Two-Lane Blacktop

Two men travel across the United States in a modified 1955 Chevrolet, earning money by taking part in illegal drag races. One is the driver, the other his mechanic; they speak little and stop only for fuel, food or repairs. A young woman who has been drifting on her own joins them, and the three continue together. Their path keeps crossing that of an older, wealthier man driving a new Pontiac GTO. He proposes a cross-country race to Washington, with the loser's car going to the winner, and the two crews set off eastward.

Monte Hellman directed the film, which sits between The Shooting and Shatter in his filmography. Rudy Wurlitzer, Floyd Mutrux and Will Corry wrote the screenplay, and Michael Laughlin produced it for Universal. James Taylor plays the driver opposite Dennis Wilson as the mechanic, with Warren Oates as the man in the GTO and Laurie Bird as the girl. Harry Dean Stanton appears among the credited cast of twenty-seven.

Released in July 1971, the film performed poorly at the box office at the time but later drew a following. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.2 from around fourteen thousand votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from a few hundred votes, indicating a solid but not overwhelming response from viewers who have sought it out over the decades.