The rare or not so rare 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...
Cameron: [Ferris slowly pulls the Ferrari out of the garage] No, Ferris. I'm putting my foot down. You're just gonna have to think of something else.
[Ferris keeps driving]
Cameron: How bout we rent a nice Cadillac? My treat! We could call a limo! A nice stretch jobs with the TV and the bar. How about that?
Ferris: [Ferris pulls the car back slightly] Come on. Live a little!
[Cameron crosses himself, walks to the car]
Yea, I can't blame Cameron for trying to stop Ferris Bueller from taking his dad's rare 1961 Ferrari 250 for a joyride. Especially knowing that only 55 of these cars were ever built. But hey, ya only live once right? As Ferris Bueller says: "Life moves pretty fast, If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Solid words, I might add. But seriously how rare is this car?
The real thing.
At the time of the film, said car would have been worth around $350,000. If you think that's chump change. How about the same car on the auction block today? The highest recorded auction sale of a Ferrari 250 GT California was $10,894,900. That car once belonged to actor James Coburn and was won by British national radio DJ celebrity Chris Evans. The original cars of course were all hand built with steel and aluminum body panels. The engines were the same V12 engines Ferrari used in their Tour de France race car at the time. Very classy and very rare automobiles.
Well the one on screen, not so rare.
Due to the rarity of the car, three replicas were used in the film. The fiberglass replicas were built by Modena Design and Research for Paramount Pictures. Modena used MG convertibles as a base car. Under the hood, Ford's beloved 302 V8 was crammed in. Overall these replicas were very well crafted. To an untrained eye it's fairly hard to tell if they're the real or not (fooled me for years). Matter of fact, Ferrari ended up suing Modena for use of trademark design and emblems. Not soon after the suit the company went out of business.
Interesting Facts
Have you ever noticed the license plate numbers/names on different cars in the film? For example the license plate on the Ferrari says "NRVOUS." Other cars appear with special vanity license plates as well. Some examples include the text VCTN (National Lampoon’s Vacation), TBC (The Breakfast Club), MMOM (Mr. Mom), and 4FBDO (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). This little Easter egg plays tribute to the director's (John Hughes) earlier works. Another interesting fact is Ferris and Cameron attempt to row back the mileage by running the car in reverse. This trick would work with most cable driven speedos. If the movie Matilda had been around prior to Ferris Bueller, I'm sure the guys would have tried using the electric drill to reset the mileage.
Final Thoughts
As with all good things, they must come to an end. If you've seen the movie, you've seen the horror a classic car crashing through a window and dropping off into a creek. If I were Cameron's father it's hard to say what I would have done. But again, it's just a car. In this case it was a replica of a classic rare car. Not all is lost. Kids, learn a lesson from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. If you're thinking about taking your parent's rare car out on a joy ride (without them knowing), don't do it. There are plenty of ways to "live" life and have fun. Happy skip day(s) to all the seniors of the class of 2010! Till then have fun and don't get caught.
By now I'm sure you've read or seen previews about the new up coming A-Team movie. It's an awesome tribute/remake of a great 1980s show. If this is new news, don't worry. I've embedded the trailer at the bottom of this post. If you've seen trailer, did you noticed anything interesting about the new van? I found some photos of the van on the set. I studied them over and thought I would share them with you.
Time for Change?
Right away I didn't notice anything. But after looking it over a few times. A few things start to stick out. But the changes are a good thing. Matter of fact, we think they're freck'n awesome! But the changes do stand out from the original van. To set the record straight, I want to start off by saying this is not the same year of GMC Vandura used in the series. But that's not a bad thing. You'll see.
The Changes Arn't Bad
From the side you can see some differences in the way the red stripe is done. Note the side ground effects / side steps have been traded out for side exhaust pipes (very manly I might add). The wheels are solid black. Close up photos on AutoBlog and Jalopnik reveal that they're not even the same style as the original. You can see the bling chrome tow hooks and winch from miles away. Front license plate? I pity the fool who.... you get the idea. The front fog lamps on the grill bar are different shapes. The new van has an updated grill as well.
