Free Wheelin'
Free Wheelin' is a documentary film shot about the July 1976 4th Annual "National Truck-In" hosted by the National Street Van Association and Hot Rod Magazineand held at Beach Bend Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The National Film Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America's film heritage, awarded the Hagley Library a Federal grant in 2023 to restore and preserve the film. The Foundation Review Board felt the documentary was a culturally and historically significant record of van culture - a minimalist and mobile lifestyle where individuals live in converted vans on a temporary or permanent basis.ref>
Synopsis
The film shows van owners from all over the country congregating in Bowling Green to socialize, show off their customized vehicles, compete in races and obstacle courses, and watch musical performances by the JTS Band, a 1970s American rock band, at the peak of the "van scene." "Complications," "Golden Highway," and "Free Wheelin," played by the JTS Band, are three songs featured in the film. The documentary includes plugs for B.F. Goodrich tires and a B.F. Goodrich "project van," an automobile outfitted with the latest van technology.Production
The documentary's script was written by motorsports journalist Brock Yates, the longtime executive editor at Car and Driver magazine, and directed by Bill Buckley, Connecticut-based documentary filmmaker. The film was shot in 16 mm but blown up to 35 mm for release as a short or trailer in movie theaters across the USA. The film featured some fancy opticals and special effects, including split screens and wipes, which, in the 1970s, were time-consuming and expensive to produce. B.F. Goodrich used the film as a promotional tool for its van tire business. Griswold-Eshelman Co., a Cleveland, Ohio-based advertising agency, coordinated the project.The film and related production materials are held in the Cinécraft Productions archives of the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. Cinécraft acquired the materials when it purchased General Pictures Corporation's assets in 1981.