Auto pilot: Norton harvests a career at ‘car ranch’

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 8:17 a.m.

Ben Norton III was born and raised in car-crazed Southern California.

The 57-year-old former film splicer for 20th Century Fox recalls the Christmas he received a new 1950 Studebaker Starlight Coupe. He was 5 years old.

"It was less than a foot long, an exact scale model remote-control Studebaker powered by two dry cell batteries in a hand-held control," Norton said.

It was love at first sight, and the affair has continued for 50 years.

Today, about 30 vintage automobiles occupy Norton's "car ranch" on a one-acre site near South Rainbow Boulevard and Blue Diamond Road, a compound not open to the public.

His collection includes a 1948 Lincoln Continental, a dozen or more Cadillacs from the '60s and '70s, and several old Packards, among other makes and models. Norton rents the cars to film and video production companies shooting in and around Las Vegas.

"Casino" (1995) was the most prominent film shot in Las Vegas in which his cars appeared. The movie was a period piece that took five months to shoot.

"They used most of my cars in that movie," Norton said. "I had to fill an entire car lot one time, to turn Las Vegas back into the '70s."

Several of Norton's Cadillacs were driven by various actors throughout the film. Pesci drove a 1970 gold El Dorado, De Niro a yellow '78 El Dorado.

In one memorable scene, De Niro dragged Stone out of a restaurant and threw her into Norton's '78 El Dorado.

"You can't get rich doing this," Norton said. "The most you can get is about $500 for a full day of shooting, and you usually have to be with the car to make sure they don't scratch it."

Although Norton's cars were busy in "Casino," rentals are usually infrequent.

"A few days a year, at most," Norton said. "And every nickel goes back into the car. I'm always buying tires and brakes. If producers need a car for a TV series, it's cheaper to buy it. But if they only need it a day or two, it's cheaper to rent."

In 1959, at age 14, Norton bought his first full-scale car, a 1936 Packard. "I paid $150," he said. He lived with his mother at Taluca Lake, Calif. His father lived in Beverly Hills.. Norton's mother encouraged his interest in cars.

"She thought it was a good idea," he said. "She thought it would be better for me to be at home in the garage than out getting in trouble with the girls."

As a child, Norton was fascinated with the cars in his neighborhood that are now classics and antiques, such as a '47 Cadillac Fleetwood.

"I loved to listen to that V8 warming up in the neighbors' driveway before they went to church," he recalled.

Another neighbor had a '47 Buick Roadmaster.

"The world was my oyster," Norton said, recalling how his love of old cars developed at such an early age.

Although Norton attended North Hollywood High School with a number of classmates who later became stars and entertainers, Teri Garr and Cher, among them, he did not pursue a career in acting.

"Very few actors make a living acting," Norton said.

He was content doing occasional bit parts including several of the "Beach" movies, featuring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon, and with working as a motion picture film technician.

"I worked in the lab division of Technicolor Corp. and Fox Laboratories in the early '60s," Norton said.

His official title was "negative cutter."

"They are the unsung heroes of the film industry," Norton said.

He spent almost 20 years with 20th Century Fox. His most notable splicing job was on the first three "Star Wars" films, working with a team.

"The script was turned down by every studio in Hollywood (but Fox) because they all thought it was too corny," Norton said.

Cutting and splicing the film was a 24-hour-a-day process.

"We were working on small pieces of film because they were only shooting a few feet a night," he said. "It took us six months, and it turned out to be the biggest thing we ever did."

Eventually, working 70-hour weeks became too stressful.

"The work was pleasant, and working 70 hours a week, you can write your own paycheck," Norton said. "But that doesn't do any good if you're sick."

Entering Las Vegas

Norton retired in 1984 with a disability related to job stress.

"I had a motor home and went to the Reno-Tahoe area," Norton said. "Then, I moved to Las Vegas."

Eventually, both Norton and his cars began getting work in films being shot in Southern Nevada.

"Shortly after I moved here, someone from the TV series 'Crime Story' called me up and asked if I had all the old Cadillac convertibles I used to have. So, I let them use a couple of my convertibles, and I appeared in a couple of episodes."

He is registered with the Nevada Film Commission, where people with film and commercial projects may reach him.

"I stay pretty flexible on what I charge," Norton said. "It kind of depends on their budget."

Star power

While his cars are gaining more employment with the increasing popularity of Las Vegas as a film location, Norton has had his fair share of movie roles.

"I play attorneys a lot," he said. "I was in 'Leaving Las Vegas' with Nicolas Cage. I was a crooked boxing promoter in 'Play it to the Bone,' with Woody Harrelson.

"The most fun I had was in 'Vegas Vacation' with Chevy Chase. I sat next to him at the craps table."

Norton also had a couple of bit parts in "Casino."

"I was at Sharon Stone's birthday party," he said. "Then they brought me back as a Nevada state prosecuting attorney along with Dicky Smothers. I was in the courtroom with De Niro and (Mayor) Oscar Goodman."

Norton is always on the prowl for old cars.

"I would never own a new one," he said.

Norton recently bought a '69 Cadillac from a woman who sold it to him for junk for $500. She had inherited it from her 86-year-old mother.

"I've put a lot of work into it," he said. "Basically, I took two cars to make one good one. I just put $600 worth of tires on it, which is more than I paid for the car."

He also recently bought a '48 Lincoln Continental Cabrio V-12. The price was $25,000.

"Everything on the car is original," Norton said. "It runs great. Even the paint and the leather work are original."

He spotted the Lincoln in a private garage near University Medical Center.

He found a '55 Studebaker in an abandoned trailer court outside of Las Vegas.

"The wrecker got there the same time I did," Norton said. "I got it for $200."

His cars are not spit polished. They have a lived-in look.

"These are movie cars, not show cars," Norton said. "Show cars are really pristine. You can't do movie work with them."

He said his cars look better on film than they do in real life.

"I put baby oil on them at night for reflection shots," Norton said.

He stopped to survey his car farm, where cars cover much of the available space in the front yard, and in the back.

A neighbor south of him owns a full-sized railroad caboose. Another owns several old planes.

"This is a live-and-let-live community," Norton said.