Last night as I was skimming through the channels I came upon what is perhaps the most badass movie car ever to grace the big screen. It was made in 1973, had zoomies for exhaust pipes and a big honkin’ Weiand blower that helped this beast pump out 600 horsepower. You see Mad Max was on, not the Road Warrior mind you, but the original movie that started it all. I first saw this post-apocalyptic import when I was about 8 years old and I’ll never forget it. The phrase: “Last of the V8 Interceptors”, is a line that refers to one car only, this being the 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT of one Max Rockatansky. This was the car that Max used to get his revenge on the psychotic biker gang that mowed down his family and the one that he later used to scour the Australian wasteland in search of fuel.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "The Most Badass Movie Car Ever!" »

So, I’ll be hanging with the guys from the “SATURDAY NITRO RADIO SHOW,” talkin’ movie cars on… you guessed it, Saturday Night. Be sure to check out the show below. You can call in and ask me, like whatever you want! (I’ll try not to mess things up, as I have a way of causing trouble without really trying. Wups. Also, make sure that if you’re in Vegas for February, head on over to the DIECAST SUPERCON!

Dial the number 914 338 1560 to talk with me LIVE! Or just listen HERE.

Initially, I was pretty impressed with this Bumble Bee costume, but after I saw that it actually transforms, I was blown away. It might not be the easiest thing to walk around in, but you know it would be awesome to show at a Halloween party in this get-up. Big-time props to the guy who made it.

I get a lot of questions about what I do. And, since I do a lot of things, sometimes I forget even myself! But, between the TV shows, traveling and other nonsense, I work with Cinema Vehicles Services as Chief Designer. And what does that entail? Just doin’ cool things to cars! …And I get to hang out with gorgeous women with names like Eleanor, so that’s a plus. Cha. (Don’t forget to friend us up on Facebook, too!)

Top Secret, so don’t show this to anyone… I MEAN IT!

Saturday August 15 – if you’ll be in LA, mark that day on your calender! Picture Car Warehouse will be auctioning off a massive movie car collection, with over 100 authentic movie and TV cars going under the hammer. The cars, including the 32 hi-boy from the latest Indiana Jones flick (below), will be auctioned off at LA Center Studios, for one day only! If you’re in the area, do yourself a favor and make your way down to this free event. More info, including all the cars, can be found here.

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Yea, movie cars are cool. And I’ve done quite a few. But the best part of doing a car for film isn’t just the finished beast we shoot, it’s the thousands of people I get to meet each year at shows and events that tell me how much they dig the car. Even the funny looking ones. So, I decided to do a few ebooks on MOVIE CAR DESIGN. Check ‘em out.The 3 that I’ve launched now will be followed by about 17 others, covering everything from VEHICLES, MONSTERS, WEAPONS, SPACESHIPS and more. They’re gonna be totally cool, and at a measly $2.50, you’ll get to see stuff that’s never even been published by the studios. Shhh…

When I went to save the image of this van, the file was titled “bteam-1,” which cracked me up. Honestly, I can’t understand why the dude who posted the ad didn’t include the van’s nickname along with the obligatory quote from the A-Team opening. Unlike the pimped out ride from the show, this is a Ford, not a Chevy, and while there aren’t any interior pics, we can assume it’s not fitted with the four captain’s chair set-up. But even with the tranny leak, for $1000, this baby doesn’t seem like such a bad deal. Think about what an awesome score this would be for a young touring band! Head over to Craigslist to read the original post, and don’t miss the totally awesome bumper sticker that comes with the van.

Fast & Furious is opening this week–woohoo, you heard it here first!–and to help whip moviegoers into a car-crazy frenzy, Screen Junkies has put together this encyclopedic post covering (in detail) what they consider to be the top 40 movie cars of all time. Expect the usual suspects: Christine, Bullitt’s Mustang, and Doc Brown’s DeLorean all made the top ten. But there’s also a few rides that you probably haven’t thought about in awhile. Cameron’s dad’s ‘61 Ferrari 250 GT, which met such a violent and terrible end (beaten up by an angst-ridden rich kid, then run through a plate glass window into a ravine? Ugh). Louise’s ‘66 T-Bird convertible: hells yeah, “the best car for an Arkansas waitress and housewife to conspicuously flee the authorities after shooting a rapist.” And does anyone remember this crazy-painted bulletnose Stude from The Muppet Movie? Check out the full article here, and let us know if any of your faves didn’t make the list.

