Homer Simpson is a man of many talents. No that's not right. Homer Simpson is a man of many hats? True, Homer has done just about every job imaginable, a jack of all trades so to speak. But did you know he was once a truck driver? Well he was! Way back in episode 17 of season 10, Home drives a big rig called "The Red Rascal." We thought we would celebrate this one episode wonder.
Looking from the side, the Red Rascal bares resemblance of a late 90's Freightliner front end with a Mack cab. It's not uncommon to see this an animation. Resemblance to anything real life is just a mark of artist inspiration. On side you can see a nifty logo for the trucking company. A pinup girl with a confederate flag one-piece swimsuit posing with a cartoon wolf. You may remember a similar wolf in older Looney Toons cartoons.
Here's a little background on the episode. Homer finds himself pitted against a truck driver in a showdown steak eating contest. His rival, Red Barclay wins the contest only to die shortly after. In honor of Red, Homer takes its to the road in The Red Rasel to complete Red's final haul. Meanwhile Marge and Lisa have a unrelated adventure of their own. Here we can see Barclay's operators license under the visor. Rest in peace Red. Here's to the hero we didn't know we needed.
Toward the end of the episode Homer falls asleep at the wheel and rescued by this little gadget called the "Navitron Auto-Drive System." Apparently in the Simspsons world, every truck has auto pilot. But it's a trucker's best kept secret, at least until Homer spills the beans. As one trucker says "..with this baby driving your truck. You just have to sit back and watch your ass grow." I'll take their word for it. Say, is this another example of how the Simpsons predicts the future?
Homer and Bart end up getting a lot of valuable bonding in episode. Activities ranging from fishing to enjoying a truck stop meal. I won't spoil the whole episode for you.
But let's just say. It's pretty good. Oh remember Marge and Lisa's adventure. Here's a little tease of another On Screen Car for ya. Till next time, keep on truck'n!
Let's talk about Treehouse of Horror XXIII after Thanksgiving? Yes. I know this is old news. Halloween has long been over. But like Treehouse of Horror this article will not get posted on Halloween! So what's the big deal? Well. How about the fact The Simpsons writers treated their fans to a Back to the Future Parody? Sure ok. That's worth talking about.
It all started with a book. A book with some heavy foreshadowing! Great Scott! Is that a Prius Time Machine? Really Matt Groening? Oh well. I think it's cute. But if you think about it. What modern day vehicle would you have used? The Prius does have a more 80's box shape too it. I guess Doc Brown would have thought it was neat at least. I do think he wouldn't have said " If you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?."
Let's just throw in some science-fictional reasoning in here. "Sure hmm. The hybird setup can generate the 1.21 jigga-watts of electricity needed to make time travel possible..." Ah that'a work. But can a Prius do 88 mph? Ah it's a parody who cares. lol. Anyways the story goes on to tell how Bart messes up the timeline and ends up with all these Homers from other timelines. I thought it was beautifully done. There are some great references in there. I won't spoil it. See ya next time! Remember the future is what you make it. If you do invent time travel. Please don't use a Prius!
I thought I would share a YouTube find with you. This is a fan created crossover video between Knight Rider and The Simpsons. As you can see it's a remake of the original Knight Rider opening credits as if it were a Simpsons cartoon. I give two thumbs up to whomever came up with this idea! It must have taken a lot of time to put this together. One of my favorite parts is where it shows the "Normal Cruise" light and then the "Tom Cruise" light on the dash. That's priceless! I could see Homer asking Kitt for a beer or driving him home from Moe's. What do you think? What would Homer do in David Hasselhoff's shoes? Let us know by posting a comment!
"The Homer" is a fictional car featured during an early episode of The Simpsons. The episode is from the show's second season, and is entitled "Oh Brother Where Art Thou." It features a number of personal add-ons requested by Homer Simpson. What an interesting piece of automotive fiction! Could you imagine something like this?
The Homer: Features
Large beverage holders
Little ball on top the aerial
Bowling mascot on the hood
Horns that play La Cucaracha
Sound-proof bubble for the kids
Huge motor
Big Fins
The Episode Plot
Homer is reunited with his long lost bother, Herbert Powell, the owner of "Powell Motors." After a brief phone conversation, Herbert invites Homer to visit his home in Detroit. Once in Detroit, Homer and Herb begin to get to know each other better. Herb quickly falls in love with the Simpsons. Uncle Herb spoils his the kids with vacations and gifts. He offers to help the family out with a new car. However, Homer is unable to find a suitable automobile from the Powell Motors line-up. Herb, already frustrated with his board of directors, commissions Homer to design a new car.
Herb's challenge to Homer is to build a car for the everyday person. However, as soon as Homer met with the engineers, his ideas were quickly pushed aside. Luckily though, Herb steps in and forces them to listen to Homer's ideas. They were pretty crazy, I might add. Homer takes over every aspect of the design. He comes up with large beverage holders, a little ball on the aerial, a separate sound-proof dome for the kids, etc.
"...power like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a nerf ball..."
At the unveiling, it was presented as "The Homer, The Car Built for Homer." They show a video of Homer driving down the winding road. Then the curtain is dropped, and the car is shown. The final cost of all the features totaled $82,000. Naturally, the car failed, the company went out of business, and Herb left his only brother, saying he wanted nothing to do with poor Homer. Sad story. But what a funny car!
Thoughts about "The Homer"
This is one of my favorite episodes for obvious reasons. But I admire the fact that, even though it's a cartoon, it isn't too far off from some of the concepts that international automakers have attempted. I did some research, and found Pontiac's failed concept car "The Stinger." I think this is a fairly good example of a real life version of "The Homer." Not to mention they're both green and have a ton of features that no one could ever fully utilize.
I think "The Homer", reminds me of a cross between a Rolls Royce, the Popemobile and an ice cream truck. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense. But look at it! The grill and front-end look like a Rolls Royce, the second bubble looks like the Popemobile, and the color and wackiness reminds me of an ice cream truck! What are your thoughts on the "The Homer?" Comment and let us know what you think! Stay tuned for more exciting On Screen Cars.
