A few days later, as he turns around in his Ford pickup in the desolate streets of the neighborhood, he sees Thao's sister, Sue, harassed by three black bullies. He intervenes, unleashes a gun, silences the thugs and then accompanies the girl home. On the way, he talks to her. She understands that she is intelligent and courageous. She replies that, despite everything, Walt is a "good person". But it's not over. Shortly afterward, Thao and Sue and their mother introduce themselves to the old man. The young man, forced by the gang, had tried to steal the legendary Gran Torino sometime before. He was clumsy as he made a noise, Walt went down into the garage with the Garand, but while he was pointing at him, he stumbled. This allowed the boy to disappear. Now his mother wants Thao to pay for the dishonor he has caused to his family, making himself available to Walt for a week. With bad grace, the man accepts. Thus begins a thorny relationship between the two that, over time, turns into an accomplice friendship, to the point that the pensioner - act for him unheard of only a short time before - lends the Gran Torino, for an evening with his girlfriend to the young. Then, to educate him in his way, he introduces him to his barber friend and, finally, finds him a job as a bricklayer.
But tragedy looms over him. The gang continues to persecute the boy. The pensioner is not going to stay there and he badly threatens one of the criminals. The criminals react: they shoot at the Oriental house and they also manage to kidnap Sue, who is raped.
Walt cries for what happened. She feels the duty to put a definitive end to the persecution of the Hmong family. He draws up a plan. Before implementing it, he goes to his barber, then to a tailor. For the first time in her life, she has a custom-made dress made. Finally, he confessed to the young priest who had been following him since his wife disappeared. Thao would like to act with him. But at the decisive moment, Walt with a trick locks him in the basement of his house. Before leaving to carry out his mission, the pensioner tells his young friend what remorse it is that grips him. Finally, he calls Sue: while telling her where his brother is being held, he begs her to take care of the dog.
I won't reveal the final act of the film. I just write that he is worthy of Walt's values.
Let's come to his 1972 Gran Torino. He deserves it. I think that the choice of this car, a typical US car of the 1970s, for the film is desired. That's even its title. Perhaps because this Ford, heir to the Fairlane, represented the equivalent on four wheels of the American "way of life" of those times. The retired man's car is the sporty version of the Turin, produced from 1968 to 1976 in 4 versions: saloon, family, coupe and convertible. It has stars and stripes in everything, from the dimensions to the line, to the engine displacements available (in the first series, they range from 4900 cc V8 to 6400 cc FE!) which, over the years, grew in performance. At the same time, the line was made more aggressive, in particular, the front, called "fish mouth", in which a large grille dominated.
We can, therefore, assume that Walt saved a dollar on the dollar to get one because he considered it the most representative car and consistent with his lifestyle. He is proud to have built part of it and, in the time when the film develops, jealously guards it as if it were the monument to what he was as a citizen and worker. When he lends it to the young Asian, he certifies with it that he trusts him. The boy is no longer seen as a "yellowface" but as a friend. It is not just a loan for an evening but a transmission of a series of values to a person who has understood and understood you.
I remember in the past that another Gran Torino is famous. It's one of the two police officers, Starski and Hutch, who are the protagonists with her of a TV series distributed all over the world. This Gran Torino, 1975 version, in its red livery with white bands on the side and roof, is certainly less elegant than that, green bottle of Walt. This car had already been used in the film "Il Grande Lebowski" (1998, directed by Joel Coen.).
I end with a consideration of why Ford was called Torino. I think it was, indeed, a tribute from the American manufacturer to the Italian equivalent city of Detroit. And I'd like to remind you that, even today, the versions with the most accurate equipment of European Fords are signed with the name "Ghia" in memory of the ancient agreement and joint work between the good coachbuilder from Turin and the American company.