Final Thoughts
But at the end of the day. It's the same concept, just slightly updated. I'm glad they didn't move away from using the same make and model of van. I couldn't imagine anything built in the last thirty years that could replace the A-Team van. One question I have is. Would I go as far as to say this design is "retro." Well that's debatable. What are your thoughts? Comment and let us know how you feel about the new A-Team van. We'll be working on our next On Screen Cars post. See ya then.
Have you ever wanted to drive a Back to the Future Delorean? That dream may be achievable for some lucky people. However for the rest of us there is a sweet video game modification that allows you to virtually live that dream. A group of Back to the Future fans made a total conversion pack built on the popular game Grand Thief Auto: Vice City and San Andres. Not only can you drive a Back to the Future Delorean. You can drive a number of vehicles seen in the trilogy. Wanta take a spin in the old west? How about the Delorean from the third film? Is flying your thing? How about the version from second film? Even the ELB Time Machine train is available.
Check out the Video!
Each of the Delorean cars feature keyboard shortcut activated time circuits. Not to mention working lights and effects. Of course at 88 miles per hour you will see sparks followed by two fire trails left behind as your Delorean travels through time. Each car also has features for the respected version. For example you can run out of pultonium. As mentioned before, the second film version flys.
Oh wait. Did I mention a treat for the Knight Rider fans? There is a the KITT mini-mod as well. You can drive KITT in different modes include the "Super Pursuit Mode." Fire lasers and other neat gadgets as well. These great tv / movie car game mods can be found at moddb.com (direct links below). We'll that's all for now. We'll keep ya informed of other great On Screen Cars happenings! See ya next time.
Delorean Motor Company has announced that they are accepting pre-orders for the new Hot Wheels 1/64 scale die-cast of the black DMC-12. Similar versions painted silver and gold have been available for the past few months. Pre-orders are on sale now in packs of 12 only. Items will not ship until the die-cast model is release in September 2010. I've been checking out some of the great Back to the Future Time Machine conversions of the popular die-cast popping up on Flickr.
HOT WHEELS DELOREAN (BLACK) - 12 PACK
If you think you missed out on the silver and gold editions, have no fear. You can still find them on Amazon.com!
Buying a new car as an adult is a battle between buyer and salesperson. But to a kid, it seems like a mere simple exchange of paper work and keys. At least that's what Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years thought. The third season, episode three of The Wonder Years takes place in late 1969. As entitled "The Family Car" the family maintains a constant struggle with their car. It's become unreliable and not to mention ugly to Kevin.
The rest of the neighborhood seemed to all be getting new cars but the Arnolds. Jack Arnold is having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that he will have to part with the family car in favor of a new one. However the rest of the family is eager to move on. After a few trips to the dealership and spare parts later. They end up with a new car. However they part ways with the old one via the scrap yard.
So what's wrong with this picture? Well for starters the year is 1969. Kevin kept referring to the old car as a "nine-year-old" car. However in fact the car is just barely a year old, a 1968 Dodge Polara Wagon at that. But it even gets better yet. The "For Sale" signs on the car state it's a 1963 model. The math still isn't quite right yet. But what tops it off are the images of young Kevin riding around in the car when it was new.
I hate to burst your bubble but that's not a 1960 model car. But then again, it's a tv show. As we've talked about before. There are countless mistakes by hollywood and television in regard to automobiles. Does it take away from the show? Not a bit. The average joe wouldn't have paid attention to this minor detail. But OnScreenCars.com did. Hey we're not complete jerks. We love this story.
Final Thoughts
It's very easy to put yourself in Kevin's shoes. We were all that age once. It's a interesting time where you think everyone is looking at you. Things like clothes, cars and well everything seems to matter. It's sad. But when I was watching this show as a kid, I put myself in Kevin Arnold's shoes. He was kid going through some of things all kids go through. Changing cars and growing up is all part of life. Till next time keep your wagons rolling! We'll see ya next time here at OnScreenCars.com!
The Changes Arn't Bad
Final Thoughts
