Folks in Pecos still remember ‘Fandango'

PECOS Wayne Scroggins hasn't seen "Fandango" in a while.

"I used to have a tape of it," the Pecos auto mechanic said. "But my wife taped over it."

But Scroggins had a place in the 1985 movie starring Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson and Sam Robards.

Scroggins said he received $200 for three days to use his tow truck in shooting west of Orla. His wrecker was used to pull the front end off a car.

In the movie, directed by Kevin Reynolds, it appears that a train is actually ripping the car in half.

Scroggins said he was asked to use his tow truck after film workers drove past his garage.

"I enjoyed going up there," he said recently. "That was quite an experience."

"Fandango" told the story of five college buddies on a last road trip before facing life in 1971. It was filmed at a number of sites throughout West Texas.

Scroggins said interior shots for a bar scene were filmed at an old icehouse down the street from his garage.

A few miles west of Pecos on Interstate 20 is what's left of Chats Ortega's Bar & Grill, which was used in the film. Travelers on the highway may notice it sitting in an open field.

The most distinctive building in Toyah was also used in the film. According to the website www.howbouta fandango.com, it was used as the interior for frat house and restroom scenes.

Visitors to the Sonic drive-in in Alpine may not have realized it, but they, too, visited a site from the film.
Several sites in Marfa were used, including the city's cemetery. The website said a scene where fireworks are set off in a cemetery was filmed there.

A gas station scene supposedly set in Marfa was actually filmed in Marathon. The website said it was used after a Texaco in Marfa that was supposed to be used was destroyed before filming.

The Rattlesnake Bomber Base in Pyote was also used in "Fandango." Several scenes were filmed there.

Pecos Mayor Richard Alligood remembers driving by the site one day during the filming of the parachute jump scene and seeing a tail of a plane sticking out of the ground.

"I'll never forget when they were filming it," he said. "I looked over and said, ‘What the hell is that?' "