Listen up fans! We've just created and uploaded our own Firefox Browser Persona. You can now skin your Firefox browser with our logo! Show your friends and co-workers your love for OnScreenCars.com! It's very easy to do. Just click the link below and click "wear" on the preview image. Then boom your browser will have our skin on the top! Keep in mind, you must have latest version of Firefox or an older version with the Persona plugin. Thanks for supporting our site. We're growing by the day. I'm working on some new exciting content daily! Come back for more!
http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/133073
We had a great response from our first Fan Created Rides piece, Jason Rawley's ECTO-1X. Shortly after the story ran I was contacted by a number of people to do stories about their cars. One of the first to contact was Kevin Henry of the Denver Ghostbusters. Kevin is also a member of a movie car replica group called Colorado Movie Cars. Kevin sent me pictures of his ECTO-2K Dodge Magnum and his Jurassic Park Jeep. Since our first FCR was about a Ghostbusters themed ride, I decided to feature Kevin's Jurassic Park Jeep. If you're not familiar with the Jeeps from Jurassic park. Then check out last week's post about about the Jurassic Park Jeeps. Let's move on to Kevin's story.
Kevin first came up with the idea for creating this ride shortly after building his first Ghostbusters movie car. He wanted a movie car that was 4-wheel drive and had an open top. Then it was born! A practical off-road vehicle, but yet a movie car replica for the masses! A Jeep Wrangler from Jurassic Park! Kevin quickly searched the internet over for a Jeep from the correct time period. His search ended when he found a white 1990 Jeep Wrangler near by for $4000.
Kevin planned his conversion by looking over the pieces needed to turn his base Jeep into a Jurassic Park Jeep. But first he needed to upgrade his 1990 Jeep Wrangler to a 1992 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. To do this, he needed to find the correct roll-cage, wheels, side steps, seats and front fog lights. Many of the parts came from local junkyards in the Denver area. Then the work began.
Days were spent sanding. Kevin said the previous owner must have had a crash or rollover. The Jeep was riddled with bad body work. Him and his crew worked through the mess and redid the body work. Most of the body was taken to bare metal, primed and painted. Kevin debated colors between gray and slight champagne color. He settled on gray. He says he's very happy with the results. Next came the stripes.
Kevin masked off the stripes with newspaper and masking tape. Then did a pass or two with red paint. The interior got a full treatment as well. The carpet was pulled and the floor and interior walls are treated with Rhino Liner. Kevin can clean out this dino-runner anytime with a garden hose. Great tip for Jeep owners! Next came the wheels. The wheels were replaced with the correct factory wheels with BFGoodrich AT Tires. However to get them to JP Jeep specs, he sanded and sprayed the wheels red as well. Just like the ones in the movie. After paint came decals. Kevin ordered decals for the side doors, fenders and hood. All the graphics are placed in the same locations as the movie Jeep. Factory 4.0 Liter decals were also applied.
Kevin started putting the pieces back on the Jeep. Then came the first opportunity to show off the Jeep. Kevin scrambled to get the rest of the Jeep together for Nan Desu Kan Am, Anime Convention. The day of the convention Kevin and friends finished the Jeep including props! He pieced together some cases that resemble the emergency kit props from the movie. The Jeep was near completion and went on display. Near completion? Looks good to me. Kevin said it needed a few more pieces to be complete. He later added the winch, side steps, and light bar.
Since that first show, Kevin has shown the vehicle in countless other shows and events. But that doesn't mean this Jeep isn't just a show piece! Kevin takes it off road regularly. From the pictures you can tell he's not afraid to take this Jeep through mud, snow or high water! Hey what's the point of having Jeep and not using it? Kevin says from behind most people don't realize it's not a regular Jeep. It's when they see it from the sides or front, that they get the full effect. Kevin has a few more plans for the Jeep. Including adding extra speakers to blast out dinosaur noises. I'm sure wherever he goes, a JP fan some where notices.