Daryl over at Just Driven has some interesting low-down and spy shots of the stunt R34 Skylines built for the new Fast and Furious movie. The clean R34-bodied Kaizo that stars as Paul Walker’s ride is the only one that doesn’t get hurt. The rest of them are GTS-T mules dressed up to look like R34 Skylines on the outside. Then there’s one lucky car, Daryl says, that’s fitted with a VW buggy drivetrain and running gear, and gets jumped and run down a flight of stairs. See build pics below the jump.

Continue reading "Fast & Furious R34 Skyline Stunt Cars: A Mixed Bag" »

It must be liquidation time for the movie studios, because there’s been a lot of obscure movie cars showing up for sale lately, from the Animal House Death Mobile to the recently blogged Lord Humongous-mobile. This movie ride is much more tame but probably just as infamous. The 1946 Ford convertible that Biff Tannen drove in the first and second Back to the Future movies got quite a bit of screen time that ended in a pretty crappy way (“Manure… I hate manure!!”). While there’s no word on whether this was the car used for the infamous shot, it comes with documented proof that Universal Studios did once own it. The only real sad thing about this car is that, like a lot of movie cars, it’s been cut up to play the part. The convertible was once a coupe and so there is no folding top, just a boot to cover the hacked sheet metal. Hack-job aside, I actually don’t think the asking price of 20k is all that unreasonable considering the freshly-rebuilt flathead V8 and the acting chops that go with it.

It’s dark, but not too dark to tell there’s a lot of nice cars getting wrecked. Thanks to Brad Jolly for the tip on this one!

Here are some pics I snapped on the set of the new Fast & Furious movie last spring. The studio has had them under embargo until now, so this is the first time they’ve seen the light of day. There were a ton of extra cars and their owners on site, including CarDomain member madmods and his Solstice. Also present were several stunt versions of the gray-primer Chevelle–including the wheelie car, its back end loaded up with massive metal plates so it’d be able pop up during that launch. Again, the new muscle-intensive focus of the series is emphasized even in the filmmakers’ choice of background cars–check out the Cougar, Camaro, ‘Vette, and Ford GT. A whole heap of hot Fords were loaned out for the shoot by the Saleen family, including Steve Saleen’s daughter Molly, who will be making a cameo in the film driving her fuscia ‘07 Mustang. Fast & Furious is scheduled to be in theaters April 3–not that far off at all! Follow the jump to see a ton more photos of the cars that’ll be hitting the big screen in a little over a month. And don’t forget to check out the recently-released official photos as well.

Continue reading "More Pics From The Set of Fast & Furious" »

A while back I spent some time in LA on the set of the new Fast & Furious movie. It was a blast–there was an absolute treasure trove of hopped-up rides, I got to hang out with the CarDomain members whose cars were cast for the flick, and Vin Diesel and Paul Walker were actually pretty cool in real life (Walker is a seriously enthusiastic gearhead, it turns out–and Diesel was tooling around the set on an electric scooter like a giant bald kid). Judging by the rides that turned out for the shoot, as well as the star cars featured below, the latest installation is going to be more domestic-centric than any of its predecessors, with a good mix of American muscle and hot imports–all in all, something for everybody. Read on for vital stats and a ton more pics of the movie’s star cars–and stay tuned to the CarDomain blog for more details on Fast & Furious over the next few days.

Continue reading "Fast & Furious Movie Cars: Official Pics and Specs Now Live!" »

I watched a bit of the second Back To The Future movie last night, and being a fan of the 80’s, I have to say I love how totally awesome that era’s imagining of "the future" really was. In the film’s version of 2015, people still haven’t figured out flatscreen TVs or gotten over kitted-up Ford Tempos—I love it. The ‘76 BMW 633 that villain Griff Tannen and his retro 80s-punk friends ride around in, though, is nothing short of impressive by any measure. And even more impressive is the fact that some guy has completely restored that car after buying it from another BTTF fan who had it squirreled away. Check out the full story and a ton of restoration photos over on Jalopnik.

I think I’m going with the ‘64 Malibu in Repo Man. Ryan had never heard of Repo Man, which made me feel old. Here’s some trivia on the car from IMDB:

When filming began, they only had one 1964 Chevy Malibu. It was stolen a couple of days into filming, forcing the film crew to scramble to find a replacement. Shortly after finding a replacement, the original was recovered by the police undamaged. This was fortunate timing because about a day later Fox Harris severely damaged one of the Malibus by accidentally plowing it into a gasoline pump! In the carwash scene, one of the gas pumps is clearly severely dented up and damaged. This is the pump Fox plowed into in a previous take.

No special effects were used to make the Chevy Malibu glow while parked at the repossession lot. Instead, the car was completely coated with 3M reflective paint, at an approximate price of $600 per bucket.

So what’s your favorite car from an 80s movie? Post a link to a pic!