Two-Lane Blacktop : Money Question **possible spoilers**

Money Question **possible spoilers**

I just saw this film and something bothers me about the plot: How did the Mechanic and the Driver run out of money so fast?

Early in the film, the Mechanic says they have $300 in race money, which they put up against the driver of the '32 hotrod and win. That gives them $600. Shortly after that, they meetup with GTO and the race to DC is on.

But towards the end of the film, about a state or two short of DC, they tell GTO they are out of money and have to do some side racing to replenish their funds. At first, I thought it was a ruse they were pulling on GTO. But then the Driver tells Mechanic he had put up his tools against $300, indicating that they really were out of money at that point.

Back in the early '70s, you could have lived on the road for quite a few days on $600. Gas was a mere 30-40 cents per gallon, so even with a low fuel econony vehicle (6-12 mpg), a cross-country trip would still have been under $200 in gas, tops. Motels ran between $7-$9 per night. Road food (burgers, fries) were cheap, too, as were auto parts (note the carb kit Mechanic bought for GTO was about $8). And with the Mechanic's ability to fix both vehicles, that would have eliminated garage repair labor costs.

So, with the relative cost of everthing then, how did they run out of money so fast? Even if they had lived "high on the hog" (which is not depicted in the film), $600 still should have been enough for a straight shot to DC.

Am I missing something? Were there other expenses I am not thinking of? Did they lose some of that money in a cash race along the way I do not remember? I thought maybe it was a time-compression problem...that maybe many more days had actually passed overall than what was depicted, but that is not evident to me in the film's pacing.

One of the things I liked about this film was its realism. But this apparent plot hole really crimped that realism for me. Can anyone help here?

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

I'm agree with you

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

I would say it was simply an example of business as usual. Travel, run out of money, race, win, repeat. I wouldn't look too far into it as I believe it was indicative of the lives drifters lead.

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

I would say it was simply an example of business as usual. Travel, run out of money, race, win, repeat. I wouldn't look too far into it as I believe it was indicative of the lives drifters lead.

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

An explanation that works for me is that they ran, and lost, a cash race that we don't see. I came away from the film with the impression that they were on a serious losing streak, even though they won every race that we saw. Putting up the tools was an act of desparation. If they had lost that race, they were sunk. Really they were always just barely ahead of the game. Losing just one race would have knocked their racing cash down to just about zero...which is what I think happened. Anyway, that works for me, but your mileage may vary.


~~"Lucas, you and I were just friends."~~

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

Maybe they blew all their money on hard boiled eggs.

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

Did they win that $600 race though? It looked like the Chevy was winning but then you see it pulling over near the end, so maybe there was a technical issue? Everyone was cheering like the local boy won, so I'm thinking they lost that particular race and the $300 bucks they had.

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

They WON the race against the Ford Coupe. The guy holding the money glady hands it to the Mechanic after the race and later, the guy who lost gets verbally assaulted by his girlfriend for losing so much money.

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

They had a girl you know. Women blow through money....

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**


They had a girl you know. Women blow through money....
They may be bought The Girl some fancy new khaki outfits or something.

Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

Well, in reality, that 55 probably only got about 4 or 5 mpg and I'm basing this on a hot rod I once owned. They did use only the higher quality fuels too and had to go from LA to the western part of North Carloina (based on production notes of the film). That's about 2400 miles using the roads in 1971. Plus they drag raced the car which uses a lot of gas. So there is half your money there in gasoline alone. They also stayed in motels, ate alot, had alcoholic beverages, fixed both cars (remember there was a problem with the 55 at the drag strip) they also (most likely) would have to have payed an entry fee to that drag strip. I agree, $600 seeems like plently at first, but cross country road trips always takes more money than you plan for. I don't think it's too far fetched.


Re: Money Question **possible spoilers**

Seen the title on this discussion, was going to post almost exactly what you did. perfect, most definitely better worded answer.

mine was a '73 camaro with a 396 and a liberty T10 3.70 rear.. got lucky with 6 mpg. lol

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