No matter how many times I watch this scene. I always break out laughing my favorite ever detective series by far! I started watching this show when I was 9!!
Ppl would stand behind the ropes, and watch the action as it was filmed. We visited SoCali in '75 . We didn't get to see Rockford filming. But we did catch a wave on the Universal lot tour, from- you guessed it, Robert Blake, who was filming a "Baretta" episode that day.
I remember this car chase scene specifically , because I remember Jim spinning the car and leaving the cops to chase the other guy. This made me LMAO !!!
Ah the life of a 1974 Pontiac Firebird 400 Esprit under the care of Jim Rockford.Noticed the bad guy's had time to stop and take off the fender skirts on the Chrysler too.Hard to believe this was 46 years ago.Thanks for the memories.Continue RIP Jim Garner and also his stunt man Roy Clarke.
back then, you can see that those cops would have had no chance to tell anybody the license plate of the guy they were following. He could have turned left and knocked the one over and then jammed on the brakes and let the other crash into him and then just leave the scene with nothing to worry about. Today he'd have needed a jammer from the beginning to not have the eventual knock at the door.
I can virtually hear those back barrels open up on that Thermoquad, but no use, Jimmie's Pontiac has 2000 pounds less to deal with. You ain't catch'n him.
Jammed it in first, and held the gear, then you can move manually up to second and third, also no Limited Slip, as he has a one tire fire there, as the TH350's and 400's were rigged up for fuel economy not speed, so manually shifting sometimes provided better results. and this is from the first season before they switched to the Firebird Formula 400's meaning this is probably a base model 350 car. and they had to switch for more power.
@@kavinskysmith4094 I read an article where James Garner was asked how come his character didnt upgrade to a Trans Am. Garner said he probably could have but Rockford's character was not flashy like that.
@@keonjenkins1852 well that was the thing, a ground floor detective that's job is not to get seen is not the kind of guy who would drive around in a flashy car as it would hinder his ability to blend in, plus he also did keep the car after the show ended for a couple of months and used it as a low key run around as theirs actually a few stories of him actually driving it, the 78, around for abit just incase the show came back, namely the microphone car plus he kinda already had a really fast car in real life he was driving around, a Lola race car he would drive to the set with lol and in one of the episodes a 250 GTO shows up out of nowhere as the clients race car, James was friends with the owner and asked to use it so its not like he was short on horsepower he could play around with, and I only note this, as I saw the episode, then went to my local art museum in 2006 to see a bunch of cars that were loaned there by ralph lauren and in checking the internet movie car database, I was going through the comments and it turned out it was the same car! just overrestored and with a stock motor in it now instead of the 330 P/4 motor it had in it back then like I wish I could have seen it when it was on the rockford files as I was so disgusted with how unreal it looked, as it looked like a polished up model car instead of an actual real life race car that they only made 39 of that I went downstairs and looked at some samurai armor that still had the dents in it from the fights it had been used in instead lol
@@kavinskysmith4094 I'll sometimes do the same with my automatic car to obtain maximum acceleration - like if I want to beat a Honda Civic from the light! Lol Mine will automatically upshift around 5400 rpm, but the redline is at 6000. So, I'll manually downshift and take advantage of those extra 600 rpm's before manually upshifting. I call it doing a 'Rockford shift'! Lol
This '74 Firebird he's driving was a real Esprit with the 400, as '74 was the last year you could get a 400 with the Esprit and even 455. So it had the power. But what it was missing was the Radial Tuned Suspension from the Formula and Trans Am and Posi which made it handle tiighter, so it was a little loose around the corners. So for '75 '76 '77 and '78 They got Formulas with the 400 and 403 and RTS and made them look like Esprits.
Man I loved that Firebird
No matter how many times I watch this scene. I always break out laughing my favorite ever detective series by far! I started watching this show when I was 9!!
Ppl would stand behind the ropes, and watch the action as it was filmed.
We visited SoCali in '75 . We didn't get to see Rockford filming. But we did catch a wave on the Universal lot tour, from- you guessed it, Robert Blake, who was filming a "Baretta" episode that day.
I remember this car chase scene specifically , because I remember Jim spinning the car and leaving the cops to chase the other guy. This made me LMAO !!!
Ah the life of a 1974 Pontiac Firebird 400 Esprit under the care of Jim Rockford.Noticed the bad guy's had time to stop and take off the fender skirts on the Chrysler too.Hard to believe this was 46 years ago.Thanks for the memories.Continue RIP Jim Garner and also his stunt man Roy Clarke.
are you saying that Jim wasn't even driving the car himself when it was complicated?
@@lebergerdesphotons4565 Jim drove most of the stunts but yes if it was dangerous Roy would take over
Man, I loved that series.
0:47 Some serious hopping with the rear drums on that Le Baron.
