Bonnie and Clyde, the notorious outlaws who captivated and terrorized America during the early 1930s, remain figures of legend. Their 21-month crime spree, conducted with their gang, has been immortalized in books and films. Central to their story, and indeed their demise, is their favored getaway vehicle: the powerful Ford V8.
During the bleak years of the Great Depression, Bonnie and Clyde’s exploits resonated with a public disillusioned and struggling. They became anti-establishment figures, romanticized as modern-day Robin Hoods by some who saw them as striking back against a system that had failed them. While romanticized, the reality was a trail of robberies and murders. Clyde Barrow himself had been brutalized within the prison system, reportedly fueling his desire for revenge and initially driving their crime wave to fund a prison break from Eastham Prison Farm in Texas, where he had suffered abuse.
The Bonnie and Clyde gang’s ability to evade capture for so long added to their mystique. A key factor in their elusiveness was their choice of transportation: the Ford V8. Clyde Barrow even famously wrote a letter to Henry Ford, expressing his appreciation for the car’s speed and reliability, which allowed them to consistently outrun law enforcement vehicles of the time. This letter cemented the Ford V8’s status as the quintessential gangster getaway car.
However, their run from the law was finite. On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed in a hail of gunfire by law enforcement officers in Louisiana. Their 1934 Ford Model 40 B Fordor Deluxe was riddled with an estimated 120 bullet holes in the barrage that killed them almost instantly. This violent end only further cemented the legend of Bonnie and Clyde and transformed their car into a morbid artifact.
The car they died in, instantly dubbed the “Bonnie And Clyde Death Car,” is a 1934 Ford Model 40 B Fordor Deluxe sedan, notable for its then-luxurious leather seats. More importantly for the gangsters, it was equipped with Ford’s revolutionary 3.6-litre Flathead V8 engine and a three-speed manual transmission. This engine gave them a significant speed advantage, crucial for their criminal activities and escapes.
The public fascination with the “death car” was immediate and enduring. It quickly became a macabre tourist attraction, a testament to the public’s dark fascination with the outlaw couple. Today, the actual Bonnie and Clyde death car remains a popular draw at the Primm Valley Resort & Casino in Primm, Nevada. Exhibits include letters verifying its authenticity and chilling relics such as Clyde’s bloodied and bullet-pierced clothing, further amplifying its grim allure.
The notoriety of the Bonnie and Clyde death car has, unsurprisingly, spawned imitations and fakes. Just as numerous purported fragments of the True Cross exist, so too do multiple “Bonnie and Clyde death cars.” Some are deliberate forgeries seeking to capitalize on the legend, while others are movie props, such as vehicles created for the iconic 1967 film starring Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. These replicas, while not authentic, speak to the enduring cultural impact of Bonnie and Clyde and their infamous “death car”.
