Monday, March 14th 2016
I thought I would share this video with you guys. Someone managed to capture one of the scenes being shot on location in Vancouver. Really neat to see actual shooting locations. Especially when they take place in real-life locations.
Categories: Movies
Monday, March 3rd 2014
I'm sure everyone has had a nickname for their car at one point or another. I know my cousin has nicknamed nearly every car he's ever own (little shout out to CJ). But who could forget Frank the Tank and The Red Dragon from the hit comedy movie Old School. So with that. On Screen Cars presents: The Red Dragon.
There isn't a lot to be said for the car in the movie. It's red 1977 Pontiac Trans AM, 2nd generation car. Black interior. Flat roof. Under the hood, it looks like a small block Chevrolet possibility a 350. It's possible someone changed out the factory Oldsmobile plant out or "faked" a Trans Am. But let's not forget to mention it's the same model year as the original Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am. However it's not painted black with gold accents, no t-tops or any of the other traits of a Special Edition (SE) Trans Am. But I felt it deserved mention. Heck Greenlight Collectibles thought it deserved a 1/64 replica (you can find it here)
. But what is special about Frank's car?
Well I believe Franks' car represents his life as a single man. Frank in the movie is newly married. He's having a hard time adjusting to married life. They're getting settled in and they have a house. Which by the way is a real house. I found a interesting site that has the filming location info. But anyways that's where the car kinda comes in. He's got it out in the drive way working on it. Then here comes the BS! I love it though! His wife comes out to see what he's doing. The car is smoking and making some rough noises.
He says "I took the restrictor plate off to give the red dragon a little more juice, but keep that on the down low, she's not exactly street legal." Hold on. Restrictor plate? Isn't that something they used in NASCAR? Yep you bet ya. Restrictor plates were installed on carburetors on NASCAR race cars to help hold the car back from achieving unsafe speeds thus reducing crashes. Frank I'm sorry I don't think your car has a restrictor plate.
But it makes a great line for car guys to laugh about. You can watch the whole scene in the clip above. Gotta love hearing Whitesnake in the background. But outside of all that Frank's car is just another F-Body. By the way. Frank isn't the only guy to call his Trans Am a Red Dragon. The Red Dragon BS makes for a great story. It makes it feel real. If you haven't seen Old School I would advise to pick it up on Amazon. Old School [Blu-ray]
Categories: Movies
Wednesday, November 3rd 2010
In the voice and words of Ed. Welcome to Good Burger, Home of the Good Burger. Can I take ya order? So what do the movies Wayne's World and Good Burger have in common? Let's see they involve two main characters. Na. A lot of movies do duh! They were both made by Paramount Pictures. So. A good production company right? They both feature a custom 1976 AMC Pacer? Dead on! OnScreenCars.com is proud to present The Burgermobile. The only Pacer to have french fries for wiper blades.
Who could miss the huge fully loaded burger that makes up the front clip. A Large piece of cheese sticking out the front of the burger. Small holes in the patty for the headlights. This ride has pickles for wheel covers. I guess the factory caps just took too much away from the burger appeal. A ketchup bottle sticks out of the back of the rear hatchback. Where's the mustard? A large soda on the rear antenna as a topper. Two large arrow sides tell you which direction it's traveling. A huge crinkle cut french fry serves as a rear bumper. The icing on this machine is the Good Burger sign on the roof. On the inside it appears to be a normal AMC Pacer. I love the oval holes three spoke steering wheel and simulated wood-grain dash. Dat's Awesome!
All I can say is. Was someone hungry when they created this interesting piece of art? If they made a vehicle for the McDonald's Hamburglar this would be it! I haven't been able to find who the creator of the car. But I did find that after the movie the car was bought and used in The International Hamburger Hall of Fame and the Hamburger Museum in Daytona Beach Florida. Sources say the car is in rough shape. Someone at the Replica Prop Forum posted a picture of the car rotting away (very sad). However a replica has sprang up at Little Antony's Dinner in Tuscon, Arizona. It differs from the original. But a nice touch and an interesting way for them to advertise their business.
I was in high school when this movie hit theaters. But I was a fan of Good Burger long before the movie came out. Good Burger started out as a skit on Nickelodeon's variety show All That. The show was like Saturday Night Live for kids at the time. It's hard to believe it's been at least 15 years since then. But I guess time flys when you're having fun. Well that's all the fun for this one. We'll catch ya next time. Stay tuned for more On Screen Cars.
Categories: 1976 AMC Pacer, Movies
Sunday, August 29th 2010
Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth is one of the greatest custom car designers of all time. He's responsible for countless inspired designs of not only custom cars, but timeless popular culture icons as well. Tales of the Rat Fink is an exciting documentary about the life and times of Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth. Thanks to Shout Factory! and YouTube. We're able to bring you the full length feature embedded into this post. Pull up a chair and learn about the man behind Rat Fink. Note this video is not property of OnScreenCars.com. We take no credit. We simply want you to enjoy it as much as we did. As Ed Roth once said, "Keep the rubber side down and the shinny side up." Be sure to keep your eye out for incredible OnScreenCars! See ya next time.
Update 9/17/2023: The Shout Factory video is long gone. But I have replaced it with the trailer below.
Tags: documentary, film, fink, movie, rat, red, roth, youtube
Thursday, January 21st 2010
Varsity Blues a movie about football, girls, parties and the glory days of high school. Oh yea and trucks! Good ole Billy Bob drove one of the baddest '73 - '87 Chevrolet Trucks ever featured in a Hollywood movie. The only thing bigger than Billy Bob's character was his 1973 Chevrolet 4x4 Truck. It was big enough to pack half the football team, Billy Bob and his prized pig.
Quote from Billy Bob about his pig: "I sure do love that dog."
Features
The truck is a long wheel base truck. The front end features a factory grill shell with aftermarket grill insert. The bumper is tubular with a integrated push bar and fog lamps. Note the head lights are round. Until 1981 all Chevrolet trucks had round headlights. The fenders have the fender extensions/guards. They're real important when you're running from the law through the bushes. Ya don't wanta get your truck scratched up.
From the side you can get a better view of the big "69" number decal on the side of the doors. Right above the decal on the driver's door is Billy Bob's name hand-brushed. You can also see the crew in the back. There is also a hand-brushed "Coyote Powered" script on the tailgate as well. The tailgate also features the tail-panel band insert. The rear bumper is tubular just as the front. There is also a light bar. You can also see the tubular step-bars in this shot. It's hard to judge the size of the lift kit. But you can tell it is lifted. My guess would be around 4" - 6" inch lift kit was used. The tires are in the neighborhood of 35" - 38" inches.
Goof
According to a post on moviemistakes.com the front drive shaft is missing. I haven't seen this for myself, so I'm gonna have to watch it again to verify. But It wouldn't surprise me that a detail like this goes unnoticed in a Hollywood production. I find it kinda funny. But it doesn't take away from the sheer awesomeness of the truck or the movie!
Final ThoughtsI chose to do this post, because my brother had a 1984 Chevrolet 4x4 Pickup (SWB) in the early '90s. It was a close replica of Billy Bob's truck, long before the movie was made. It had a sweet looking hand-brushed script that said "Summertime Blues" on the tailgate. The color was an exact match. Other than the fact the years and wheelbase were not the same, it could have been the movie truck! Every time I see something about Varsity Blues, it reminds me of the truck my brother had. Till next time, keep on trucking! We'll be working on another On Screen Cars post!
Reference: IMDB, MovieMistakes.com, 73-87.com
Categories: 1973 Chevrolet Pickup, Cars, Movies, Varsity Blues