Classic Detroit muscle has always been a great fit for superheros. The Green Hornet is no exception. Black Beauty is an awesome name for a car of such caliber, a 1965 Chrysler Imperial. Also known as the top of the Chrysler line. Elwood Engel the same guy that brought us the 1961 Lincoln Continental, designed this generation Imperial. The lines are straight and long as with most cars of the time. As you can see Black Beauty earns it's name. The car is nearly completely black. You might miss the Green Hornet's green headlights. But you won't miss the sound of a Big Block Chevrolet...
What? No Mopar? That's right folks. Reports show that the movie cars were powered by Chevrolet engines. I'm sure they'll dub over the engine sounds with the factory 440 and 413 V8 these monsters came with. Most of the On Screen Cars were modified with full roll cages. Some were beefed up to take side impact. Your template movie car on the inside. Guns? Oh yea. Two large guns as well as missile launchers. I think actor Seth Rogen will have plenty of fun with those. I have to say though the weapons array reminds me of Triple X.
So who's the designer? Sources say Sony Pictures put the screen cars together. I would have thought George Barris (the creator of the car in the original '60s TV series). ButYou can hear the display staff at Comic Con video confirm it isn't. None the less an amazing retro re-creation of a Dean Jeffries* design. Don't forget to watch the trailer (below). I'll be putting it on my list to watch. Catch ya next time!
* Correction from http://www.theblackbeauty.com, Dean Jeffries did the original design of Black Beauty on the TV series.
What happens when you love TV/Movie cars and Lego? Well ya put them together of course! Zach Sweigart is what you might call a Legomaniac. I can't blame him. It happens to the best of us. We stumbled across Zach's designs through a site called MOCpages.com. It's kinda like MySpace/Facebook for Lego fanatics to share their designs. We were so impressed we decided to post some of Zach's designs (with his permission of course).
Back to the Future - 1981 Delorean DMC-12. This design was featured in the third issue of Brickjounrnal magazine. You can see more of this design on his MOC page.
Starsky and Hutch - 1976 Ford Gran Torino. Check out the awesome detail on the grill.
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) - 1967 Shelby GT-500 'Eleanor'
Knight Rider - 1982 Pontiac Trans Am
Batmobile - 1989
Halo - Warthog M12. What? It's a OSC car too! Video games count.
When Zach isn't studying for college or building Lego creations he's working on his 1977 Trans Am. Sweet ride my friend. You can see more images of Zach's work on his MOC page. Got any OSC art you would like to submit? Send us a line via our contact page. We would love to feature it. Looking to build your own OSC Lego creations? Check out some of the great sets and parts to get ya started below. See ya next time!
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.
Are you addicted to Car Town yet? I know we are. I thought I would mention some of the great templates created by fellow Car Town gamers. Check out some of these awsome TV and Movie car designs. Great job guys! Links to sources below each picture. If you ask the artist nicely, I'm sure you can get a hold of the template for your favorite TV/Movie car.
Looking for more Car Town TV and Movie Car Templates? Check out our next batch!
Can you believe our government wanted to tell us we could only drive 55 mph on the interstate? How could we get anywhere? Like Sammy Hagar, I can't drive 55! Nor do I think I could keep a Ferrari 512 BBi under 55. OnScreenCars.com is proud to present another great `80s car music video!
Inspiration
Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest events. After a recent speeding ticket Sammy Hagar wrote this song about his speed limit frustrations. The incident happened while on a long drive from Albany, New York to Lake Placid. Sammy was on his way to meet up with his family at their cabin. He was caught in a speed trap. The cop ticketed him for doing 62 in a 55. As his took the ticket, Sammy looked at the cop and said "I can't drive 55." Viola the hit was born.
The Video
The video was shot to promote Sammy Hagar's album VOA (Voice of America). The video shows Sammy making some runs around the track in a Ferrari 512 BBi before meeting up with his real life mechanic, Claudio Zampolli. He then hits traffic on a busy road. As the song says "...too much traffic and I can't pass..." Classic! Sammy's band is picked up and thrown in jail and spends the rest of the video getting out.
The Car
The Ferrari BB (aka Berlinetta Boxer) was mid-engine car platform built by the company between 1973 and 1984. The horse in the video is one of 1,007 Ferrari 512 BBi built between 1981 and 1984. The 512 BBi is an improved version of the original 512 BB. The differences are the fog lamps, fuel injection system (hence the "i" in the name) and special tires from Michelin (TRX metric). 512 BBi is powered by a flat-12 engine that produces over 350 horsepower. Combined with a low weight configuration and design the BBi runs 0 - 60 in 5.4 seconds. To say 55 mph comes quick is an understatement.
Final Thoughts
The song may be timeless. But the clothing Sammy wears in the video may not be. I know I wouldn't be caught dead walking around looking like that. Oh well. It was the '80s. You can't say much. As for the car action, I give it a 10 outta 10. The song has been used in several films. Including Back to the Future II (alternative 1985 Biff's town center). You can also check out some of Sammy's others rides.Till next time. Stay out'a trouble. You can handle 65/70 mph a lot better than 55!