As for advice, Kevin recommends utilizing online resources like the Jurassic Jeep Forums and other great Jeep sites. This is not the last Fan Created Ride we'll see from Kevin and his friends. We're looking forward to covering other FCRs from Colorado Movie Cars as well. However we're open to suggestions on any Fan Created Rides. If you have or know someone who has a tv/movie car, drop us a line via our contact page. Till next time, keep those dinosaurs at bay!
Can you imagine what 100+ Smokey and the Bandit themed cars would look like? Would you like to see it? We'll listen up! For those who are not familiar with the Bandit Run events. Let me fill ya in. Since 2007 a large group of Smokey and Bandit fans have gathered each summer to cruise across the country. The first Bandit Run event in 2007 commemorated the 30th Anniversary of the first film, by retracing the original route taken by Bandit, Frog and Snowman. The cruise lasted three days along a route from Texarkana, TX to Atlanta, GA. Now's your chance to get in on the action! The details for Bandit Run 2010 have been announced at Motortopia.com This year's Bandit Run event will start out in Braselton, GA on May 15th and end in Orlando, Fl on May 20th.
2007 Bandit Run Group Photo
The Bandit Run is an excellent way to connect with other Smokey and the Bandit fans! Bandit Edition Trans Am, Firebird/Trans Am owners are encouraged to show and cruise. However the trip is open to all owners of different car makes/models. There are many planed and optional events. Discounts to hotels and Disney World are available as well. If you're planning to attend/cruise, you need to make hotel reservations by April 15th to guarantee a room at the Bandit Run rate. Act quickly because hotels spots are filling up! You can register for the event at http://www.thebanditrun.com/ Also check out the Bandit Run 2010 Trailer! Do you know of any other tv/movie car related events? We're happy to help spread the word about your event! On Screen Cars may not be attending, but we will be East Down and Bound baby!
Just this last week, Gorillaz released a new music video featuring some cool muscle cars. Not to mention a surprising special guest. The new video is to help promote their upcoming album, Plastic Beach. For those who are not familiar with Gorillaz, let me give you a short introduction. Gorillaz are a virtual band created after comic book series Tank Girl. It's members are Russel, 2D, Murdoc and Noddle. The actual musical performers vary from song to song. It's a very interesting concept to say the least. But enough about the band. Let's talk about the video.
Each Gorillaz video tells a part in a never ending story. I'm not currently up to date with what's going on in the story, other than the fact their escaping to an island. But this video starts out with the gang racing through the desert in a 1969 Camaro SS. They're being chased down by a cop in hot pursuit. Noodle-bot manages to shoot at the cop till the cop runs off the road and crashes through a billboard (very Dukes of Hazzard like). Things are fine for the moment, till they pass Bruce Wills in a 1968 El Camino. Bruce Willis starts chasing down the group and tries to gun them down. He successfully shoots out the back window and driver side mirror. The chase goes on as Bruce's El Camino pushes Murdoc harder. Some nitrous effects are used and they escape only for Bruce Willis to catch up again later. The chase ends with the crew running off a cliff into the water, where the car turns into a shark. Let's talk about the cars!
The Cars
The Camaro is badged on the tail panel as an 1969 Camaro SS, painted black with a white vinyl top. The front emblem was replaced with a "Stylo" emblem. There's a star on the door with the bullet holes and rub marks, very rough looking. It's got the factory rally wheels with center caps. If it's a true Camaro SS, it should have either 396 V8 or a 350 V8 engine under the hood. It's debatable if the blower scoop is functional or if it's just there for looks. The scoop is sitting on top of a cowl induction hood. It looks kinda out of place. One last note, the Camaro front-fender scripts appear and disappear throughout the video. Do you think two cars were used?
The El Camino is a 1968 model (non-SS). The paint color resembles candy apple red. The wheels look like American Racing 200S, classic style. I found something a little confusing with the shifter. In one part of the clip, Bruce reaches down to grab floor shifter knob. If you look up at the steering wheel, you can see a column shifter as well. Is the floor shifter a fake or was the column shifter just left for nostalgia? If you look closely, the column shifter appears to be in the park position. Just a interesting note. Engine size? The car is badged as a 327 small block chevy (note the close up near the end of the video).
