Last week, a surprising group of 1950s European cars took over some prime parking spots on Lexington Avenue and 75th Street in New York City. A low, curvaceous Jaguar XK120 and a cherry red Allard K2, both six-figure models, were separated by a light purple Citroën H-type work truck. Across the avenue, three Citroën Traction Avant sedans echo these anomalies. Beyond the cars is the old French bistro d’Orsay, its mahogany front covered by a cloth awning with Paris Metro-style Art Nouveau letters. Between the curb and the facade, a familiar sidewalk skylight defines the scene as something straight out of a New York movie. Craft service tables are stacked with soda cans and snack bags, a public address with clipboards attempts to redirect unruly pedestrians, and technicians hold aloft parachute-sized flat reflectors to catch the light.
Josh Safdie is one half of the acclaimed New York brother duo who directed the tense Adam Sandler crime thriller uncut gems and avant-garde Rob Pattinson cars. good times — currently filming his hilarious solo feature Marty SupreThe unexpected A-list cast includes Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Fran Drescher in her feature film debut, Tyler, the Creator. Information about the film’s plot is closely guarded. The leaked information is even more bizarre, suggesting it will center on a professional table tennis player from the 1950s (!), while paparazzi also went wild and captured Chalamet wearing glasses and an outfit that made him look like the cosplaying Jean Photos of (Jean) hanging out in New York. But unless the film is also set in some alternate reality, the flashy cars parked along the Orsay aren’t exactly evocative of mid-century New York.
When I approached Jake Gouverneur, vice president of Octane Film Cars, he said, “We shot in three different locations around the city, including one on Long Island, to portray Paris in the 1950s.” “Cars For Sale Location.”
From left to right, a light purple Citroen H-Type work truck and a cherry red Allard K2 on the set of “Marty Supreme”.
Brett Burke
The company purchases exotic vehicles for use in film, television and commercial shoots in the New York area. “There were other bigger players, but people thought we were the hard-to-find cars.” He personally trucked four French cars for the week-long shoot. The Englishmen were brought in by their respective hosts, who sat on the porch beside him and chatted. “These cars are really valuable,” Gouverneur said. “They want to stay close to them.”
Octane has worked on various productions in and around New York, including HBO Max’s sex and city Restart that’s all, Mid-20th Century Borscht Belter in the Amazon The marvelous Mrs. Maisel, FX’s Cold War spy drama American, and Searchlight’s Bob Dylan biopic, Completely unknown, Chalamet also stars.
marty supreme suit
Brett Burke
According to Gouverneur, the celebrity actors were inside the restaurant and shot outward, making the assembled cars look small but convincing street furniture. Background actors dressed in period costume—an ill-fitting brown suit, a dockworker’s jacket (thankfully, no berets)—carry a briefcase, a cigarette, and a shopping bag (thankfully, no baguette). Move around. Sometimes, one of the extras got to drive one of the cars, Gouverneur said. This is the trickiest part of his job.
“There are all these questions. How does this work? How does this work? Where are the cup holders?” he said. “Also, just starting an old car can be risky. Thankfully, this is all happening when they should be. here we go.
Sometimes the requirements for a vehicle are very specific. Other times, like this shoot, it’s a little loose. “The brief here is France in the 1950s. What works?” Octane curated a representative list, complete with photos and details, each approved by the production team. Gouverneur’s company is adamant about period correctness. “But whether to follow that advice is another question,” he said. In other words, a 1984 Octane Lincoln limousine once played the role of its older ’50s cousin the marvelous mrs maisel Because the director required the actors to face each other on the boat, this seating innovation was not yet commonplace during the show.
Octane has acquired all kinds of wacky cars: a vintage 1910 Ford Model T, a 1950s Messerschmitt three-wheeled microcar, and a 1960s Oldsmobile concept car, to name a few . They don’t just make cars. “We’ll provide everything you need: trains, boats, mopeds, vintage golf carts. I once took a set designer to Delaware to see helicopters,” Gouverneur said. “We haven’t built a submarine yet, but fingers crossed.”
The company maintains a large collection of antique cars in garages outside New York, but will source or lease any vehicles it doesn’t have through its network of antique car dealers, collectors and repair shops. Sometimes, it’s even necessary to double down on your car purchase. For the upcoming Netflix limited series, black rabbitFour matching 1980s Jaguar XJ6 sedans were purchased for “Octane,” which was recently shot in New York, and they were used in all sorts of on-screen antics. “We shot through the windows of the stunt car,” Gouverneur said. “We need five sets of windows.”
When asked about the specific challenges of photographing cars in New York, a city decidedly uninhabitable by cars, Gouverneur said, “What’s not a challenge?” and laughed. “Noise, crowds, selfies, subways, parking lots.” He points to a pile of stale loaves that someone dropped next to one of the six-figure classics, attracting a flock of birds. “Pigeon.”
A Volvo 240 sedan was stolen from the set. Another time, while filming a Mark Ruffalo movie, a vacant upstate car dealership outfitted with 20 vintage Octane cars burned to the ground. (“The consensus was arson,” Gouverneur said.) But as far as he knows, no unintentionally No car from the company has been involved in a crash. The insurance produced covers any damage. “Once the cars arrive on set, it’s the studio’s responsibility and whatever happens, it’s their responsibility,” Gouverneur said.
Does Gouverneur find the job grueling, given the pre-dawn call times, endless prep work, post-dusk finishing touches and midnight commutes in a car carrier loaded with other people’s prized collectibles? “It’s a bit like being a firefighter,” he said with a shrug. “It’s okay.” But you have to be prepared for something catastrophic to happen at any time. He stopped and looked in the direction of the craft service desk. “And, if you’re not careful, you can eat a lot.”
