The Bluesmobile in The Blues Brothers was not one car but a fleet of 13 different 1974 Dodge Monacos. Dan Aykroyd, who co-wrote the film and played Elwood Blues, picked the Bluesmobile Dodge Monaco because of the big police engine under its hood. On screen, Elwood sums it up in one line: the car has “a cop motor, a 440-cubic-inch plant.”
That choice shaped the whole film. After all, a car that outruns half the police in Illinois needs a believable reason to be fast. Aykroyd found it in a used patrol car.
Here is why he chose the Monaco, how the crew kept 13 of them running and how many cars the movie wrecked along the way.
Why Aykroyd chose the 440 Monaco
Aykroyd explained his thinking on the film’s DVD commentary. According to Motor Authority’s 40th-anniversary look at the film, he said, “At that time the hottest police car in America was the Dodge Monaco with the 440-cubic-inch engine.”
The car also fit the character. In the story, Elwood buys the old patrol car at auction. Aykroyd said Elwood “knew that he had to stay at least, if not one jump ahead of the law.” In other words, a retired cop car was the logical getaway car for a man who expected to be chased.
Director John Landis backs up the story. He told Hagerty that “Dan Aykroyd chose the 1974 Dodge Sedan for the Bluesmobile.” Part of the reason, Landis said, was that the model was a popular police car in the 1960s and 1970s. So the Monaco looked right as well as sounding right.
Thirteen cars, one Bluesmobile Dodge Monaco
No single Monaco could survive the stunts. Instead, the production used a fleet. According to SlashGear’s Bluesmobile fact file, the car on screen was really 13 different 1974 Monacos. Motor Authority also counts 13 versions.
Several of those cars were built for specific gags. For example, Hagerty says the principal Bluesmobile had individually controlled brakes on all four wheels. Stunt doubles Tommy Huff and Eddie Donno drove it. Landis also said every stunt vehicle got a solid steel crash cage.
One Bluesmobile even fell from the sky. For the scene set to “Ride of the Valkyries,” Hagerty reports, the crew dropped a car from a helicopter at 1,200 feet. To do it, the producers needed a certificate of un-airworthiness from federal aviation officials.
How fast the Bluesmobile really went
In the chase scenes, the Monaco’s speedometer reads 118 mph. That number was not pure movie magic. SlashGear says one of the 1974 Monacos used in the film could actually reach that speed.
The crew also ran real speed on public streets. Hagerty reports that authorities let the lead cars top 100 mph on Lake Street in Chicago. The footage looked so fast that it seemed sped up, so the production added stunt pedestrians beside the road to give viewers a sense of scale.
Meanwhile, a camera truck towing cars along Lower Wacker Drive at 70 mph blew a tire during one shot. According to Landis, that footage stayed in the movie. Stunt coordinator Gary McLarty ran the action with 40 stunt drivers.
The police cars that chased it
The Bluesmobile needed something to outrun. The production bought 60 used police cars for $400 each, according to Hagerty, Motor Authority and SlashGear. Landis told Hagerty that about 20 of them served as “crash cars” that were wrecked, repaired and wrecked again.
Between takes, the crew swapped decals and light bars so the same cars could come back in new scenes. By the end of filming, Landis said, the bodies “were almost solid Bondo!” SlashGear adds that the production relied on a 24-hour body shop on Chicago’s Near West Side to keep up.
The final count was huge. Hagerty calls it a record 104 cars destroyed in the film. Other tallies differ slightly; for instance, Motor Authority cites a figure of 103 from another outlet. Either way, the Monaco fleet survived far more than most of the cars around it.
What happened to the Bluesmobiles
In the story, the Bluesmobile falls apart just as Jake and Elwood reach Daley Plaza. Off screen, every original Bluesmobile Dodge Monaco seems to have vanished too. SlashGear says nobody has found a confirmed surviving Bluesmobile from the film.
The closest thing is a show car at the Volo Museum in Illinois. It began life as a California Highway Patrol car and is not a 1974 Monaco, although some claim it appeared in a few shots. Aykroyd later used it to promote his Crystal Head Vodka brand, and his signature is on the right passenger door. When the sequel, Blues Brothers 2000, arrived in 1998, the role of the Bluesmobile went to a different car entirely.
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