Final Thoughts
Two words. Mind Blowing. There is a lot of stuff going on here. I thought it was a great video. The video has a Mad Max kind of theme going on. The new album will be released soon, you can pre-order through our store! The cars are awesome. It's not that often that you see classic muscle cars in music videos anymore. Not exactly sure what the song is talking about. I've read different explanations on the web. Some say love, some say death and some say it's about the car. I think we're all left to interpret the meaning for ourselves. Question, is it just me, or do you guys think the video producers like classic Chevrolet cars? Would a Mako Corvette be a closer match for imagery of the car turning into a shark? Comment your thoughts as we work on our next post. On Screen Car will keep ya posted on On Screen Car happenings. See ya next time!
If you had dinosaur ranch on a remote island what vehicle would you use to get around? The Jeep Wrangler was Universal's answer as to the vehicle of choice for Jurassic Park's staff transportation. You know, the Jeep is perfect for getting up and down through terrain, transporting stolen embryos and running from dinosaurs. At least that was the case for the Wranglers in the film.
Base Jeep
The base vehicle for Jurassic Park Jeeps were 1992 Jeep Wranglers (YJ). The Jeeps were the "Sahara" trim level which included a few exterior extras such as alloyed wheels, colored fender flares, step board and front bumper mounted fog lamps. Interior options were special trail-cloth seats and removable doors with pockets. All 1992 Saharas came with the 4.0 liter 6 cylinder standard.* All the Jeeps used in the film appear to have manual transmissions. However automatic transmissions magically appear from time to time (kinda like how the General Lee switches back and forth through the Dukes of Hazzard series).*
Jeep 18
Jurassic Park Jeep
What makes the JP Jeeps special? Well let's start with the paint scheme and graphics. The paint scheme consists of a Sand Beige Poly background with two red diagonal stripes through the body.* Each Jeep is numbered on hood, on the side and on front/back license plates.* There is also a id tag hanging from the rear-view mirror. The park logo is on the doors. The windshield frame is red with light bar hoop on top. However from my research only Jeep number 12 features lights on the light bar (maybe removable?). Don't shoot me down with hate mail if I'm wrong. The rear tail lights lights have additional amber lights on the top. The wheels are alloy, however they're painted red to match the stripes. All of the JP Jeeps are equip with winches and ride on BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A tires.
Jeep 29: Very little screen time for this Jeep.
Jeep 10: Note the missing top. Used in the scene where they escape from the T-Rex. Later used to escape to the chopper.
Jeep 12: Used to by Dennis Nedry in attempt to escape the ranch with stolen embryos.
Jeep 12: Can Dennis not drive? Note the Lightbar.
Jeep 12: Final scene for Jeep 12, Dennis is killed by a Dilophosaurus.
Final Thoughts
Above is a clip from our favorite scene from the movie. In this scene the visitors are being chased by the a T-Rex. For comic relief the camera pans to the side rear view mirror. On the mirror you can see a warning label that says "Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear." The T-Rex in the mirror is looking a little too close for comfort. I still crack up when I see this scene. The Jurassic Park Jeeps are pretty neat. I think it would be a fairly easy movie car to clone. However it may not be one of the easier base vehicles to find. But they're around. If you're interested in creating one of your own, the guys at JurassicParkJeep.com forums maybe able to help ya out. It looks like a great community. Till next time, drive safe and watch out for dinos! Don't forget to register and chat with us in the forums!
* Updated: 03/05/2010 with some great info from the guys at JurassicParkJeep.com
Listen up fans! We've just created and uploaded our own Firefox Browser Persona. You can now skin your Firefox browser with our logo! Show your friends and co-workers your love for OnScreenCars.com! It's very easy to do. Just click the link below and click "wear" on the preview image. Then boom your browser will have our skin on the top! Keep in mind, you must have latest version of Firefox or an older version with the Persona plugin. Thanks for supporting our site. We're growing by the day. I'm working on some new exciting content daily! Come back for more!
http://www.getpersonas.com/en-US/persona/133073
2007 Bandit Run Group Photo
