Vitals

John Saxon as J.B. Johnson, race car driver and occasional moonshine runner

Jackson County, Kentucky, Fall 1976

Film: Moonshine County Express
Release Date: June 1, 1977
Director: Gus Trikonis
Wardrobe Coordinator: Adrianne Levesque

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Moonshine County Express was produced by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in 1977 during the height of the cinematic “hick flick” trend that often posited guys like Burt Reynolds as rural heroes driving fast cars full of booze. Directed by Corman favorite Gus Trikonis, Moonshine County Express stars the late John Saxon in its central role—no doubt due to the actor’s own considerable talent and his resemblance to a pre-mustached Reynolds—as well as Susan Howard, William Conrad, a post-Brady Bunch Maureen McCormick as a Daisy Duke protoype, and “hick flick” regulars Jeff Corey and Dub Taylor; Seinfeld fans may also recognize Uncle Leo (aka Len Lesser) in a supporting role as a bargain barn owner. (Both Saxon and McCormick share their August 5th birthday, with McCormick celebrating her 70th today while Saxon would have turned 90 this year.)

It would be hard to recommend in good faith to all my readers, but Moonshine County Express is the kind of movie you throw on when you want that raw, Southern-fried tale of fast-driivng whiskey runners in the same authentic, dobro-twanging, semi-exploitative ilk as Moonrunners, the 1975 B-movie that directly inspired The Dukes of Hazzard, though Moonshine County Express also features many of the elements that would be familiar in Hazzard County: a corrupt and corpulent county boss, a white-suited antagonist, short-shorted Southern beauties, and a liquor-hauling hero speeding around in a Dodge muscle car.

Having left his days of moonshine-running behind him, J.B. Johnson (Saxon) is now a popular race car driver known for beating records in his speedy red Dodge Challenger, nicknamed “The Candy Apple”. Unlike the more altruistic Bo and Luke Duke, the easygoing J.B. is ambivalent to the corruption running rampant in his home county, happily taking the opportunity to run whiskey for the sleazy Starkey (William Conrad), who even comments: “You either crazy or you just plaaain don’t give a damn.” J.B. does begin giving some damns after learning that Starkey was responsible for the murder of a group of local moonshiners, including the father of the gun-toting Hammer sisters, who resume their father’s operation with middling success until realizing they need a talented driver. Despite the oldest Hammer, Dot (Howard), dismissing him as a “no-good, smilin’ skunk,” J.B. feels just motivated enough to work for them.

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What’d He Wear?

After Starkey’s attack on the Hammer farm forces her alliance into Plan B, Dot joins J.B. in his “Candy Apple” Challenger for a final showdown. Like Burt Reynolds in White Lightning before him, J.B. wears a light-blue chambray work-shirt that looks like it could have once been naval issue… but with the distinctive addition of flowers colorfully embroidered on the collar! Each side of the long collar is detailed with a pink rose and a yellow rose, each on a stem with green leaves.

The rest of the shirt generally follows the classic chambray shirt design as authorized by the U.S. Navy for its working uniform in 1913: a front placket with dark-blue plastic buttons contrasting against the lighter cotton cloth, two patch pockets over the chest—each with a shallow scalloped single-button flap, and single-button cuffs. A subtle amber-threaded contrast stitch follows the edges of the shirt’s seams, including the placket and pocket details.

 

J.B.’s usual blue jeans are a style that was fashionable through the ’70s, even worn the following year by Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit. Though rigged with the usual belt loops and front pockets, they are distinguished from traditional denim as standardized by Lee, Levi’s, and Wrangler by replacing the back pockets with a rounded yoke reinforcing the seat like late 19th century cavalry breeches.

With a contemporary mid-to-low rise, the jeans’ fit is straight and lean through the thighs, flaring out below the legs to a degree more like trendy bell-bottoms than a simple boot-cut. These allow plenty of room for the shafts of his dark-brown leather pointed-toe cowboy boots. His burnished leather belt is a slightly lighter and redder shade of russet-brown, fastened through a brass-finished single-prong buckle.

J.B. wears a Harrington jacket with a tan cotton or cotton-blend shell. In addition to the usual two-button standing collar and straight-zip front, the design follows the Baracuta G4 style with its button cuffs and plain-finished hem (rather than the G9’s ribbed-knit cuffs and hem), though the fit—and lack of house-checked lining—make it clear that this isn’t a Baracuta. This waist-length jacket also has hand pockets with a slightly slanted opening.

When J.B. drives up to the Hammer farm, he has swapped out the Harrington jacket for his indigo selvedge denim Levi’s 557XX “Type III” trucker jacket, which he wore more prominently in an earlier party scene over a floral-printed green shirt.

J.B.’s sole accessory is a charming idiosyncracy of his Southern moonshiner style. The narrow strip of tan leather on his left wrist has a beaded design filled in aquamarine and coral beads that follow a repeating diagonal pattern, rectangularly framed by white beads. This colorful little bracelet closes with a single brass-finished snap.

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The Car

J.B. drives at least four vehicles throughout Moonshine County Express, though the car most associated with him is his race car, a 1970 Dodge Challenge painted a non-factory metallic candy-apple red in accordance with the car’s name: “The Candy Apple”. In addition to its name and number (#7) painted on the doors, the front quarters are painted with “A.R.E. Racing Developments”, more sponsors decorate the rear sections, and yellow flames dance up the hood—falling just shy of the aftermarket scoop.

For his Street Muscle Magazine review of the film, Rob Finkelman noted that, “judging by the Fratzog logo on the leading edge of the hood, and the lack of the Rallye gauge cluster, I’m guessing the car started life as a base Challenger, not an R/T, and was modified to look like a tough, big block-powered car.” He also details some of the other refinements that transform the Challenger into a contender, including an interior roll cage and racing seats, removed headlights that have been replaced with blank covers, and “a set of 14″ Ansen Spring-style slotted mag wheels shod with ‘Super Charger’ rubber.”

“What’ll this thing do?” his friend Gabe (Rick Langston) asks. “What won’t it do?” J.B. responds, clarifying “quarter-mile of nines over 160.” Aside from these comments, a four-speed manual shifter, and its overall mean stance, we get few other indications as to what’s under the hood.

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How to Get the Look

John Saxon’s clothing as J.B. follows many “hick flick” costume conventions with his chambray shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots, and work jacket, but his wardrobe incorporates more playful, quasi-hippie elements like a colorful beaded bracelet and floral collar embroidery that leans more Doc Sportello than Dukes of Hazzard.

• Light-blue chambray cotton work-shirt with rose-embroidered collar, front placket (with dark-blue buttons), two chest pockets with single-button scalloped flaps, and single-button cuffs
• Tan cotton Harrington jacket with two-button standing collar, straight-zip front, slanted hand pockets, adjustable button cuffs, and plain-finished hem
• Mid-blue denim jeans with belt loops, front pockets, round-yoked seat, and flared bell-bottoms
• Russet-brown burnished leather belt with brass-finished single-prong buckle
• Dark-brown leather pointed-toe cowboy boots
• Tan leather bracelet with white-framed colorful bead design

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the movie.