'Taxi' may not be the most rememberable film. Sure it had it's share of laughs. But when was the last time someone said "Hey, um let's watch Taxi." For those who have not seen the movie. Here's a short rundown. A police officer (Jimmy Fallon) loses his drivers license and is forced to rely on public transportation. A crime occurs and he happens to hail the fastest cab in the city. The cab is driven by a wantable race car driver (Queen Latifah). Hilarious antics happen and that's the movie. Short and simple right? Well, I'll be honest. When the film came out, I enjoyed it. The thing I remember most from the movie though was the car Queen Latifah drove.
The car is standard looking Ford Crown Vic taxi cab at first glance. But with a press of a button it became a full on race car. Kinda neat huh? Well yea. What makes this car special is the creator. The late great Eddie Paul, the man responsible for numerous Hollywood automobile creations. xXx, Grease, Cobra, Fast & Furious to name a few of the productions Eddie was commissioned on. The base car is a P71 Ford Crown Victoria. P71 is a special order trim package created by Ford just for police use. They're pretty easy to spot. Most have the "Police Interceptor" badging on the back. Lot's of extra goodies in the package. As Elwood (Blues Brothers) would say would say "It's got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks..." Eddie made some major modifications to this car. Custom body kit, 20 inch wheels and hood scoop are most notable. But something that always threw me off was the shifter. There's a standard shifter on the column and then this other shifter in a custom console. I'm not sure which one you actually use. These features are likely all just for looks. This car did have the air bag removed and custom steering wheel replaces the factory wheel. There was a large bit of CGI used in the film to augment its appearance.
So why are we talking about this again? Well, one of the cars used in the film is for sale on eBay. At just $39,999 dollars, you too could own a movie car. Sounds steep. Keep in mind, you can actually drive this one. It's street legal. Not many movie cars you can do that with. Not sure if you would call this the hero car. But it was used in many of a chase scenes. Including the scene where the car hits a fire hydrant. Believe it or not, Eddie signed the dash on this one. Rest in peace our friend. Till next time, be safe and take the bus. See ya!
The Mandela Effect, it's real. Ever had a memory that later turned to be false? It's earth shattering isn't it? I recently went through a similar thing with Knight Rider 4000 (KIFT). I remember seeing the Knight Rider 2000 made for tv movie as a kid. That sleek red car blew my mind. It looked so futuristic. I can remember telling myself "That's a Pontiac Banshee." Well folks, it's not. Wait it's not?! Yep, if you thought the same thing: you'd be wrong. Knight Rider 4000 is actually a Dodge Stealth/Mitsubishi 3000GT. Let me give you a minute to let that settle. Believe it or not KIFT is sort of a replica of the Banshee created by car builder Jay Ohrberg. Him and his team did such a good job that most people wouldn't notice the difference. Kinda like a cheaper store brand version: the taste is similar but not the appearance. It all makes sense. Concept cars are too rare to be used and abused the way these cars were in tv/movie productions.
Like you, I had forgotten about this car. Until recently, when Videobob Moseley on Youtube did a video about it. He's had the car in storage for many years. But now it's time to sell it. But where? How? Wouldn't be an On Screen Cars eBay Find without eBay right? In our usual fashion, we bring you another opportunity to own an actual movie car. There's just one catch. It doesn't run and there's no title. Until recently it's been in disrepair. Videobob is in the process of moving his shop and needs to offload this beast. But with all that, he has verified that this vehicle was the hero car of the two used in the film. In fact, it was driven by the man himself David Hasselhoff. You can have all of this for the low low price of $19,999.00 buckaroos. Sure you can't drive it. But you could display it right? Till next time, stay safe folks!
Stumbling around on eBay this morning and found another movie car in the listings. This time it's one of the five 1972 Dodge Challengers used in the production of In Time. You may remember our previous post talking about the trailer for the movie. From auction details I've learned that this car is one of three close-up cars. The close-up cars were not used in stunts. Some collectors find them more desirable because they have been used hard and generally have more screen time. Now for the details.