Best show ever
TRUE INDEED.
Love how the motorbikes the cops are riding have no cornering clearance, grinding parts as they try to navigate the corner.
Love the funky groove starting on 1:23.
Right?
Sometimes Jim would borrow Rocky's GMC pickup and get involved in chases, The Rockford Files was great tv.
Turns out those guys were Feds, not "The Mob".
Same thing just one carries a badge.
@@edbair5480
Feds carry badges too
Was supposed to be a Rockford Files episode until the guys from CHiPs got involved.
Ponch and Jon would of been in the chase if it was during the day but Ponch didn't want to miss the disco at night
back then, you can see that those cops would have had no chance to tell anybody the license plate of the guy they were following. He could have turned left and knocked the one over and then jammed on the brakes and let the other crash into him and then just leave the scene with nothing to worry about.
Today he'd have needed a jammer from the beginning to not have the eventual knock at the door.
Yes Sir I hate when they blow up his car it ws really fast too
This must be from the two part syndicated version of the episode "This Case is Closed" - Originally it was a 90 min episode and the chase had no music
Really? Didn't know that.
These old car chases they had no choice call the Marshall or head for highland!
Bad guys tearing up that ginormous New Yorker with hard understeer, but some smooth wide drifts throught those corners.
He know ho shift mad od
Keep the noise down I’m trying sleep firebird
I can virtually hear those back barrels open up on that Thermoquad, but no use, Jimmie's Pontiac has 2000 pounds less to deal with. You ain't catch'n him.
I saw 2 different cars being driven by the bad guys
Looked like the Chrysler New Yorker throughout. Definitely a Chrysler, but from a distance, you'd think it was a Ford LTD coupe.
@@johndrake2729 It was an Imperial. Episode was in 1974 and Imperial used that front before New Yorker inherited it in 1976
@@1983jblack Oh, okay.
@@1983jblack A '74 Imperial LeBaron, if you want to be fully accurate.
Same car without the fender skirts.
Pleas stop I’m trying get to bed ok shhhhhhh
When you can't call the cops...
You call Rockfish.
OH
I did like Jim 1st car I hate they blew it up
0:02. Did that car have sport mode or something? Grief.
Jammed it in first, and held the gear, then you can move manually up to second and third, also no Limited Slip, as he has a one tire fire there, as the TH350's and 400's were rigged up for fuel economy not speed, so manually shifting sometimes provided better results.
and this is from the first season before they switched to the Firebird Formula 400's meaning this is probably a base model 350 car.
and they had to switch for more power.
@@kavinskysmith4094 I read an article where James Garner was asked how come his character didnt upgrade to a Trans Am. Garner said he probably could have but Rockford's character was not flashy like that.
@@keonjenkins1852 well that was the thing, a ground floor detective that's job is not to get seen is not the kind of guy who would drive around in a flashy car as it would hinder his ability to blend in, plus he also did keep the car after the show ended for a couple of months and used it as a low key run around
as theirs actually a few stories of him actually driving it, the 78, around for abit just incase the show came back, namely the microphone car
plus he kinda already had a really fast car in real life he was driving around, a Lola race car he would drive to the set with lol
and in one of the episodes a 250 GTO shows up out of nowhere as the clients race car, James was friends with the owner and asked to use it so its not like he was short on horsepower he could play around with, and I only note this, as I saw the episode, then went to my local art museum in 2006 to see a bunch of cars that were loaned there by ralph lauren
and in checking the internet movie car database, I was going through the comments and it turned out it was the same car!
just overrestored and with a stock motor in it now instead of the 330 P/4 motor it had in it back then
like I wish I could have seen it when it was on the rockford files as I was so disgusted with how unreal it looked, as it looked like a polished up model car instead of an actual real life race car that they only made 39 of that I went downstairs and looked at some samurai armor that still had the dents in it from the fights it had been used in instead lol
@@kavinskysmith4094 I'll sometimes do the same with my automatic car to obtain maximum acceleration - like if I want to beat a Honda Civic from the light! Lol Mine will automatically upshift around 5400 rpm, but the redline is at 6000. So, I'll manually downshift and take advantage of those extra 600 rpm's before manually upshifting. I call it doing a 'Rockford shift'! Lol
This '74 Firebird he's driving was a real Esprit with the 400, as '74 was the last year you could get a 400 with the Esprit and even 455. So it had the power.
But what it was missing was the Radial Tuned Suspension from the Formula and Trans Am and Posi which made it handle tiighter, so it was a little loose around the corners.
So for '75 '76 '77 and '78 They got Formulas with the 400 and 403 and RTS and made them look like Esprits.
Sshhhhhhh
Noise complant
This is click bait - where are the full episodes??
Taken down by RUclips at the request of Universal.
Damn that was noise loud,i they hear town