Vitals

Jason Statham as Nick Wild, tough security consultant and bodyguard-for-hire

Las Vegas, Christmas 2013

Film: Wild Card
Release Date: January 14, 2015
Director: Simon West
Costume Designer: Lizz Wolf

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Car Week continues into December with a little-discussed action movie that—like The Bourne Identity and Three Days of the Condor—is set during against a Christmas backdrop complete with carols on the soundtrack, though the holiday timing has little impact on the plot. (I don’t include Die Hard in this category because, as many have argued, Christmas is the reason for the whole plot!)

Reviving a role originated by Burt Reynolds in William Goldman’s 1986 movie Heat, Jason Statham plays Nick Wild, a “security consultant” for Las Vegas lawyer Pinchus “Pinky” Zion (Jason Alexander), who makes his daily commute from a seedy motel in a snazzy ’69 Ford Torino.

Arriving at work one December morning, Nick meets his latest prospective client, the boastful 23-year-old Cyrus Kinnick (Michael Angarano), who posits himself as a master gambler and wants to retain Nick’s bodyguard services. The rest of the morning introduces the regulars in Nick’s life, from the greasy-spoon waitress Roxy (Anne Heche) to his friend Holly (Dominik García-Lorido), who reports that she’s been beaten and raped by a gang led by gangster Danny DeMarco (Milo Ventimiglia).

After all the grappling and gambling you’d expect of a Jason Statham movie set in Las Vegas, we catch up again with Nick at the Silver Spoon diner several days later, where Cyrus pays him for his life lessons with a plane ticket to Corsica and a $500,000 check… if only they were enough to spirit Nick away from the diner where he’s been cornered by DeMarco and his thugs with murder on their mind. Will a butter knife and a spoon be enough for Nick to fight his way out one last time?

What’d He Wear?

When “on duty” as a bodyguard, Nick dresses the part of a badass bruiser in a black leather sport jacket, but his off-duty daily attire is anchored by softer brown casual jackets, first a tobacco-hued suede bomber for the opening vignette (though he’s still technically on the job) and then a darker brown corduroy car coat that seems to be his personal go-to for his mornings of banter, breakfast, and beat-downs.

The hip-length coat is constructed from a brown standard-wale corduroy, a comfortably rugged cloth that fits Nick Wild’s demeanor: soft and sympathetic to his friends but as tough and resilient as it gets.

Nick’s jacket has an ulster-style collar, the bottom folded over like a lapel that rolls to three large buttons of dark brown woven leather, widely spaced down the front. The jacket also has flapped side pockets, double vents, and set-in sleeves that are finished with dark brown leather trim around the edges of each cuff.

The first time we see Nick Wild wearing this corduroy jacket, he wears it over two comfortably layered shirts. The outer shirt is a gray waffle-knit long-sleeved henley with set-in sleeves and fastened with a four-button placket. Known alternatively as “honeycomb” or “thermal”, the uniquely textured waffle fabric is known for its absorbent and insulating qualities.

Assuming that Nick’s crew-neck undershirt is the same white cotton short-sleeved T-shirt we had seen him wearing when he woke up in his motel, the back is printed with a dark blue graphic illustrated with two pinup-style women over the left shoulder blade and some Fraktur lettering across the top that may indicate the brand.

When Nick rolls over onto his back, we see that the front is unadorned, making it more effective as an undershirt than other graphic tees.

For the final act, during which he takes on DeMarco’s henchmen in the alley behind the Silver Spoon (with little more than a spoon himself!), Nick wears a burgundy corduroy button-up shirt.

Though this long-sleeved shirt is corded like his jacket, the wale width is much slimmer, with more cords per inch consistent with the style known alternatively as “needlecord” or “pinwale” in reference to the narrow ridges in the cotton cloth, more compatible for shirting than the wider-waled jacket. The front placket, barrel cuffs, and two flapped chest pockets are fastened with black recessed plastic sew-through buttons, with two buttons on each squared pocket flap to close each corner.

Nick wears dark blue denim jeans, slim through the legs and styled in the traditional five-pocket layout. Through the jeans’ belt loops, he wears a very dark brown leather belt that closes through a large silver-toned single-prong buckle.

Rather than the distinctive alligator-skin engineer boots that he wears while working as a bodyguard, Nick’s everyday boots are a more subdued pair with burnished mahogany uppers and black leather soles. These plain-toe boots appear to have zippers along the inside to fasten them, though much of the boots are covered by the hems of his jeans.

