One of the more unique, often overlooked components of the long, varied career of Elizabeth Taylor was her sex appeal in cars. The actress, AIDS activist and philanthropist who died March 23, spent a fair amount of time in movies driving cars.
Affairs of the heart, money, intrigue and the politics of romance were all usually part of Taylor’s scenes that also included automobiles.
Of course, Taylor’s driving was the creation of Hollywood. Nevertheless, some of her car scenes, including a high speed chase from more than 50 years ago, remain part of “cars in movies” lore.
In BUtterfield 8, made in 1960, Taylor, age 28, starred as a call girl. The uppercase “U” in the film’s title is deliberate. It was the style of the long ago telephone dialing system.
In the climatic scene, Taylor leaves a roadside motel dirt parking lot — the scene of a pending rendezvous with Laurence Harvey — at rather swift pace in her Sunbeam Alpine. Harvey chases her in a Mercedes-Benz sedan.
The frantic Taylor, who the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role, accelerates after paying for the toll (50 cents) on the Tappan Zee Bridge in New York.
While looking to view the whereabouts of the ever-gaining Harvey in his tan Mercedes-Benz, Taylor crashes through a construction zone and the Sunbeam plummets over a cliff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH1yqy35xbk&feature=player_embedded
Article Last Updated: March 23, 2011.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
