While the getaway season heats up, with families planning vacations of all types, the new film Public Enemies reminds us of a different type of getaway. The movie follows John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp, as he speeds away from a number of crimes and from pursuer, FBI agent Melvin Purvis, played by Christian Bale.

In one scene, Dillinger escapes from jail and looks for the fastest car available. “Take that new Ford V8,” a prison guard says with his hands still in the air. There are plenty of early Fords in this movie, as the introduction of the flathead V8 in 1932 gave the masses access to a powerful – for the time – and reliable car at an affordable price.

According to The New York Times, at least 40 of the cars used in Public Enemies will be at the Iola Old Car Show in Iola, Wisconsin. Much of the movie was filmed in the state of Wisconsin.

Dillinger wasn’t the only outlaw to choose a Ford for getaways. A letter supposedly from Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde) is on display in the Henry Ford Museum.

The letter states, “While I still have got breath in my lungs I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove Fords exclusively when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got ever other car skinned, and even if my business hasent been strickly legal it don’t hurt any thing to tell you what a fine car you got in the V8.”

We hope you choose well for your summer getaway car; vacation getaway, that is.