We’ll be the first to admit that Two Lane Blacktop is a weird movie. That doesn’t mean we don’t like it, because we do, but the whole thing is strange. Things that aren’t strange? The tunnel-rammed, dual-quad-fed, 454 Chevy that powered the film’s real star, the ’55 Chevy we all know and love. The big-block was backed by an M22 and it screams its way through most of the movie, especially in the video clip seen below.
The M22’s sound and major league strength come from a couple of places but for the purpose of this discussion, it is the fact that the gears inside the transmission are straight cut. Straight cut gears are very strong but also very noisy. Thankfully for us, we love that.
Listen to the trans working in this video with some stunning dialog between Dennis Wilson (The Mechanic) and James Taylor (The Driver).
