‘I’m Still Here’ shows a valuable fleet of old cars, find out details

The Leblon waterfront, in Rio, went back in time in July 2023. Beetles, Opalas and other cars over 50 years old traveled along Avenida Delfim Moreira during the recording of “Still I’m Here”. The film directed by Walter Salles stars Fernanda Torres. Her performance won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama.

“Everything was done in a very well organized way, and many who passed by were amazed and had their cell phones in hand”, says photographer André Vasconcelos, who recorded the scene in photo and video. “They said that Selton Mello and Fernanda Torres were there, on the sand, close to the sea.”

The cars were also protagonists and supporting actors in the film based on the book of the same name by Marcelo Rubens Paiva. It is the story of his mother, Eunice, after the kidnapping and murder of his father, former deputy Rubens Paiva, during the military dictatorship.

The production of “I’m Still Here” turned to four companies specializing in renting vehicles for scenes, which got in touch with collectors. Restored and impeccable, the cars needed to undergo make-up before entering the scene.

“The cars always arrived in trailer and were very well maintained, all clean, and Walter was careful to respect and faithfully reproduce what it was like at the time”, says Lili Nogueira, the film’s deputy producer.

“The stagehands had sprayers. Every day, when the cars arrived, they went through a process, let’s say, to dirty them, to give them the experience of cars that slept on the street, that were in use.”

Lili also says that one of the team drove the vehicles to record the sounds that passed into the interior. Walter Salles listened and, from there, suggested adjustments and mechanical revisions. The director of the film has already participated in motorsport races and is a fan of motor sports.

Regarding the patina of the cars in the scene, Salles reveals the advice given to him by German filmmaker Win Wenders: “Are you going to make a period film? Get the cars dirty.”

There were 399 vehicle nights. With 65 locations, the Beetle was the most common model on the film set, which reflects the reality of the time. This Volkswagen, then produced in São Bernardo do Campo (ABC), led the market easily. In 1971, the year of the arrest and death of former deputy Rubens Paiva, 175,500 units of the model were sold.

In total, 412 thousand passenger cars and 55 thousand light commercial vehicles were sold in Brazil that year, according to data from Anfavea (association of automakers). The number includes national and foreign models, as the ban on imports only came into force in 1976.

It was in a Beetle that Eunice, a character played by Fernanda Torres, headed to the DOI-Codi headquarters. The scenes in the dictatorship’s repression body were recorded at the Nise da Silveira Municipal Institute, in Engenho de Dentro (northern zone of Rio).

The red Opel Kadett used by Rubens Paiva’s family was produced in Germany. Lili Nogueira says that the car used in the film was originally light yellow, but was painted red to stay faithful to the story. The owner did not oppose the change, according to the delegated producer.

In addition to the new color, the vehicle underwent an extensive mechanical overhaul and had the seat springs changed so that the “nhéc-nhéc” did not interfere with audio capture.

The German Opel was sold by different companies in Rio. According to advertisements published in 1968, the car was sold at Importadora Tijuca (northern zone) with a 20% down payment and the remainder paid in installments over 24 months.

The Iamsa dealership (“your trusted Chevrolet dealer”, according to the advertisement) displayed the car in the store on Rua São Clemente, in Botafogo (south zone of Rio). The site was transformed into a residential and commercial condominium in the 1980s.

It is a two-door coupe from the B generation of the Kadett, which was produced between 1965 and 1973. And, yes, it is an ancestor of the Chevrolet Kadett sold and produced in Brazil from 1989 to 1998. At the time, General Motors owned from Opel, and several models produced in Brazil originated in this German arm of the automaker.

One of them is the Chevrolet Opala, which was born in Europe as the Opel Rekord. In “I’m Still Here”, an old green model appears in one of the scenes that portray the repressive environment of the time.

Vibrant tones with exotic names were common in cars of those times. In the film, there is an autumn orange Karmann-Ghia TC, a royal turquoise Ford Corcel, an Amazon green Variant and a safari yellow Kombi.

A connoisseur of vintage cars may notice that there are rare historical concessions in the scenes, with some cars painted in colors that only entered the brands’ catalog after 1971.

Both due to their rarity and their level of conservation or restoration, the models used in the film have a high market value. An Opel Kadett like the one owned by the Rubens Paiva family was recently advertised for R$170,000 on a classifieds website.

An original 1970 Opala in perfect condition, for example, is found for between R$100,000 and R$200,000.

The price list for Beetles is a rollercoaster. Considering only models made between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the following decade, prices for well-preserved options can range from R$30,000 to R$150,000, according to advertisements