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2026 Buick Envista ReviewGreased Lightning & the Other Cars of Grease
Why, this car is automatic. It's systematic. It's hydromatic. Why, it's greased lightning! Check out the cars from Grease!
Burning Up the Quarter Mile
In 1978, filmgoers were given an on-screen musical that provided a romanticized look back at the ‘50s. Grease follows Danny and Sandy as they fall in love over the summer and then go their separate ways – only to be faced with each other at the same school. Danny has to keep up his tough guy greaser persona while Sandy is invited to join the Pink Ladies clique.
While this is a romantic comedy told through song and dance, its side star is the cars. Mercs, Fords, Dodges, and Studebakers all make an appearance in their period appropriate style. A car is even the subject of one of film’s most iconic dance numbers, a little hot rod that goes by the name of Greased Lightning? You might have heard of it. Take a look at these ‘50s classic cars seen throughout the movie Grease and get a deep dive on the iconic car known as Greased Lightning!
Why, It’s Greased Lightning!
Greased Lightning is the star car of the movie Grease. The 1948 Ford Super De Luxe convertible was purchased by Kenickie with cash from his summer job and basically loaned out to his T-Bird friends. The old Ford starts out disheveled looking with missing parts and a cracked windshield – basically better for scrap. The T-Birds instead took the old Ford and modified it in the Rydell High auto shop class with the help of their teacher Mrs. Murdock.
From here we get two different versions of the T-Bird’s street racing hot rod. The first is featured in the dream sequence dance number Greased Lightning. The bright red hot rod features eccentric tailfins, a bright white interior, a heavily modified front-end, unconventional headlights above the front fenders, big wheels, a clear hood to showcase the engine, and white lightning bolts along the sides. What we know about this car performance-wise can only be told from visuals or even from the Greased Lighting song itself.
For instance, the opening words of the song explain that the ”car is automatic. It’s systematic. It’s hydromatic.” One could interpret this mention of “automatic” and “hydromatic” to mean the Hydramatic – an automatic transmission produced by General Motors that was popular in the ‘50s. However, hot rod enthusiasts also know the Hydro-Matic as a four-speed automatic racing transmission built by B&M based off that same Hydramatic system. That transmission has legs as we see a sticker for that same transmission on the Ford later at Thunder Road.
Given that knowledge of the transmission, we can assume that the red engine they hoist into the engine bay of the Ford is something from GM as well – like a Chevy V8. The song also describes the engine as featuring some “overhead lifters”, “four barrel quads”, “fuel injection cut off”, “Chrome Plated Rods”, and “Duel-Muffler Twins”. Anyone that’s been around cars knows that this is basically gibberish and is just someone using buzzwords trying to sound like an actual gearhead. For instance, a fuel injected engine wouldn’t need carburetors and there’s no benefit to chrome plating your rods.
Now, overhead lifters are a thing in some engines, dual mufflers can exist, and four-barrel (otherwise known as quad) carburetors can be installed, but the joke of this song is basically that the T-Birds have no idea what they’re doing. We don’t have actual specifications on the engine that’s dropped into the movie car as the originals didn’t survive past the movie’s production, but George Barris helped bring Greased Lighting to life a handful of times. His Barris Kustoms garage has produced several replicas that have carried a Chevy 350 CID V8 with dual quad carbs.
What the T-Birds actually ended cooking up was known as White Lightning. This version is basically just a cleaned up and repainted example of the Ford Super De Luxe. There aren’t many other discernable modifications to be seen aside from the white interior, white soft top, and the white paintjob featuring some silver lightning bolts outlined in red. However, we do get a glimpse of a “B&M Hydro Service” sticker on the side glass, which could be inferred to mean they dropped in a Hydro-Matic transmission… or they found the sticker and thought it’d look cool.
All in all, it’s a pretty good update for a high school auto shop class. However, it’s hardly “burning down the quarter mile” if it remained stock under the hood. The 239 CID Ford Flathead V8 that came with those Super De Luxe models produced only 100 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. Hardly the makings of a “winner” when you’re preparing to race for pinks.
The T-Birds take White Lightning to Thunder Road, an illegal drag racing in an old river basin. Through a series of unfortunate events, Kenickie is knocked out leaving Danny to take the wheel in his place. The flame jobbed “Hell’s Chariot” that the Scorpions show up with has large spikes for hubcaps. They manage to use those sharp tools to carve into the side of White Lightning during the race, but Danny is still able to beat them in the end.
Later, the ridiculous dream version of Greased Lightning comes to life at the end of the film. Somehow the fantasy hot rod is being offered up at the school graduation carnival as a raffle prize. A sign reading “Win the Car of Your Dreams” can be seen with tickets being sold for a buck. Danny ended up winning this real-life version of Greased Lightning and drove off (into the sky?) with Sandy in the passenger seat waving back at the rest of their friends.
The Other Cars of Grease
Grease was full of other great late ‘40s and early ‘50s classics that could be seen throughout the musical film. While we won’t dissect all the models seen on the road or at the drive-in, we have pinpointed some of the interesting rides from the Pink Ladies, Danny’s own car, and that convertible the Scorpions were challenging in.
Studebaker Commander Regal
First, we’ll look at the Pink Ladies car, a 1948 Studebaker Commander Regal. While we mostly see this model done up with a pink paint job, there is a scene later where the same car painted beige. This could be chalked up to being a different car, but it’s parked next to some of the other Pink Ladies’ cars. However, maybe she made the switch to be more mature since she’s got a “bun in the oven” to worry about.
Dodge Wayfarer
While Danny Zuko is primarily associated with the likes of Greased Lightning and White Lightning, his actual car only shows up at the drive-in. His ratty, dusty, junker of a car is a 1949 Dodge Wayfarer roadster. It’s more than likely that 1949 model year in particular since it is missing the side windows later models carried.
Dodge Custom Royal
The Pink Ladies pull up in a 1956 Dodge Custom Royal at the same drive-in. It’s pink with a black fin stripe, chrome accent trim, white wall tires, and a white roof. We only get a couple other glimpses of this model, but it’s a pretty clean ride regardless.
Mercury Convertible
“Hell’s Chariot” as it was known in the film was a chopped and rodded 1949 Mercury custom convertible sporting hot rod flames and those sharp spears for hub caps. The Craterface’s pride and joy was an intimidating ride but ended up washed out (literally) at the end of the race. It’s also supposedly one of the few vehicles to have been saved after filming wrapped. It went to auction after being restored to its movie glory back in 2014 and then again more recently in 2022.
