Party time excellent, requires excellent tunes. Do you have the right part for your Wayne's World AMC Pacer? Looking to head-bang accurately with the best of Wayne's World fans. Well you're gonna wanta pay attention to the information we have for you today's Proper Prop. Proper Prop, the segment of On Screen Cars where we tell you how to get proper prop for your tv/movie car replica.
The object we're talking about today, is the cassette tape deck used in the Mirthmobile. Ah, the Mirthmobile. The famous ride belonging to Dana Carvey's character Garth. But where did Garth get his tape deck? Well through a lot of screen pausing and analysis we have an answer for you. But it's a little complex. There were actually two cassette tape decks used in the films.
Panasonic CQ-H08
The first film used a Panasonic CQ-H08 AM/FM Cassette Deck. These units were sold around the time of the film in 1990 - 1991. You can kinda spot the front of this radio in the scene where Wayne pops in the Queen tape. I had a hard time finding photos that matched. But if you pause at the right time, you make out the words Panasonic in the upper left corner of the device as well as the words "HI-Power". The bass and treble knobs are not readable in the film, but the location on the device is unique enough for a match.
Kenwood KRC160
The radio in the second film was a bit easier to find. It was a Kenwood KRC160. This radio is much more noticeable. It's almost as if Kenwood sponsored for product placement. I can't think of much reason why Garth would have upgraded so soon. The features of the previous units were the same. I would suspected a in dash CD player to replace the portable one on top of the dash. But not another cassette deck. I was able to find out a lot more about this radio. You can see the specs here.
Something to note about both of the radios used. Both of these radios are a single DIN standard design (180 x 50 mm panel). Where as the original Pacer radio had a two-post radio (volume and tuning knobs). The dashboard would have needed to be modified to allow for the larger radio face. This is something very common with vehicles prior to 1984. You can actually see the larger hole that was cut for the radio in the Pawn Star's episode where Rick Harrison buys the car. Sadly at that point the radio had been pulled from the car. Logically the radio should have been the later Kenwood model. I guess we'll never know for sure.
So where does this leave us with Proper Prop? Well the answer is simple, are you building a Wayne's World 1 or 2 AMC Pacer? I hope you enjoyed this deep dive. I know we sure enjoyed digging for this piece of obscure prop trivia. Till next time, Party On!
"Smile. You're on Candid Camera!" The famous catch line of the hit show Candid Camera. The series all about putting real people in funny situations for laughs and reactions. The original series ran from the late 1940s through the 1970s. I like to think of it as the original reality tv show. You can find many old shorts from the show on their YouTube channel. Recently after browsing through some of the videos, it dawned on me that there were number of car gags. I thought I would share one of the most famous ones from the show. Candid Camera did a gag called, The Split Car.
Imagine seeing a car just split in half while going down the road? I mean how do you react? Well you see how people did in the clip below. I did a little research on the car itself. It turns out it was built a New York resident craftsman, Ron Jerauld. The car was built from a 1957 Renault, model 4C. One side retained the regular engine and drivetrain. While the other side was fitted with it's own motorcycle engine and steering. Must have been a feat to build. According to Timothy Hall, Jerauld's cousin, the car was completed in short order over a few weeks. The two halves were latched together by hydraulic locks. The car would split into two at the touch of a button. Hall went on to say in the comments that the fate of the car is unknown. Such a cool story. Thanks to author Timothy Hall for sharing. Be sure to check out his website and literarily works. See the full clip below! Tell next time, keep your peepers open!
'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!
You got your ears on good buddy? Come on back. We're starting up a new series here on the site. Let me introduce you to "Proper Prop." A series about props and components of famous On Screen Cars. This week we're talking about the CB radio used in the hero car in movie Smokey and the Bandit. CB radio used through out the film for the drivers to communicate with each other. CB Radio was all rage in the 1970's. Everyone had one in their car or truck. Some vehicle manufactures even offered factory equipped OEM radios. Today with all the other forms of modern communication the CB radio has fallen out of favor. However truckers still use and rely on them. But what about the prop from the film?
There are actually two devices found under the dash of the famous Trans Am. On top is a 4 channel police scanner. But that's a subject for another post. Today we're focused on the Pace CB-166 unit under it. This radio was manufactured by Pathcom under the brand name Pace during the mid-70s. There are two versions of this radio. The only major difference between them is the number of channels. Early models being 23 channel and later being 40 channel models. The FCC was in the process of extending the CB radio band from 23 to 40 channels around the time of the film. You can hear Bandit and Snowman talk about jumping from channel to channel early in the film. They never reference a channel higher than 23 for this reason. Which leads me to believe the one in the car is a 23 channel model. Having a wild spectrum of channels on a CB at the time was a little bit of a luxury. Cheaper models usually only had a few channels that were "programmed" by changing out electronic component crystals.
I haven't been able to find an original price for this radio. However some pictures suggest it retailed for over $100 dollars new. Due to the popularity of the film, these radios fetch a premium on the collector market. I found one on an eBay auction listed for nearly $2000! Good luck finding one cheap for your T/A SE project car. The unit in the picture above is stated to be from Burt Reynold's estate. It was listed and sold at auction with the scanner for $25,000 dollars. Do you already have a Pace CB-166? Maybe you're an electronics geek like me. Well you're in luck. The fine folks over at CBTricks.com have posted the manual for this thing. It blew me away how much detail Pathcom put into the shop manual. Detail of all of the printed circuit boards are in manual with a complete listing of every component. Check it out! Tell next time keep the greasy side down!
“Have you ever wondered how the snow plow driver drives to the snow plow?â€
The Ad
The words of a great simple car ad. Brought to us by the same company that introduced the world to Jake from State Farm: DDB Marketing and Advertising. They were one of the original "Madison Ave" agencies. During the 60's they did several ads for Volkswagen. They even won an award for this piece. How does it get any simpler? They ask a simple question. Have you ever wondered how the snowplow driver drives to the snowplow? Sounds like a shower thought doesn't it? Granted Mr. Plow just jumped in his truck. But that's a story for another day. What about the car?
The Car
The early 60's were a great time of growth for Volkswagen in North America. The Beetle in this clip is a 1964 model. Under the hood lives a 1.2L inline four cylinder with a whopping 40 bhp. Standard transmission. There were several color options at the time, including Ruby Red, Bahama Blue, and Panama Beige. Rag top convertible, sunroof or standard roof options too. Over 259,000 Beetles were sold in the US that year alone. Not to mention innovation, Beetle's first year for vinyl upholstery and metal sunroof. I'm sure our snowplow driver wouldn't have minded that metal cover instead of a canvas top. What about staying warm in a Beetle? Seems critical for our snowplow driver right? Check out this video below on how heaters work in a Beetle.
Driving In The Snow
Believe it or not in 1964, the Beetle was one of the best cars to drive in the snow. Shocking I know. There are several reasons why. The primary reason is the fact they were rear engine. All the weight of the was situated over the rear wheels. Which is great for traction. The 125R16 tires are skinny. The car tends to cut through the snow, rather than ride on top of it. The lower center of gravity helps as well. Who would have thought? The Beetle did have one thing against it. It's lack of ground clearance. This car was low to the ground in comparison to others on the road at the time. Very prone to high-centering on ruts and packed snow. But hey, could you imagine the satisfaction of hippy passing a guy in a two-wheel drive pickup stuck on the side of the road in the snow? Check out this clip of this guy whipping around in a Beetle.
Well there you have it folks. How does the snowplow driver get to the plow? In a Volkswagen of course! Till next time, stay safe in the snow.
Panasonic CQ-H08
Kenwood KRC160
