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'34 Coop in Urbana gets role in movie
Sunday, May 25, 2008
URBANA, Ohio — A piece of Urbana might soon play a role in a movie.
A 1934 Chrysler Coop owned by Urbana's Orland Kelch is in Chicago, where filming began this weekend for "Public Enemies," starring Johnny Depp. The movie will focus on the life of mobster John Dillinger and will probably be released next summer.
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The two-door sedan was purchased by Kelch's uncle years ago for $700 at the city's Chrysler dealership. It was passed down to Kelch after his uncle died, but the car remains in fairly good condition.
"There's nothing really wrong with it," Kelch said. "It needs a few things."
When Orland Kelch's son, Jeff Kelch noticed an advertisement in an antique car magazine asking for older model cars for the film, he immediately thought of his father's car. He sent in a photo and an e-mail about the car, and soon the car was moving from Urbana to Chicago, where Jeff Kelch lives.
Besides Chicago, filming for the movie will eventually include other locations in Illinois and Wisconsin, Jeff Kelch said. For allowing Universal Studios to use the car in the film, the family will receive about $300 a day, but no one in the family expected to make a profit from it. It was just a chance to have some fun with the car.
Jeff Kelch thinks there's a good chance he and the car will end up in the final cut of the movie. However, he is not sure how many days of filming he will be able to make, considering that shooting often begins from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.
"The real issue is how many days can I do that type of schedule and still keep my day job," he joked.
Orland Kelch said he drove the car to a few parades and rarely drove it around Urbana, helping it to remain in good condition.
From running his automotive supply store for years, he knew enough about cars to fix it. The car was stripped down to metal and received several coats of laquer. He also replaced the windshield, removed the metal top from the car and replaced it with the original cloth.
