Mad Max Fury Road: We Meet Cranky Frank, Chat With Creator James Johnson

We asked Mad Max: Fury Road vehicle specialist James ‘Johnno’ Johnson if this latest chapter is an action flick or an obsession session for petrol heads.

“It’s both,” Johnson said, while speaking with TMR at a Sydney screening this week of director George Miller's reborn Mad Max franchise. 

Johnson and a team of around 120 were responsible for many of the crazy post-apocalyptic vehicles that not only appear on screen in Fury Road, but are very much ‘characters’ in the movie.

As the film opened around Australia this week, we caught up with Johnson and one of his creations: a Holden FJ ute (of sorts, plus the grille from a 48-215) mixed with other various metals called “Cranky Frank”.

Cranky Frank arrived at Johnson’s Villawood Mad Max HQ in Sydney way back in 2009 as a pre-prepared ‘rat rod’, but he was at death’s door.

The engine needed an overhaul, and the car was close to splitting in half due to rust. Two-and-a-half months later, Frank was ready for his role in the movie.

Frank is powered by a 383ci Chevrolet engine, a Borg Warner differential from a Ford XT Falcon and the ever-reliable Powerglide automatic transmission.

And let’s not forget the huge GM supercharger, which boosted the engine output to the point where Frank required a second radiator under the cargo floor to keep it all cool.