Last week was the premiere of Adam Carolla’s Paul Newman racing documentary in Hollywood. The movie was stellar, a must see for any Nissan/Datsun fan, and Carolla even brought several ex-Newman cars from his impressive fleet to mingle at the pre- and after-parties at the historic Hotel Roosevelt on Hollywood Boulevard. Here’s a peek behind the scenes at how the cars met the stars.
Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman featured reels of old racing footage. Newman spent a lot of time behind the wheel of Nissan/Datsun cars, winning the SCCA GT-1 championships twice There was just one little problem: how do you get three non-street legal race cars into a 90-year-old building with absolutely no ramp access?
The answer: a big ass crane, dangling the priceless vintage racers 200 feet above Los Angeles’s busiest tourist spot. Winning‘s Co-director/producer, Nate Adams, sent us these photos of the process.
The giant arm hoisted each car over the hotel walls and lowered them into the central courtyard.
Then the crew rolled them into the bar and lobby area. It was a feat worthy of Errol Flynn, whose ghost, along with Marilyn Monroe’s, supposedly haunts the hotel.
Fortunately, no spirits were awoken by the commotion, even when one of the cars tapped a wall.
Nissan race cars have performed some amazing feats, but floating above Hollywood might be a first. Winning opens in select theaters and via on-demand May 22.
Even after so many years these machines are still rising above the rest !!
There is something about these pics that is just nuts. Seriously though, these cars were off the chain. This was a very cool and memorable event. Hats off to all who made it happen!
Adam Corolla messed up! He should release the movie on 5/10……….
Thank you for avoiding the low-hanging fruit of an “in like Flynn” comment.