Nick’s sunglasses are the classic square-framed aviators that American Optical had developed in the late 1950s to meet the U.S. Air Force Type HGU-4/P standard for flight goggles. Appropriately designated the Flight Goggle 58 (you can guess why), these lightweight sunglasses are characterized by their semi-rectangular frames and straight “bayonet”-style temples designed to smoothly slip behind a flight helmet and oxygen mask.

The gold-finished sunglasses worn in Wild Card may be the classic AO Eyewear “Original Pilot” FG-58, or they may be a set produced by Randolph Engineering, who was contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense in 1982 to produce the HGU-4/P for the military. Both the AO Eyewear and Randolph USA aviators are still available for purchase today, more than a half-century after the design was introduced.

Under his shirts, Nick wears a thin silver necklace with a large silver pendant of a cross overlaying an upward-facing arrow, flanked on each side by an angel’s wing.

The Car

Nick Wild drives a champagne gold 1969 Ford Torino GT SportsRoof fastback, one of the less celebrated muscle cars in a year crowded with challengers* like the Chevy Camaro, Dodge Charger, Pontiac GTO, and Ford’s own Mustang, to name just a few.

While retooling its flagship Fairlaine for the 1968 model year, Ford introduced the upscale Torino sub-model. Inspired by Turin—”the Italian Detroit”—Ford had initially considered Torino as the name for the Mustang.

Given the standard six-cylinder engine and body styles ranging from hardtops to station wagons, not all Torinos were necessarily performance-oriented, but the “Torino GT” nameplate offered sportier two-door body styles like a convertible and the new “SportsRoof” hardtop, all powered solely by V8 engines.

The standard Torino GT engine was Ford’s small-block 302 cubic-inch Windsor V8, with options that increased in size up to the 428 cubic-inch 4V Cobra Jet V8, rated at 335 horsepower. For 1969, the 428 Cobra Jet remained but was superseded in power by the drag-inspired 428 Super Cobra Jet. Three-speed manual transmissions were standard on all Torino GTs, with the “Cruise-O-Matic” automatic transmission optional across all engines and the four-speed manual available as an option for once engines reached 351 cubic inches or larger. The Torino GT was 1969’s most popular variant, accounting for more than 60% of all Torinos produced that year.

Nick Wild’s Torino GT has a nameplate on the scoop, indicating an engine size of at least 351 cubic inches or larger, and we see it’s mated to a manual transmission, likely the standard three-speed Borg Warner.

1969 Ford Torino GT SportsRoof

Body Style: 2-door fastback

Layout: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RWD)

Engine: 351 cu. in. (5.8 L) Ford Windsor V8 with Motorcraft 2-barrel carburetor

Power: 250 hp (186.5 kW; 254 PS) @ 4600 RPM

Torque: 355 lb·ft (481 N·m) @ 2600 RPM

Transmission: 3-speed manual

Wheelbase: 116 inches (2946 mm)

Length: 201 inches (5105 mm)

Width: 74.6 inches (1895 mm)

Height: 53.6 inches (1361 mm)

The Torino’s popularity influenced Ford’s decision to a make a moniker switch for 1970, as the Fairlaine was now a subseries of the Torino model. Taking its cues from competition like the Corvette and Charger, the Torino was redesigned by Bill Shenk to follow the “coke bottle styling” of the era.

After yet another design evolution in 1972, a late-model red Ford Gran Torino with a large white vector stripe was chosen as the eponymous leads’ iconic car in the ’70s detective series Starsky & Hutch, but even television fame wasn’t enough to save the Torino from extinction as 1976 marked the last model year.

How to Get the Look

When not dressing to reinforce his role as a mob-connected tough guy, Nick chooses rugged, comfortable casual staples, layering for soft warmth that still presents enough of an edge for a guy you’d expect to be cruising Sin City in a classic muscle car.

• Brown standard-wale corduroy car coat with ulster-style lapels, three dark brown woven leather buttons, flapped hip pockets, double vents, and set-in sleeves with leather-trimmed cuffs
• Gray waffle-knit thermal long-sleeve 4-button henley
• White cotton crew-neck short-sleeve T-shirt (with dark blue graphic across back)
• Dark blue denim slim-leg jeans
• Dark brown wide leather belt with large silver-toned single-prong buckle
• Burnished mahogany zip-side plain-toe ankle boots
• Gray cotton boxer briefs
• Gold-finished HGU-4/P semi-rectangular aviator sunglasses with straight “bayonet” temples
• Silver-toned “angel wings” pendant on thin silver necklace

Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.

The Quote

Well, I been knocked down, blown up, lied to, shit on, and shut out… so nothin’ surprises me much anymore, except the things that people do to each other.