The car itself is a 1972 Dodge Challenger with a 440 V8 big block backed up by an automatic transmission. From the photo below you can see that engine compartment is very clean. If you look closely in the pictures you can spot a pistol-grip shifter. The pistol-grip only comes on a 4-speed manual. One of the stunt vehicles is a stick. For consistency the producers had the shifters retro-fitted for the automatic vehicles as well. The grill, tail panels and wheels are completely custom for this car. The interior is signed by the builder. Of course it wouldn't be a police car without lights.
This car will be on the auction block for some time. As of this writing it had 18 days to go with bidding at $28,990.00. That's all for now.
Spotted an On Screen Car on eBay today. You may remember the custom Beetle episode from the first season of Car Warriors. During that episode both teams (The All-stars vs Wheels Garage) started out with two bone-stock Volkswagen Beetles and came up with some interesting concepts. One of those designs by the All Stars was a single seat chopped down fashion of a Bettle. Other wise known as F Bomb. Well now it's for sell. Looks like the asking price is $12,500. The car is set for a fix priced no bidding. Under the hood a 4-banger 2335cc VW motor headed up with a stick.
Auction Details:
"Two teams. 72 Hours. Best one wins. That is what we have for sale here. The famous show "Car Warriors" featured on The Speed Channel pits two teams against each other - Winner take all! During the first season, one of the shows featured each team designing and building its own concept of a 1970 Volkswagen Beetle. What resulted is what you see here.... The F-Bomb and the purple and white convertible. This auction is for the burgandy and silver F-Bomb only. It features a 2335cc motor and is very fast. It does not have side windows or windshield wipers so this is a car for nice days only. Between the two cars this one was declared the winner. If you have been looking for a modified Volkswagen Bug then look no further! This car will bring all the attention and awards you can handle."
January 2021 Update
Hulu no longer has this show for me to embed it. I have seen several episodes floating around the net. But questionable legality (not posting any links). You can find it on Amazon in some markets. Update on the car itself. It looks like it's up for sale again through consignment. SM Classic Cars
Just received word from car designer Kevin Morgan that his personal 2010 Chevrolet Camaro Custom Trans Am (#0008) is now up on eBay! If you're not up to speed on Kevin's designs please refer to our previous post about them. They are out of this world! Kevin had the vision of bringing back the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am we know and all love. But as you may know Pontiac has been shutdown. But who says you can't make a Trans Am out of a Camaro? Trans Am Depot has been doing these Kevin Morgan conversions for quite sometime. You can either buy a late model Camaro and get in line or get this car today. Check out the details below.
Custom "Turned Aluminum" Dash and Door Panel Inserts
Own a piece of history! Those of you who recognize the origin of the iconic snowflake wheel, shaker scoop and TA 6.6 insignia, no doubt remember what started it all.. Smokey and the Bandit. Who knew in 1977, the year the movie Smoky and the Bandit released, that a five year old boy entering the first grade in Canton, PA would one day provide the inspiration to keep the Trans Am namesake alive. Now, 35yr. later, the once first grader is chief designer for Trans Am Depot, makers of the exclusively licensed 2012 Trans Am. The team of Morgan and the Depot have also released a 2012 GTO, 69 style Trans Am, '70 442 and many other of the hottest retro muscle cars to prowl the American streets in recent memory. These and other Morgan designs have been featured on Discovery Channels American Choppers, Hot Rod, High Performance Pontiac, Pontiac Enthusiasts and more.
Now, you can own one of designer, Kevin Morgans 2010 Trans Ams from his personal collection. Morgan is releasing car #8 to the public. This is only the second time that a new styled and licensed Trans Am has made it to the secondary market. The first one sold in excess of $115k. There is currently a two month waiting list just to get on the schedule to have one of these cars built. Spring is muscle car weather and you dont want to miss this years opportunity to show and shine. As the saying goes. Enjoy life, you only live once.
