The Terrible Accident George Lucas Had That Led Him To 'Star Wars'

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By Culture SlatePublished 3 years ago • 3 min read

The creative mind behind Star Wars was not always dreaming of the stars. Many knew he was a big fan of Flash Gordon, growing up. It was not just the outer space aspect that excited him. George Lucas loved cars, and was fascinated by the ships of Flash Gordon. He set his ambitions on race cars, until an accident intervened, which shifted his focus elsewhere.

George Lucas grew up in Modesto, a rural farming town in Central California. The town only had a few movie theaters, but a great car culture. George Lucas would describe himself as a car fanatic, as showcased in American Graffiti, and his early goal was to be a racecar driver. Lucas was not a great student, and spent the majority of his time working on, racing cars, or chasing girls. He eventually came in possession of a yellow Autobianchi Bianchina, a small Italian car based on the Fiat 500. He would worked on the car in a garage after school to fund and make improvements on his beloved car.

Just prior to George Lucas’ high school graduation, he was involved in a terrible car crash. Lucas was driving home from the library when his friend, Frank Ferreira, tried to pass Lucas on the left as Lucas turned in to his family’s ranch. Ferreira’s Chevy Impala broadsided Lucas’ Bianchina and the car rolled over several times. Lucas was flung out of the car prior to it wrapping around a walnut tree. Lucas survived, but he lost consciousness, suffered multiple bone fractures, bleeding lungs, and was in critical condition. The crash changed Lucas’ dream and made him decide against becoming a race car driver. George Lucas looked back on that fateful accident:

“Before that first accident you are very oblivious to the danger because you don’t realize how close to the edge you are. But once you’ve gone over the edge and you realize what’s on the other side, it changes your perspective.
I was in a club with a lot of guys who were race drivers — one of ‘em went on and drove at Le Mans — and he eventually quit too because of the same thing. You see what the future is there, and you realize that you’ll probably end up being dead. That’s where most of them end up; it’s inevitable, because the odds are if you stay with it long enough that’s what will happen to you.
And I just decided that maybe that wasn’t for me. I decided I’d settle down and go to school.”

After he recovered from the accident, Lucas attended Modesto Junior College and turned his grades around. He focused his studies on psychology, anthropology, and philosophy, which would be the foundation for his future Star Wars universe. Lucas also turned to his old hobby of photography. He would take pictures of car races instead of participating in them. Then, he made a key connection in famed cinematographer and racing fan Haskell Wexler who encouraged Lucas and steered him to film school at University of Southern California (USC).

Eventually, Lucas found success in film at USC. Movies would replace Lucas’ focus and love of cars, but they were not mutually exclusive. Lucas’ breakout film America Graffiti showcased his aptitude in film as well as his love of cars, his youth, and Modesto. The film was very successful, and set the stage for Lucas to make his magnum opus of Star Wars. Even though Star Wars was set a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was still a focus on vehicles, such as the X-wing fighters and the Millennium Falcon. George Lucas’ love of cars would carry on.