competing car shops, and no nasty trick is off limits as Rudy and his gang fight to keep Roy from taking Luke's property. Then Luke's daughter shows up. —Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>

car dealership public nudity used cars voyeurism used car lot 73 more

Taglines
- The screen's wildest race against time is the biggest auto stampede ever!
Genre
- Comedy
Certificate
- R
Parents guide

Trivia
In the scene where Roy L. Fuchs (Jack Warden) walks up to Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell) and Jeff (Gerrit Graham) as they are finishing shoveling dirt over the spot where they buried Luke, Graham didn't have any lines and kept pestering Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale for lines. Finally, he just decides to repeat whatever Russell said to Warden. Apparently, Warden was unaware of what Graham was doing, thus his line "What're you? A fuckin' parrot?". It was Warden's genuine annoyance at Graham, which worked so well in the scene that it was included in the final cut.

Goofs
When Barbara is in court defending the "mile of cars" accusation, Sam (the "Prosecutor") points out that she already has 25 cars on her lot "according to witnesses". If one mile of cars is 250 cars, and Rudy has "exactly 250 drivers" to drive back the 250 cars he bought from the Mexican, then they are well over the mark with one mile + 25 cars. They didn't have a "one car safety margin," they had a 25-car safety margin.

Quotes
Rudy Russo: C'mon, Jeff! You've seen how bad business is. Thanks to Fuchs, our name is mud! Look... we had nuns, protesting out front when I got here this morning.
Jeff: Nuns?
Rudy Russo: Yeah. I had to have Jim turn the firehose on them.
Jim the Mechanic: [holds up the still wet firehose] And I knocked them motherfuckers right on they asses, too.

Alternate versions
CBS edited 7 minutes from this film for its 1985 network television premiere.

Connections
Featured in Biography: Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa (2000)

Soundtracks
Used Cars
Lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Music by Patrick Williams
Performed by Bobby Bare

Top review

Plain hilarious

One of the funniest movies ever made. I remember watching it on video in the early '80s and expected something really bad (from the cover on the video cassette). There was a movie released around the same time called GAS, which was awful, awful, awful. I saw Used Cars after GAS and expected the worst. And Used Cars is STILL as funny as ever. Perhaps even funnier now (and interesting to note that Kurt Russell really displays great comic timing in this, and it is director Robert Zemeckis' only R-rated film). Zemeckis was one naughty school boy with this film, and those expecting something along the order of Forrest Gump, Back to the Future or Castaway will be in for a surprise! If you're a fan, get the DVD - the commentary with Russell and Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale is priceless. I think they were drinking a little when they did the commentary. It is one of the most entertaining commentaries I have heard.

A classic in bad taste, in the best Mel Brooks and Farrelly Brothers fashion--and 50 bucks never killed anyone!

helpful•47

4

Katz5
Apr 2, 2004

Release date
- July 11, 1980 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Official site
- Sony Movie Channel (United States)
Language
- English
Also known as
- Mit einem Bein im Kittchen
Filming locations
- Berge Ford - 310 E Main Street, Mesa, Arizona, USA
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Budget
- $8,000,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada
- $11,715,321
Gross worldwide
- $11,715,321

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 1h 53min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- Mono
Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

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Used Cars (1980)

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By what name was Used Cars (1980) officially released in India in English?

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